Washington, DC: Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, along with co-sponsors Ron Paul (R-TX); Maurice Hinchey (D-NY); Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA); and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), will reintroduce legislation today to limit the federal government’s authority to arrest and prosecute minor marijuana offenders.

The measure, entitled an “Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults,” would eliminate federal penalties for the personal possession of up to 100 grams (over three and one-half ounces) of cannabis and for the not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce of pot – making the prosecutions of these offenses strictly a state matter.

Under federal law, defendants found guilty of possessing small amounts of cannabis for their own personal use face up to one year imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.

Passage of this act would provide state lawmakers the choice to maintain their current penalties for minor marijuana offenses or eliminate them completely. Lawmakers would also have the option to explore legal alternatives to tax and regulate the adult use and distribution of cannabis free from federal interference.

To date, thirteen states have enacted laws ‘decriminalizing’ the possession of marijuana by adults. Minor marijuana offenders face a citation and small fine in lieu of a criminal arrest or time in jail.

“The federal government has much more important business to attend to than targeting, arresting and prosecuting adults who use marijuana responsibly,” NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said. “This is an issue that ought to be handled by the states, not the Feds.”

According to nationwide polls, three out of four voters believe that adults who possess marijuana should not face arrest or jail, and one out of two now say that cannabis should be regulated like alcohol.

The reintroduction of the Frank/Paul bill comes one week after the duo reintroduced HR 2835, The Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act of 2009 – which seeks to halt federal interference in states that have enacted medical marijuana laws – and just days after Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) called for federal legislation to sentence certain first-time marijuana offenders to 25 years in prison.

“The US Congress has a definite choice,” said St. Pierre. “They can choose the path of compassion, fiscal responsibility, and common sense by supporting Barney Frank’s and Ron Paul’s efforts, or they can continue down America’s failed drug war path by endorsing Rep. Kirk’s draconian legislation. It is abundantly clear which direction the voters wish to go; will their elected officials follow?”

Additional information about the ‘Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults’ is available at NORML’s Take Action Center.

14 May 2009
——-
Kerlikowske Says Analogy Is Counterproductive; Shift Aligns With Administration Preference for Treatment Over Incarceration

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s new drug czar says he wants to banish the idea that the U.S.  is fighting “a war on drugs,” a move that would underscore a shift favoring treatment over incarceration in trying to reduce illicit drug use.

In his first interview since being confirmed to head the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske said Wednesday the bellicose analogy was a barrier to dealing with the nation’s drug issues.

“Regardless of how you try to explain to people it’s a ‘war on drugs’ or a ‘war on a product,’ people see a war as a war on them,” he said.  “We’re not at war with people in this country.”

View Full Image Gil Kerlikowske, the new White House drug czar, signaled Wednesday his openness to rethinking the government’s approach to fighting drug use.

Mr.  Kerlikowske’s comments are a signal that the Obama administration is set to follow a more moderate — and likely more controversial — stance on the nation’s drug problems.  Prior administrations talked about pushing treatment and reducing demand while continuing to focus primarily on a tough criminal-justice approach.

The Obama administration is likely to deal with drugs as a matter of public health rather than criminal justice alone, with treatment’s role growing relative to incarceration, Mr.  Kerlikowske said.

Already, the administration has called for an end to the disparity in how crimes involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine are dealt with.  Critics of the law say it unfairly targeted African-American communities, where crack is more prevalent.

The administration also said federal authorities would no longer raid medical-marijuana dispensaries in the 13 states where voters have made medical marijuana legal.  Agents had previously done so under federal law, which doesn’t provide for any exceptions to its marijuana prohibition.

During the presidential campaign, President Barack Obama also talked about ending the federal ban on funding for needle-exchange programs, which are used to stem the spread of HIV among intravenous-drug users.

The drug czar doesn’t have the power to enforce any of these changes himself, but Mr.  Kerlikowske plans to work with Congress and other agencies to alter current policies.  He said he hasn’t yet focused on U.S.  policy toward fighting drug-related crime in other countries.

Mr.  Kerlikowske was most recently the police chief in Seattle, a city known for experimenting with drug programs.  In 2003, voters there passed an initiative making the enforcement of simple marijuana violations a low priority.  The city has long had a needle-exchange program and hosts Hempfest, which draws tens of thousands of hemp and marijuana advocates.

Seattle currently is considering setting up a project that would divert drug defendants to treatment programs.

Mr.  Kerlikowske said he opposed the city’s 2003 initiative on police priorities.  His officers, however, say drug enforcement — especially for pot crimes — took a back seat, according to Sgt.  Richard O’Neill, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild.  One result was an open-air drug market in the downtown business district, Mr.  O’Neill said.

“The average rank-and-file officer is saying, ‘He can’t control two blocks of Seattle, how is he going to control the nation?’ ” Mr.  O’Neill said.

Sen.  Tom Coburn, the lone senator to vote against Mr.  Kerlikowske, was concerned about the permissive attitude toward marijuana enforcement, a spokesman for the conservative Oklahoma Republican said.  [drug war]

Others said they are pleased by the way Seattle police balanced the available options.  “I think he believes there is a place for using the criminal sanctions to address the drug-abuse problem, but he’s more open to giving a hard look to solutions that look at the demand side of the equation,” said Alison Holcomb, drug-policy director with the Washington state American Civil Liberties Union.

Mr.  Kerlikowske said the issue was one of limited police resources, adding that he doesn’t support efforts to legalize drugs.  He also said he supports needle-exchange programs, calling them “part of a complete public-health model for dealing with addiction.”

Mr.  Kerlikowske’s career began in St.  Petersburg, Fla.  He recalled one incident as a Florida undercover officer during the 1970s that spurred his thinking that arrests alone wouldn’t fix matters.

“While we were sitting there, the guy we’re buying from is smoking pot and his toddler comes over and he blows smoke in the toddler’s face,” Mr.  Kerlikowske said.  “You go home at night, and you think of your own kids and your own family and you realize” the depth of the problem.

Since then, he has run four police departments, as well as the Justice Department’s Office of Community Policing during the Clinton administration.

Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that supports legalization of medical marijuana, said he is “cautiously optimistic” about Mr.  Kerlikowske.  “The analogy we have is this is like turning around an ocean liner,” he said.  “What’s important is the damn thing is beginning to turn.”

James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation’s largest law-enforcement labor organization, said that while he holds Mr.  Kerlikowske in high regard, police officers are wary.

“While I don’t necessarily disagree with Gil’s focus on treatment and demand reduction, I don’t want to see it at the expense of law enforcement.  People need to understand that when they violate the law there are consequences.”

I was opposed by prohibitionist Kevin Sabet in a very brief cable news exchange. If supporters of cannabis law reformers want to continue to raise the public discussion level on legalizing cannabis, contact CNN and request that they provide even greater coverage of cannabis-related matters, debates and online surveys; along with MSNBC, CNBC, Fox and C-Span.

Here in Boulder between 10,000-15,000 students and activists are expected to celebrate in what has become the biggest 4/20 event in the world.

Heck, the New York Times has already posted a profile of 4/20 for today’s paper, where they came yesterday for interview and photos to the University of Colorado at Boulder’s National Marijuana Forum. This portends well to what will be an insane day in the media for pro-reform groups like NORML (I’ve already got 35 interviews scheduled…) as I was also asked to pen an essay for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered that I assume will be published today. (UPDATE! Read and comment on Allen’s essay here.)

I dare say we as a country are finally ‘getting it’ regarding the clear and obvious need to reform our misguided cannabis laws.

Thanks to the hundreds of NORML supporters who donated what they could to buy ad time to launch a timely 4/20 ad campaign, you’re the green that keeps NORML all grassroots, all of the time!

Have an enjoyable and safe 4/20 from the staff of NORML!

Legalization: Yes We Can – Jason Druss

[UPDATE: Yes, the part at the end where the young lady giggles has been edited out for the airing on TV.  I will work to find a copy to place on our site. -- Russ Belville, National Outreach Coordinator]

Marijuana Advocacy Group Launches TV Campaign on ‘4/20’

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Foundation (NORML Foundation) a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, established in 1997, is purchasing advertising time on selective cable outlets to underscore the urgency of decriminalizing cannabis.

The NORML Foundation launched this pro-marijuana ad campaign to create further political pressure on the federal government to recognize 1) the ever-increasing support of Americans who favor cannabis legalization, 2) the clear sea change of cannabis laws that’s been happening at the state level since Californians voted in favor of medicinal access to cannabis in 1996, and 3) to rally cannabis consumers and anti-prohibitionists on April 20, a date on the calendar that has organically become a national day to both publicly celebrate cannabis as well as protest 70 years of prohibition.

The featured ad is the winner of NORML’s recent user-generated-content contest that asks NORML supporters: ‘What would you say to President Obama about legalizing marijuana?’

New Jersey college student and up and coming filmmaker Jason Druss created the winning submission and is the recipient of the contest’s $3,500 cash grand prize after 6500 votes were cast on NORML’s webpage. “It’s time for President Obama to endorse cannabis law reform where it is legally controlled and taxed like alcohol and tobacco products,” stated Jason Druss. “It’s shocking that students can lose out from federal student loans for possessing a few joints, when pot’s been part of the college culture for decades.’

Marijuana, By the Numbers…
Thirteen states (with a population base of 115 million Americans) have decriminalized cannabis possession; thirteen states (with a population base of 75 million Americans) now have medical cannabis laws. Additionally, more states than ever before are debating cannabis law reform, including California and Massachusetts where legalization legislation have been introduced.

Since 1965, over 20 million Americans have been arrested on cannabis-related charges—90% for possession-only; over 900,000 cannabis arrests are expected again this year.

According to numerous survey and polls, approximately 75% of Americans support medical access to cannabis; 73% favor decriminalizing cannabis possession for adults and 42% of Americans support legalizing cannabis.

7,700 NORML Foundation ads are appearing on cable outlets nationwide (with a strong media buy in Ohio) on CNN, CNBC, Fox News Channel, Fuse, FX Networks, G4, MSNBC, CNN’s Headline News and Spike TV.

The $14 billion check total represents the combined savings and tax revenues that would be generated by regulating the sale and production of cannabis like alcohol, according to a 2005 analysis by Harvard University senior lecturer Jeffrey Miron and endorsed by over 500 distinguished economists.

Media representatives from CNN, Fox News, Sirius Satellite Radio, and other news outlets were on hand to cover the event.

“On a day when so many Americans lament having to pay state and federal income taxes, we’re representing America’s millions of otherwise law-abiding cannabis consumers, who are ready, willing, and able to contribute to our struggling economy — while providing truly ‘green’ jobs and allowing police to focus on more important priorities,” NORML told reporters. “All we ask in exchange for our $14 billion is the right to enjoy pot responsibly and in peace.”

Additional background information and photos from this morning’s event are available at The Huffington Post here, and at The Hill’s Congress blog here. As always, NORML encourages you to leave your feedback in support of marijuana law reform at these to influential blog sites.

NORML is holding follow up, public protest later today at 4:20pm est. We hope to see you there!

What would you do with an extra $14 billion dollars? NORML will be asking the Obama administration that very question tomorrow when Executive Director Allen St. Pierre will present a mock check to the U.S. Treasury Office at a press conference on the steps of the General Post Office in Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

WHO
Representatives of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, including NORML’s National Director Allen St. Pierre, and New York NORML

WHAT
Marijuana law reformers will present a $14 billion check to the U.S. Treasury

WHEN
April 15th, 2009 at 8:00 AM (press conference with mock check) and 4:20 PM presentation of check with NORML supporters.

WHERE
The steps of the General Post Office in Manhattan
441 Eighth Ave
New York, NY

If you reside in the New York area, please consider showing your support for marijuana legalization by attending this event.  Taxing and regulating doesn’t just make sense, it makes ‘cents’ too!

Legalizing Pot Makes Lots of Cents for Our Cash-Starved Government
via Alternet.org

What could you do with an extra $14 billion dollars? Members of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and other likeminded organizations will be asking government officials that very question on Wednesday, April 15th, when they present a mock check to the U.S. Treasury Office.

“We represent the millions of otherwise law-abiding cannabis consumers who are ready, willing, vocal and able to contribute needed tax revenue to America’s struggling economy,” says Allen St. Pierre, NORML’s Executive Director. “All we ask in exchange for our $14 billion is that our government respects our decision to use marijuana privately and responsibly.”

But it’s not just NORML that is calling on lawmakers to tax and regulate marijuana. In today’s economic climate, the question is: who isn’t?

Late last month, during President Barack Obama’s first-ever Internet Town Hall, questions pertaining to whether legalizing marijuana like alcohol could help boost the economy received more votes from the public than did any other topic. The questions’ popularity — and the President’s half-hearted reply (”No,” he laughed.) — stimulated a torrent of mainstream media attention. In the past two weeks alone, commentators like David Sirota (The Nation), Kathleen Parker (Washington Post), Paul Jacob (TownHall.com), Clarence Page (Chicago Tribune), and Jack Cafferty (CNN) have all expressed sympathy for regulating pot. Even Joe Klein at Time Magazine weighed in on the issue, writing this month that “legalizing marijuana makes sense.”

It makes cents too.

According to a 2005 analysis by Harvard University senior lecturer Jeffrey Miron — and endorsed by over 500 distinguished economists — replacing pot prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation similar to that used for alcohol would produce combined savings and tax revenues of between $10 billion and $14 billion per year.

A separate economic analysis, conducted by George Mason University professor Jon Gettman in 2007, estimates that the total amount of tax revenue derived from cannabis could be far higher. According to Gettman, the retail value of the total U.S. marijuana market now stands at a whopping $113 billion per year. Using standard tax percentages obtained from the Office of Management and Budget, he calculates that the diversion of this market from the taxable economy deprives taxpayers of $31.1 billion annually.

For local and state governments, taxing and regulating pot could help reduce growing deficits. For instance, in Oakland, California the City Council gave preliminary approval last week to a proposal to raise the business tax paid by city-licensed medical marijuana dispensary operators. Council members estimate that the new tax will raise anywhere from $400,000 to a “couple million” dollars annually.

Likewise, lawmakers in Massachusetts and California are debating statewide measures to tax and regulate the production and sale of cannabis to adults. Both state proposals would impose a fixed excise tax on the retail production of marijuana — non-retail cultivation would remain untaxed — as well as sales taxes on the commercial sale of the drug to anyone 21 years and older.

“The revenue effect of the proposed Act is an estimated annual revenue gain of $1.339 billion,” says the California State Board of Equalization and Taxation, which is backing the measure. A more liberal economic assessment performed by California NORML’s Dr. Dale Gieringer estimates that the annual revenues raised via the advent of a legal cannabis industry in California could be far higher.

“A comparable example would be California’s wine industry,” Gieringer wrote in a 2009 report. “With $12.3 billion in retail sales, the wine industry generates 309,000 jobs, $10.1 billion in wages, and $2 billion in tourist expenditures. Extrapolating these figures to a legal marijuana market, … one might expect $12 to $18 billion in total economic activity, with 60,000 to 110,000 new jobs created, and $2.5 to $3.5 billion in legal wages, which would generate additional income and business taxes for the state.”

Finally, taxing and regulating cannabis would have the added bonus of taking the production and trafficking of pot out of the hands of criminal enterprises and, increasingly, drug gangs. According to the Associated Press, marijuana is the “biggest source of income” for Mexican drug cartels. Legalizing pot would eliminate this primary income source for these cartels and, in turn, eliminate much of the growing violence and turf battles that currently surround the drug’s illegal importation from Mexico.

Any way you look at it, legalizing cannabis just “makes sense.” So why aren’t we doing it?

While 4/20 has become an national phenomenon of sorts, and is the launch date these days for numerous commercial products and services directed at America’s cannabis consumers, this remarkable day in my view has lacked a certain degree of needed gravitas– with ‘4/20′ looking more like a ‘party in the park’ than genuinely organic socio-political events that elected policymakers and the media should take seriously.

However, I’d like to highlight the Colorado University chapter of NORML for not only holding the largest organized annual ‘4/20′ event in the world–but for recognizing this year, a year marked so far by an ever-growing voter sentiment about the need to legalize cannabis–that ‘4/20′ provides cannabis law reform advocates a prime annual opportunity to do far more than just protest in the park by convening a day-long, substantive conference in advance of ‘celebrating cannabis’ the next day by exploring logical and effective alternatives to cannabis prohibition.

NORML encourages college chapters of NORML and SSDP to follow CU NORML’s lead by organizing ‘marijuana forums’ on their campuses next week, as college students are disproportionately arrested at higher rates than most other subgroups of Americans for cannabis possession charges and can be denied access to federal loans for college if convicted of a single cannabis possession offense.

Despite President Obama’s unfortunate inability to take Americans’ current calls for cannabis law reforms seriously, there is nothing funny about cannabis prohibition in America. Next weekend at The University of Colorado at Boulder, students, activists, professors, lawyers and doctors, as well as proponents of cannabis prohibition will engage in serious-minded discussion and symposiums about how to move forward into the near future by crafting functional cannabis policies at the state and federal level.

National Marijuana Forum
April 18-20, 2009
University of Colorado, Boulder

For a complete schedule, check out NORML@CU!

Cannabis experts from all over the country will converge in Boulder,
Colorado from April 18-20 for the 2009 National Marijuana Forum, which will
bring together local and national experts to discuss cannabis reform. The
events will culminate on Monday, April 20 with the celebration of 4/20:
International Cannabis Day.

The National Marijuana Forum will be the foremost assessment on the current legal, scientific, environmental and social issues related to cannabis. Experts from all fields including marijuana law reform activists, law enforcement officials, medical experts, environmentalists, journalists and awarded scientists will participate in panels and lectures. The forum will serve to educate, enlighten and empower members of the CU and Boulder community on all current issues regarding marijuana in an unbiased
environment.
—————————————————————–

DATE: Saturday, April 18. 2009
LOCATION: Mathematics 101
Near the intersection of Colorado and Folsom
TIME: 7:00pm
TOPIC: Keynote Address
Jessica Peck Corry – Executive Director of the Colorado Civil Rights
Initiative
Keynote Political speaker Jessica Peck Corry will participate in an open
discussion regarding the legal status of marijuana. The speaker will
discuss current reform and federal drug enforcement surrounding marijuana.
They will also discuss the legal channels in which reform

—————————————————————–

DATE: Sunday, April 19, 2009
LOCATION: Eaton Humanities 1B50
Just North of the Norlin Quadrangle
TIME: 11:00am
TOPIC: Welcome Panel

Speakers:
- Allen St. Pierre – Executive Director, NORML
- NORML@CU Board of Directors

Preceded by an empowering and inspirational talk to kick off The National Forum on Marijuana, this welcoming panel will discuss the legal status of marijuana in the current day. The two leaders of the National Reform of Marijuana Laws will lay the foundation for the day’s topics and discussions. NORML@CU will then provide an overview of the forum and speak on the mission behind it.
—————————————————————–
DATE: Sunday, April 19, 2009
TIME: 12:00 pm
TOPIC: Health and Marijuana
- Dr. Robert Melamede – Endocannabinoid Specialist, UCCS Professor
- Scott Karr Esq. – Attorney for THC Foundation

An overview of marijuana and its effects on the human body.

—————————————————————–
DATE: Sunday, April 19, 2009
TIME: 12:30pm
TOPIC: Hemp: A stepping-stone on a path to a sustainable future

- Allen St. Pierre – Executive Director, NORML
- Michael West – Education Director, CU Biodiesel
- Laura Kriho – Colorado Hemp Initiative Project

Until the end of World War II, hemp was a vital resource in the American
industrial textile industry. Hemp refers to the non-psychotropic cannabis
strains that can produce various products including oil, fabric, and food.
This panel will present the history of the American hemp industry, its
current legal status, and possible solutions to climate disruption and
economic recession.
—————————————————————–
DATE: Sunday, April 19, 2009
TIME: 1:00pm
TOPIC: History of Marijuana Prohibition

- Kevin Booth- Award Winning Filmmaker/Activist
- Mason Tvert – Executive Director, SAFER

Marijuana’s vibrant history spans multi-millennia, yet only recently has it
been prohibited. This lecture will present the history of the marijuana
drug prohibition in the United States. Leaders in drug reform will provide
valuable insight into all aspects of marijuana laws and illicit status.
—————————————————————–
DATE: Sunday, April 19, 2009
TIME: 1:30pm
TOPIC: The State of Medical Marijuana

- Tom Sloan – Commander, Boulder County Drug Task Force
- Devin Koontz, Food and Drug Administration
- Scott Karr Esq. – Attorney for THC Foundation
- Brian Vicente Esq. – Executive Director, Sensible Colorado
- Michael Lee – Founder of Cannabis Therapeutics

With medical marijuana constantly evolving, this panel will discuss
current, past, and possible future laws regarding the medical use of
marijuana. We will look at the current applications of medical marijuana in
Colorado. Emerging research will be discussed and analyzed.
—————————————————————–
DATE: Sunday, April 19, 2009
TIME: 2:00pm
TOPIC: Federal and State Laws

- Tom Sloan – Commander, Boulder County Drug Task Force
- Devin Koontz, Food and Drug Administration
- Lenny Frieling Esq.- Retired Lafayette Judge
- Allen St. Pierre – Executive Director, NORML
- DEA Special Agent (tentative)
State vs. Federal Laws: Federally, marijuana is still seen as prohibited.
However, medical marijuana is legal at a state level in 13 states. In
addition, if over the age of 21, marijuana possession is legal to a certain
extent in many cities nationwide, including Denver, Colorado. This panel
will discuss the differences in laws at each level and explain the
stratification in the legal process.

—————————————————————–
DATE: Sunday, April 19, 2009
TIME: 2:30pm
TOPIC: Marijuana Law Reform: Past, Present, and Future

- Allen St. Pierre – Executive Director, NORML
- Mason Tvert- Executive Director, SAFER
- Jonathon Perri – Students for Sensible Drug Policy, San Francisco
- Brian Vicente Esq. – Executive Director, Sensible Colorado
Since the prohibition of marijuana there have been many social movements
striving to legalize and utilize marijuana. This panel is comprised of a
diverse group of activists that have played important roles in the reform
of marijuana laws. The panel will discuss current legislation, possible
legislation for your hometown, past breakthroughs in reform, and future
goals.
—————————————————————–
DATE: Sunday, April 19, 2009
TIME: 3:15pm
TOPIC: Cannabis Cultural Icons

- Steve Bloom – Former Editor of High Times
- Kevin Booth – Award Winning Filmmaker/Activist

This panel will look at the societal aspect of marijuana, including its
cultural significance, ties to media and entertainment, and how it affects
culture. The panel will include celebrities, journalists, and other
well-known figures that are heavily involved in the cannabis culture.
—————————————————————–
DATE: Sunday, April 19, 2009
TIME: 4:00 PM
TOPIC: The Great Debate: Marijuana Legalization vs. Marijuana
Criminalization

- Allen St. Pierre – Executive Director, NORML
- Drug Free America (TBA)
As Federal government has failed to address marijuana prohibition since the
Schaffer Commission, this debate will look at opposing viewpoints on the
legalization of marijuana. This talk will bring in experts from both sides
of the issue to discuss the current legal status of cannabis and whether or
not it should be legalized.
—————————————————————–
DATE: Sunday, April 19, 2009
TIME: 4:45pm
TOPIC: Closing Panel

- Allen St. Pierre – Executive Director, NORML
- NORML@CU
This panel will bring together both sides of the debate and summarize the
day’s events. The talk will bring the forum full-circle and discuss the
future of marijuana prohibition, law reform, and how students can empower
themselves to make right decisions and become active citizens in the U.S.
—————————————————————-
DATE: Sunday, April 19, 2009
TIME: 7:00pm
TOPIC: American Drug War Film Screening
LOCATION: Cristol Chemistry Building Room 140
http://www.americandrugwar.com/

The War on Drugs has become the longest and most costly war in American history, forcing one to ponder how much more the country can endure. Inspired by the deaths of four family members from “legal drugs,” Texas filmmaker Kevin Booth sets out to discover why the War on Drugs has become such a colossal failure. Nearly four years in the making, the film follows gang members, former DEA agents, CIA officers, narcotics officers, judges, politicians, prisoners, and celebrities. American Drug War shows how money, power, and greed have not just corrupted dope fiends but an entire government. More importantly, it shows what can be done about it. This is not a mere pro-drug stoner film, but a collection of expert testimonials from the ground troops on the front lines of the drug war; those who are
fighting in it and those who are living it.
—————————————————————–
HAPPY 4/20!!!!

DATE: Monday, April 20, 2009
TIME: 4:20pm, of course!!!
TOPIC: 4/20 International Cannabis Day Celebration/Protest
LOCATION: Norlin Quadrangle, CU Campus

4/20 is International Cannabis Day, a holiday celebrated by millions of
people throughout the world. Every year on 4/20 at 4:20 pm, citizens
worldwide gather together to celebrate their favorite plant. Last year,
more than 10,000 people gathered at CU’s Norlin Quadrangle to celebrate the
4/20 holiday. This year, NORML@CU expects more than 15,000 people. While
NORML@CU is not a sponsor of the 4/20 celebration/protest, the group has
worked with CU Police to ensure that this year’s protest will be as safe
and uneventful as it has in the past.

HAPPY 4/20!!!!
—————————————————————–
For a complete schedule and speaker information, see:
NORML@CU
http://www.normlcu.com/

The value of the scholarship is approximately $1000.00.

Some of the finest defense attorneys (and cannabis law reform activists) in the United States have been coming to NORML’s Aspen seminar for many years to learn, enjoy the inspired environs of beautiful Aspen in early summer–and to do so at VERY reasonable rates. This year’s seminar focuses on state and federal medical marijuana laws, and is a MUST educational opportunity for medical marijuana patients, providers, cultivators, as well as for criminal defense attorneys (and public defenders, who receive a discount to attend).

Check out this year’s informative and interesting schedule here. The social events, including a great, private dinner catered by Cache Cache’s Chris Lanter, are included with the scholarship.

Criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, cannabis law reform activists, medical marijuana patients and their providers from the 13 states with medical cannabis laws are strongly encouraged to attend (HI, AK, WA, OR, CA, NV, NM, CO, MT, MI, RI, VT and ME).

Submission for this year’s Hunter Thompson Scholarship is by fax, mail or email. The scholarship is awarded by the CONORML board of directors, please direct your submissions ‘Attn: Steve Wells’ at: swells@conorml.org,  (303) 725-0774 (f) by April 15, midnight Rocky Mountain High time–and we hope to announce the recipient of the scholarship on April 20th, 2009.

Colorado NORML
PO Box 492
Longmont, CO 80502

The submission word count rule will be strictly enforced. Submissions may be of any length…

I received a late Friday afternoon call from one of Larry King’s producers in Los Angeles seeking some cannabis-related factoids and related information for an apparent debate tonight on CNN’s Larry King between libertarian Congressman and former presidential candidate Ron Paul, M.D. and, well, actor Steven Baldwin.

Ouch!

Watch the video of the debate here.

Unlike the prior Drug Czar, John ‘Unicorn’ Walters, a moral crusader (aptly dubbed Bill Bennett’s ‘Mini-Me’ by the DPA’s Ethan Nadelmann), Chief Kerlikowske crafted pragmatic public policies and law enforcement practices that immediately distinguish him from his predecessors such as Bennett, Gen. Barry McCaffrey and Walters.

To wit:

-200,000 pro-reform cannabis law supporters converge on the waterfront in Seattle in mid-August for the world famous Hempfest, where adults openly consume cannabis and the hundreds of police present make few to no arrests (and where, ironically, alcohol use is strictly forbidden).

-Local law enforcement in Seattle apparently does not harass the artisans who craft and market the remarkable glass paraphernalia (AKA, medical delivery devices) for which Seattle is famous.

Compare that with Walters’ and former Attorney General Ashcroft’s zealous pursuit and culture-smashing symbolism of arresting, prosecuting and actually incarcerating NORML Advisory Board member Tommy Chong for nine months in a federal prison for the ‘crime’ of selling high-end artisan, Chong Bongs.

-Seattle police have a generally good track record working with medical cannabis providers, physicians and patients—including Chief Kerlikowske meeting with medical cannabis stakeholders about how to best implement Washington State’s 2000 medical cannabis laws. Compare this with Walters and McCaffrey who collectively spent 14 years insisting that there is no such thing at all as medical cannabis (often comparing it to crack cocaine), patients who claim efficacy or relief from cannabis as ‘fakers’, recommending physicians as ‘kooks’ and the majority of citizens who’ve voted for medical cannabis law reform as ‘easily duped by legalizers’.

-Rumor has it that Chief Kerlikowske has actually employed the term ‘harm reduction‘ in a sentence without employing foul language! In fact, under his leadership (and that of former Seattle Police Chief and NORML Advisory Board member Norm Stamper before him) Seattle police both recognize and practice the increasingly popular, European-inspired police/public health doctrine known as harm reduction. Two of the important tenets of harm reduction are concentrating police resources on so-called ‘hard’ drugs rather than cannabis consumers and needle exchange to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases–both championed by Chief Kerlikowske, and totally dismissed as ‘tools for legalization’ by McCaffrey and Walters.

-Despite publicly opposing a reform effort in 2003 in Seattle to make adult cannabis possession a low law enforcement priority, once I-75 was passed by a majority of voters, Chief Kerlikowske shrugged off the lost, embraced the public-health centric arguments advanced by reform advocates, and met with law reformers in the Seattle-area like I-75 campaigner and NORML board member Dominic Holden, defense attorney and NORML Board member Jeff Steinborn, popular travel author/TV host and NORML advisory board member Rick Steves.

John Walters on the otherhand would not even appear in the same green room with me backstage on TV news show, let alone debate live on the same sound stage.

Looks to me like Chief Kerlikowske is a real man…not a moralistic, lie-to-beat-the-band bureaucrat.

-Chief Kerlikowske’s former colleagues on the police force, cannabis law reform activists, medical patients, civil rights lawyers and public health officials all seem to recognize that science and ‘smart on crime’ (as compared to ‘tough on crime’ and ineffective platitudes like ‘just say no’ or ‘drug-free America’) drive his policing—not ideology and a twisted sense of personal morality.

With the recent report from a pair of WA researchers affirming that the ONDCP under McCaffrey and Walters obsessed too much on cannabis prohibition, and not enough on meth, crack, heroin…a decided change in leadership at ONDCP can’t happen fast enough.

Lastly, it was also announced yesterday by the 1980s congressional author of the ONDCP charter, no less and with sweet karmic irony, Vice President Joe Biden, that despite the best intentions of placing the ONDCP into the President’s cabinet in 1988, from this point forward the ONDCP is no longer going to be a cabinet-level office.

Whoa. Now that is change NORML and taxpayers can believe in!