Profiles in Cannabis: Rob Van Dam

NORML is proud to confirm that former World Wrestling Entertainment heavyweight champion Rob Van Dam will be speaking at the 2009 NORML National Conference in San Francisco, CA.

Rob Van Dam has amazed audiences around the world with his athleticism and martial arts skills. Throughout his wrestling career, Rob Van Dam rarely hesitated to voice his affection for cannabis — even coining the popular catch-phrase, “4:20 means I just smoked your ass.” In 2006 he reached the pinnacle of his profession, winning the WWE world heavyweight championship.

He was eventually stripped of the title later that year following his arrest for minor marijuana possession.  Since leaving pro wrestling he has appeared in numerous television shows and action films, as well as hosting his own online series RVD TV.  Rob Van Dam is open about his marijuana use and the need to reform America’s cannabis laws, frequently discussing the issue on his live radio show.

“Our federal government prohibited this organic plant based on lies, continues to classify it among the most dangerous drugs to validate billions in funding pointless agendas, and denies it’s medical value, causing countless lives to suffer needlessly,” he says.  “How can anyone not care?”

Rob will be participating an all-star panel discussion at this year’s conference pertaining to the use of cannabis among top athletes.  Says Rob: “How about we stop ignoring the fact that World Champion athletes who take their health extremely seriously sometimes choose to use marijuana? Why are we ignoring the message there?”

RVD says, “Yes we cannabis” and so should you! Meet Rob and hundreds of other like-minded people at NORML’s 38th annual conference, taking place September 24-26 at the Grand Hyatt in downtown San Francisco. For registration information, please visit: http://www.norml.org/conference.

More about Rob Van Dam:

Watch Rob Van Dam discuss marijuana legalization on Geraldo at Large (Fox News)

Listen to Rob Van Dam debate former Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey on MSNBC here

Rob Van Dam in High Times magazine (March 1999)

Profiles in Cannabis: Rick Steves

NORML is proud to confirm that best-selling author and television personality Rick Steves will be speaking at the 2009 NORML National Conference in San Francisco, CA.

Mr. Steves is the host of the popular public television series, “Rick Steves’ Europe,” and author of over 30 European travel books.  For more than 30 years, he has helped American travelers connect more intimately with Europeans — often for a fraction of what mainstream tourists pay.

Since joining NORML’s Advisory Board, Rick has been an outspoken advocate for marijuana law reform.  He hosted the recent television program Marijuana: It’s Time for a Conversation, and has spent countless hours lobbying politicians in his home state of Washington (and elsewhere) about the need to stop arresting responsible adults who consume marijuana.

“Like most of Europe, I believe marijuana is a soft drug (like alcohol and tobacco), not a hard drug,” he says.

“Like alcohol and tobacco, it should be treated as a health rather than a criminal issue. Crime should only enter the equation if it is abused to the point where innocent people are harmed.”

He adds: “As a parent helping two children navigate their teen years, and as a travel writer who has seen firsthand how Europe deals with its drug problem, I’ve thought a lot about U.S. drug policy — particularly our criminalization of marijuana.  … The time has come to have an honest discussion about our marijuana laws and their effectiveness. We need to find a policy that is neither ‘hard on drugs’ nor ‘soft on drugs’ — but smart on drugs.”

Rick says, “Yes we cannabis” and so should you! Meet Rick and hundreds of other like-minded people at NORML’s 38th annual conference, taking place September 24-26 at the Grand Hyatt in downtown San Francisco. For registration information, please visit: http://www.norml.org/conference.

More about Rick Steves:

New York Times: Fresh Ideas for a Tired Crusade

Seattle Post Intelligencer: We need to get smart about marijuana

Listen to Rick Steves deliver the keynote speech at NORML’s 2005 national conference

Listen to Rick Steves interviews on the NORML Daily Audio Stash here and here and read more Rick Steves posts on the Stash Blog.

Canadian Broadcasting Corp: “Doubt Cast on Cannabis, Schizophrenia Link”

Well, better late than never.

Doubt cast on cannabis, schizophrenia link
via CBC

A British study has cast doubt on the supposed link between cannabis use and schizophrenia.

… This latest study, led by Dr. Martin Frisher of Keele University, examined the records of 600,000 patients aged between 16 and 44.

… Frisher and colleagues compared the trends of cannabis use with general practitioner records of schizophrenia and psychosis.

They argue that if cannabis use does cause schizophrenia, an increase in cannabis use should be followed by an increase in the incidence of schizophrenia.

According to the study, cannabis use in the United Kingdom between 1972 and 2002 has increased four-fold in the general population, and 18-fold among under-18s.

Based on the literature supporting the link, the authors argue that this should be followed by an increase in schizophrenia incidence of 29 per cent between 1990 and 2010.

But the researchers found no increase in the rates of schizophrenia and psychosis diagnosis during that period. In fact, some of the data suggested the incidence of these conditions had decreased.

Over the past few years the mainstream media, as well as federal politicians, have enjoyed promoting the notion that smoking pot induces mental illness. Perhaps most notably, in 2007 the MSM touted that cannabis “could boost the risk of developing a psychotic illness later in life by about 40 percent” — a talking point that was also publicly promoted US anti-drug officials. Similarly, Canadian bureaucrats alleged — just two weeks ago — that marijuana users have a “seven-fold increase” in risk of developing schizophrenia.

Given this environment, I held little hope that anyone in the MSM would bother to report on the Keele University study — which initially appeared online on the website of the journal Schizophrenia Research in late June and was reported on by NORML on July 2 — despite its obvious newsworthiness.

And for nearly two months no one did. But kudos to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and a handful of British tabloids for just now bringing these findings to light (and even acknowledging that the MSM would have arguably provided far more prominence to this story had the findings demonstrated the opposite result.)

For now, let’s score one for the good guys, and cross your fingers that the American press will also eventually take notice.