Comments on: NORML’s Weekly Legislative Round Up http://blog.norml.org/2008/05/23/norml%e2%80%99s-weekly-legislative-round-up-3/ Working to reform marijuana laws Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:26:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Anonymous http://blog.norml.org/2008/05/23/norml%e2%80%99s-weekly-legislative-round-up-3/#comment-438 Anonymous Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:56:17 +0000 http://blog.norml.org/2008/05/23/norml%e2%80%99s-weekly-legislative-round-up-3/#comment-438 I wonder how many people are actually contacting their elected officials, regularly, frequently, and politely? The bottom line is that Federal law in the U.S. is made by 435 Congressmen and Congresswomen, 100 Senators, and 1 President. Any law of the land can be changed by a majority of Congresspersons (218 ), Senators (51), and the President (1). House Boll 5843 and 5842 are both in front of the Congress for consideration; how many of us are prepared to spend five minutes a day to encourage our own Congressperson, Senators, and President to vote for these laws? We don’t have to travel or organize a rally or spend much money (just a few bucks for stamps). What it’s going to take is a steady stream of letters to your Congressperson, your two Senators, and the President. Here’s a template for a friendly, supportive letter to your Congressperson, Senator, State Representative, etc. This is the kind of letter that will get their attention, because we’re coming across as the friendly, tax-paying citizens that we are. Letters that are rude or too stoney aren’t going to have nearly the impact that a friendly, supportive approach will get (So let’s steer clear of the “Dear Dude, we all have, like, the inalienable right to, you know, do whatever…” approach). Something like the following is a good start: 1) Go to https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml to get the name and address of your Congressperson. This will take less than a minute. Do it now and you’ll have it out of the way. 2) Write the letter. You can make it look like the one below or any way you like; this is just a sample. Spend at least five minutes on it, check the spelling, and read it out loud to yourself to see if it makes sense. (Do this while your in a sensible frame of mind,). You don’t have to be a great writer; just stick to the point and keep it short, i.e, not more than one page. 3) Find friend to write a letter, too. Share this material with him or her at your next get together. 4) Repeat the process at least once a week. Make it your personal mission to do two things: Get a letter like this into the hands of your Congressperson, each Senator, and the President, every month (that’s four letters a month), and get some friends to do the same. It only takes a dozen letters to create the impression of a public mandate; an elected official getting a dozen letters a week will really feel the public presence. Here’s the sample letter. Your Name Your Address Your City State and ZIP January 99, 2008 The Honorable Address (get the right address from https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml ) Dear Congressman/Congresswoman/Senator : I am writing to ask you to . Thanks for your time, and keep up the great work! Sincerely, * * ***Remember: The Prohibitionists say marijuana leads to lack of motivation. Is it true, or will a few interested folks take this on and actually get this river of letters flowing?*** I wonder how many people are actually contacting their elected officials, regularly, frequently, and politely? The bottom line is that Federal law in the U.S. is made by 435 Congressmen and Congresswomen, 100 Senators, and 1 President. Any law of the land can be changed by a majority of Congresspersons (218 ), Senators (51), and the President (1). House Boll 5843 and 5842 are both in front of the Congress for consideration; how many of us are prepared to spend five minutes a day to encourage our own Congressperson, Senators, and President to vote for these laws? We don’t have to travel or organize a rally or spend much money (just a few bucks for stamps). What it’s going to take is a steady stream of letters to your Congressperson, your two Senators, and the President. Here’s a template for a friendly, supportive letter to your Congressperson, Senator, State Representative, etc. This is the kind of letter that will get their attention, because we’re coming across as the friendly, tax-paying citizens that we are. Letters that are rude or too stoney aren’t going to have nearly the impact that a friendly, supportive approach will get (So let’s steer clear of the “Dear Dude, we all have, like, the inalienable right to, you know, do whatever…” approach). Something like the following is a good start:
1) Go to https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml to get the name and address of your Congressperson. This will take less than a minute. Do it now and you’ll have it out of the way.
2) Write the letter. You can make it look like the one below or any way you like; this is just a sample. Spend at least five minutes on it, check the spelling, and read it out loud to yourself to see if it makes sense. (Do this while your in a sensible frame of mind,). You don’t have to be a great writer; just stick to the point and keep it short, i.e, not more than one page.
3) Find friend to write a letter, too. Share this material with him or her at your next get together.
4) Repeat the process at least once a week. Make it your personal mission to do two things: Get a letter like this into the hands of your Congressperson, each Senator, and the President, every month (that’s four letters a month), and get some friends to do the same. It only takes a dozen letters to create the impression of a public mandate; an elected official getting a dozen letters a week will really feel the public presence.

Here’s the sample letter.

Your Name
Your Address
Your City State and ZIP

January 99, 2008

The Honorable
Address (get the right address from https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml )

Dear Congressman/Congresswoman/Senator :

I am writing to ask you to .

Thanks for your time, and keep up the great work!

Sincerely,

*
*
***Remember: The Prohibitionists say marijuana leads to lack of motivation. Is it true, or will a few interested folks take this on and actually get this river of letters flowing?***

]]> By: lenny http://blog.norml.org/2008/05/23/norml%e2%80%99s-weekly-legislative-round-up-3/#comment-202 lenny Tue, 27 May 2008 23:48:50 +0000 http://blog.norml.org/2008/05/23/norml%e2%80%99s-weekly-legislative-round-up-3/#comment-202 if the usa would legalize this how much money would the government save or lose in court costs? would it be safe to assume that if it is legalized it would produce more money as a legal cash crop? hell yea! how many job opportunities will it create, people that would have some sort of knowledge of the cultivation of it growing it. if we could just think outside the joint and reap the benifits of the most prominent drug on the shadow market. customs can keep it in the usa to prevent international conflict. 50 nanograms of thc is produced readily in our human bodies every day. not to speak down on cigarette smokers, but our bodies dont produce niccotine, it reacts to it. as you all may know marijuana affects each one of us differently, consume it responsibly and dont put any drug before your priorities. if the usa would legalize this how much money would the government save or lose in court costs? would it be safe to assume that if it is legalized it would produce more money as a legal cash crop? hell yea! how many job opportunities will it create, people that would have some sort of knowledge of the cultivation of it growing it. if we could just think outside the joint and reap the benifits of the most prominent drug on the shadow market. customs can keep it in the usa to prevent international conflict. 50 nanograms of thc is produced readily in our human bodies every day. not to speak down on cigarette smokers, but our bodies dont produce niccotine, it reacts to it. as you all may know marijuana affects each one of us differently, consume it responsibly and dont put any drug before your priorities.

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