NORML Women’s Alliance Celebrates 3 Year Anniversary

In January 2010, NORML launched what would become one of the most successful programs in the history of the organization.  The NORML Women’s Alliance also became the first nationwide female outreach program ever created in the marijuana and drug law reform movement.  This month, January 2013, marks the third anniversary of that program.  The following video is a compilation showing some of the highlights and achievements of the NORML Women’s Alliance throughout the last three years.

Please support our efforts by donating to this important cause.

Find us of Facebook: Facebook.com/NORMLWomen

Teen Pot Use Stalls as States Continue to Regulate Use

Despite several attempts by the media and policy makers to associate the rising number of state regulated medical marijuana programs (and popular legalization efforts) with a rise in use and a drop in associated risk, the 2012 Monitoring the Future Survey reports that there was no rise in daily or annual marijuana use among teens.  According to the report, “annual marijuana use [among 8th, 10th and 12th graders] showed no further increase in any of the three grades surveyed in 2012… [And the] daily use of marijuana…remained essentially flat.”  Also of note, despite the sharp decline in perceived risk of marijuana use across all three grades, there was a statistically significant decline of use among 8th graders.   These numbers are consistent with other recent studies showing that states with regulated marijuana programs have not seen an increase in teen use. Some have even seen a decrease in pot use among their youth population.

“This study suggests that exposure among teens to the concept of marijuana regulation policies (one third of whom live in such states) does not cause an increase in use. It is also important to consider that a drop in perceived risk is likely associated with their rejection of the overzealous scare tactics used in most schools’ drug education programs” said Sabrina Fendrick of the NORML Women’s Alliance.

It is important to note, however, that marijuana use rates and availability nationwide remain at relatively high levels, while alcohol use rates remain historically low.  This is most likely due to the fact that the former is illegal and thereby not subject to government controls, while the latter substance is legally restricted to adults only. The same goes for tobacco. We did not have to outlaw cigarettes to reduce the use among minors. A policy of education and regulation (not prohibition) has created an environment in which cigarette usage has fallen to an all time low.  According to the principal investigator of the study, Lloyd Johnston, “[A] lowering teen smoking rates…likely…depend[s] on…changes such as raising cigarette taxes, further limiting where smoking is permitted, bringing back broad-based anti-smoking ad campaigns, and making quit-smoking programs more available.”  It has been proven that age restrictions, coupled with the imposition of government regulation and education are the most effective at reducing youth access to adult-only recreational substances.  According to the 2011 MFS report, the drop in alcohol use can be attributed to a strict regulation scheme that include educational campaigns focusing on responsible use and age restrictions which, in turn, lowers availability.

The report concluded; “In the 1980’s a number of states raised their minimum drinking age to twenty-one, which these researches were able to demonstrate reduced drinking.”  It goes on to say “the proportion of 8th and 10th graders who say they could get alcohol ‘fairly easily’ or ‘very easily’ had been declining since 1996 and continued to drop in all three grades in 2011.  Various other factors of likely importance include…higher beer taxes and restrictions on alcohol promotion to youth.”  The 2012 survey reported that again, “there was no increase in perceived availability of alcohol.”

One can therefore conclude that the only sensible answer to restricting marijuana access to [as well as use among] minors is through state and local government regulation and a message of moderation.

Free Viewing Of Important Documentary: Breaking The Taboo

The producers of an important and well-received film documentary have contacted NORML asking for help to make as many free viewings of Breaking The Taboo as possible before the film goes into traditional theater distribution. Of the many documentaries in NORML’s forty two year-old archives, this SunDog Pictures produced film is a real stand out for it’s scope and breadth.

The film, narrated by actor Morgan Freeman, has received a terrific amount of publicity buzz regarding the subject matter (ending the war on some drugs…) as well for three of the key people interviewed in the documentary: former U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and current president of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos.

All three men went on the record acknowledging the failures of the current policies and favor substantive reforms, notably Mr. Carter, who favors cannabis legalization.

This outstanding one hour documentary has already been viewed by nearly 470,000 concerned citizens from around the world.

Spanish-speaking version (narrated by Mexican actor/director Gael Garcia Bernal) is available here.

NORML Hosts First Southeastern Regional Conference

This past weekend, National NORML, with the help of its Tennessee affiliate hosted the first NORML Southeastern Regional Conference.  NORML representatives from several southeastern states, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia met to discuss strategy for legalizing marijuana across the region. This southern coalition met in Nashville with members of NORML’s National board and leaders in the cannabis reform movement.

The event was a great success with informative speakers and an energized, engaged audience.  The conference opened with a special statement from US Representative Cohen who was “sorry [he] couldn’t be there in person,” but wanted to extend his personal support and commitment to our cause.

Speakers included NORML board members Greta Gaines and Paul Kuhn, Chris Butts and Ron Crumption from the Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition, public health epidemiologist (and victim of prohibition) Bernie Ellis and Texas NORML board member Cheyanne Weldon.  They covered a multitude of topics ranging from the utility of hemp, medical marijuana research, lobbying and public education.  There was also a workshop on team management based on the New Organizing Institute’s development training seminars.

[North Carolina NORML put together a fantastic roundup of content and information from the conference.  Click here to see their report.]  That evening, the Douglas Corner Café hosted a successful fundraiser featuring local musicians Tish Lindsey, Don Ray, Greta Gaines, Chuck Foster and Daniel Lawrence Walker.  Invariably, the Southeast has some of the most draconian marijuana laws, and the lowest level of support for reform in the United States.  This conference and subsequent events will help reformers lay the groundwork for education and effective activism in the most politically conservative region in the country.

If you don’t live in the Southeast, do not fret! NORML Regional Conferences will be coming to your area of the country soon.

Up next: NORML’s First Northeastern Regional Conference in Philadelphia. Stay tuned to norml.org for more info in the coming weeks.

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Watch Marijuana Prohibition Debated Live Today From Washington, DC

Our anti-prohibitionist friends at the prestigious Washington, DC think-tank The Cato Institute will feature a live debate today at 4PM (eastern) entitled The Law and Politics of Marijuana Prohibition. The main focus of the debate, in the wake of Colorado and Washington voters recently approving binding ballot initiatives legalizing and taxing cannabis, is the very important–and unknown–federal response to this next generation of state-based cannabis law reforms that run afoul of the current–and unpopular–federal prohibition on cannabis that is now seventy-five years old.

According to Gallup and PPP polling–to say nothing of the vote totals in Colorado and Washington–more than fifty percent of the population supports legalizing cannabis. Even more recent Gallup polling strongly indicates Americans want the federal government to respect states’ efforts to reform cannabis laws.

Representing the argument that the states can indeed expand personal civil liberties via reform of cannabis laws is Vanderbilt law professor Robert Mikos, and representing, well, the status quo, is former congressman and Drug Enforcement Administration head Asa Hutchinson (who argues that states can’t legalize cannabis, because that will violate federal laws…cannabis is an evil drug…blah-blah-blah).

Also of great note, in advance of today’s live debate, The Cato Institute released a new (and compelling) academic paper by Professor Mikos entitled ‘On the Limits of Federal Supremacy: When States Relax (or Abandon) Marijuana Bans’

You can watch this debate @ 4PM eastern live here.