Worldwide action is necessary for any outright legalization, since cannabis is largely prohibited globally by a United Nations treaty known as the Single Convention, enacted in 1962 through the efforts of top anti-cannabis zealot Harry Anslinger, the original instigator of U.S. cannabis prohibition in 1937. The U.S. Justice Dept. has cited the UN treaty as one of its principle arguments against medical cannabis rhetorically and Supreme Court cases.

Local NORML chapters are responsible for almost 40 of the protests in the U.S., New Zealand NORML is doing several cities; Norway “NORMAL” is not only marching in Oslo– they’re doing an international website at www.globalmarijuanamarch.com.

NORML welcomes the participation of pro-reform advocates of all stripes. Of course, we’d like you to join NORML, but this is an ecumenical effort to legalize cannabis once and for all. The important thing is to get more cities to participate before next weekend.

There’s still a few more days to call 212-677-7180 or email cnw@cures-not-wars.org to get your city on www.worldwidemarijuanamarch.org.

The Global Marijuana March has events planned in almost every time zone on six continents, including most of the capitols of Europe and South America. Many cities are already signing up for May 7, 2011.

NORML congratulates Cures-not-Wars and worldwide participants for organizing no less than a global march in favor of ending the expensive and failed prohibition of cannabis for responsible adult use. Contact your local and regional media outlets to make sure they cover this global day of protest as a major media event because this many citizens, in over 300 cities worldwide protesting their own governments is by definition a major media event.

Call 212-677-7180 or check the city-by-city listing to get specific information about your region’s march and/or to get your city on www.worldwidemarijuanamarch.org.

Is your city on this huge list?

Abbotsford
Aberdeen
Albany
Albuquerque
Alicante
Alva
Amherst
Amsterdam
Anchorage
Ann Arbor

Arcadia
Athens
Atlanta
Auckland
Aurillac
Austin
Bakersfield
Bangor University
Barcelona
Basel
Belfast
Bellingham
Belmar
Belo Horizonte
Benton Harbor
Berlin
Bermuda
Berne
Bilbao
Binghamton

Birmingham
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Boulder
Bozeman
Braga
Brasilia
Bridgeton
Brighton

Bristol
Brussels
Budapest
Buenos Aires
Buffalo
Bullhead City
Burlington
Cadiz
Calgary
Cali

Canfield
Cardiff
Cebu City
Champaign-Urbana
Charleston
Charlotte
Charlottesville
Chelyabinsk
Chicago
Chico

Chisinau
Christchurch
Cincinnati
Clemson
Cleveland
Coimbra
Colorado Springs
Columbia
Columbia Falls
Columbus

Comodoro Rivadavia
Concord
Constanta
Copenhagen
Cordoba
Cork
Corpus Christi
Corvallis
Dallas
Denver

Des Moines
Detroit
Dinuba
Dnepropetrovsk
Dover
Duluth
Dunedin
Durban
Edmonton
Elkins

Enid
Eugene
Fayetteville
Flagstaff
Flint
Florianopolis
Fontana
Frankfurt
Fresno
Ft. Bragg

Ft. Collins
Ft. Erie
Ft. Lauderdale
Ft. Meyers
Gainesville
Garberville
Georgetown
Glasgow
Grand Junction
Grand Rapids

Great Falls
Green Bay
Greenville
Hachita
Halifax
Hamilton
Hammond
Hartford
Helena
Helsinki

Hilo
Holland
Homer
Independence
Indianapolis
Istanbul
Jacksonville
Jakarta
Jerusalem
João Pessoa

Johannesburg
Kalamazoo
Kamianets-Podilskyi
Kansas City
Katmandu
Kiev
Kokomo
Lake Isabella
La Laguna
Lansing

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Vegas
Lawton
Leek
Lefkosia-Nicosia
Leicester
Lethbridge
Lexington
Lima
Lincoln

Lisboa
Little Rock
London
Longview
Los Angeles
Lyon
Madison
Madrid
Manchester
Manila

Mar del Plata
McAllen
Medford
Medicine Hat
Memphis
Mérida
Mexico City
Miami
Miamitown
Milwaukee

Minneapolis
Missoula
Montevideo
Monterey
Montreal
Montrose
Moscow
Nashville
Nelson
Netanya

Newark
New Brunswick
New Orleans
New York
Nimbin
Nottingham
Odessa
Ogden
Oklahoma City
Olympia

Omaha
Orange
Orlando
Osaka
Oslo
Ottawa
Paducah
Paia
Palm Springs
Paris

Parker
Penticton
Peoria
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pineville
Pittsburg
Pittsburgh
Portland
Portland

Porto
Porto Alegre
Port of Spain
Potsdam
Prague
Pretoria
Prince George
Pueblo
Quincy
Raleigh

Red Deer
Redding
Regina
Rice Lake
Richmond
Riverside
Rome
Rosario
Rostock
Ryebrook

Sacramento
Salem
Salt Lake City
Salvador
San Diego
San Francisco
San Juan
Santa Barbara
Sao Paulo
Sapporo

Sarasota
Sarnia
Saskatoon
Savannah
Seattle
Sevilla
Simferopol
Sofia
South Bend
Southhampton

Spokane
Spokane Valley
Springfield
Stavanger
Steamboat Springs
St. Louis
St. Petersburg
Stuttgart
Susanville
Tacoma

Tampa
Tampere
Taos
Ternopil
Thessaloniki
Thunder Bay
Tokyo
Toledo
Topeka
Toronto

Traverse City
Tucson
Tulsa
Turku
Ukiah
Uniontown
Ushuaia
Valencia
Vancouver
Vero Beach

Vienna
Vigo
Vilnius
Virginia Beach
Visalia
Vitoria-Gasteiz
Waco
Warsaw
Warwick
Washington, D.C.

Wellington
West Kelowna
Whitehall
Wichita
Wilmington
Wilmington
Woodstock
Worland
Yakima
Zaragoza

NORML Advisory Board Member Rick Steves addresses over 100,000 at Seattle Hempfest

Call 212-677-7180 or email cnw@cures-not-wars.org to get your city on www.worldwidemarijuanamarch.org.

NORML’s letter to the editor of New York Times, April 15, 2008:

The April 15, 2008 article ‘Marijuana Smokers Were Poisoned With Lead In Leipzig’ is informative and perfectly underscores the need to legally control cannabis via regulation and taxation, rather than failed prohibition policies.

Seeking even higher profits in the already lucrative, prohibition-fueled business of cannabis distribution, untaxed and unregulated cannabis sellers in Leipzig Germany apparently added lead particles to their bags of cannabis to increase the product’s weight and value. This is hardly a surprise to observers of prohibition economics.

Comparatively, today if a consumer purchased a brand name alcohol, tobacco or pharmaceutical product, and lead was discovered in the retail product, the following will typically occur: The manufacturer immediately takes responsibility and recalls the product; and the company informs the government and media about the recall and consumers are generally protected from harmful or poorly manufactured consumer goods. Further, any consumer harmed by such a consumer product has immediate legal options to seek redress, including lawsuits where financial compensation is sought.

Unfortunately, the policy of prohibiting one of America’s most popular commodities—cannabis—asserts no real legal or quality controls over the popular product (i.e., no control over who cultivates and sells it; no control over who uses it and under what circumstances; no regulation of its purity or potency; and prohibition provides no means of communications between product manufacturers, government consumer regulatory agencies and consumers.

Let the ‘Lead of Leipzig’ serve as a warning why elected officials should explore alternative policies to cannabis prohibition.

Allen St. Pierre
Executive Director
NORML
Washington, DC