Update: Audio from Today is now available

Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School

Three hours of live audio from Thursday’s panels at NORML National Conference are now available at our archive of NORML SHOW LIVE. You’ll hear NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano on the science and medicine of marijuana, followed by a panel on patients, caregivers, and small patient collectives moderated by William Panzer, one of the co-authors of Prop 215.

Chris Goldstein and Russ Belville are collecting all the photos, audio, and video from the conference for upload as the day continues.

For more details, see norml.org/conference. Click any event for more info.

NORML’s new talk radio program, NORML SHOW LIVE, will be streaming for three days at the 2009 NORML National Conference, “Yes We Cannabis”, live from the Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Francisco. These special three-hour episodes will be available at live.norml.org at the following special times and archived for download later just fifteen minutes after broadcast:

1. Thursday, September 24
   11:00am – 2:00pm Pacific Time
2. Friday, September 25
   11:00am – 2:00pm Pacific Time
3. Saturday, September 26
   3:00pm – 6:00pm Pacific Time

The show will be hosted by “Radical” Russ Belville, but with very limited commercial interruption and the occasional narration.  After the shows broadcast remotely in the difficult wireless environment of Portland’s Kelley Point Park and the noisy backstage of the Boston Freedom Rally, Russ is excited to present an indoor event that will take its audio directly from the conference PA system.

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NORML is proud to confirm that Dr. Lester Grinspoon will be delivering the luncheon remarks (via skype) at the 2009 National Conference in San Francisco, CA.

Dr. Grinspoon is Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and served for 40 years as Senior Psychiatrist at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston. A Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Psychiatric Association, he was the founding editor of both the Annual Review of Psychiatry and the Harvard Mental Health Letter.

He is the author or co-author of over 160 journal articles, including his 1995 commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association entitled “Marihuana as Medicine: A Plea for Reconsideration.” His first book, Marihuana Reconsidered, originally published in 1971 by Harvard University Press, was recently republished as a classic. His latest book, Marihuana, the Forbidden Medicine, co-authored with James B. Bakalar, was published by Yale University Press in 1993 (revised and expanded edition, 1997) and has now been translated into ten languages. Dr. Grinspoon was also a reviewer of the 1999 Institute of Medicine report, “Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base.”

In 1990 Dr. Grinspoon received the Alfred R. Lindesmith Award for Achievement in the Field of Scholarship and Writing from the Drug Policy Foundation (now Alliance) in Washington, DC. He presently serves on NORML’s Advisory Board and maintains www.marijuana-uses.com, which chronicles real life stories of people who have had positive “non-medical” experiences with marijuana.

“When I first began to study marijuana in 1967, I naïvely believed that its only use was as a recreational drug,” says Grinspoon. “I soon came to understand that it also had a second important utility, as a medicine, and I published (along with James B. Bakalar) Marijuana, the Forbidden Medicine.  Just as penicillin, after its discovery as an antibiotic in 1941, was soon hailed as a wonder drug because of its limited toxicity, its versatility in treating a number of different kinds of symptoms and syndromes, and its limited cost, we believe that marijuana, for the same three reasons, will eventually be hailed as a wonder medicine. Over the last decade and a half I have come to believe that there is a third category of marijuana use –enhancement.”

Lester Grinspoon says, “Yes we cannabis” and so should you! Register for NORML’s 38th annual conference, taking place September 24-26 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown San Francisco. For registration information, please visit: http://www.norml.org/conference.

More about Dr. Lester Grinspoon:

Dr. Lester Grinspoon’s Marijuana Uses webpage: http://marijuana-uses.com/index.html

JAMA: Marihuana as Medicine: A Plea for Reconsideration: http://www.csdp.org/kz/tlcjama.html

Boston Globe: Marijuana as Wonder Drug: http://www.rxmarijuana.com/wonder_drug.htm

NORML is proud to confirm that Richard Lee, the self-professed ‘Mayor of Oaksterdam’ will be speaking at the 2009 NORML National Conference in San Francisco, CA.

Richard Lee has been working to end cannabis prohibition for nearly two decades. In 1992 he co-founded Legal Marijuana – The Hemp Store in Houston, Texas, one of the first hemp products retail outlets in the United States. In 1997, Richard relocated to Oakland, California, where he co-founded the Hemp Research Company, which supplied medical cannabis to the Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Club, and promoted efficient and environmentally friendly methods of cannabis horticulture. Two years later he opened the Bulldog Coffeeshop, the second retail cannabis outlet in "Oaksterdam." In 2003, Richard founded the Oakland Civil Liberties Alliance, the political action committee that passed Oakland’s Measure Z — making private sales, cultivation, and possession of cannabis the lowest law enforcement priority and mandating that Oakland tax and regulate cannabis as soon as possible under state law. More recently, he founded the first-ever cannabis college in the United States, Oaksterdam University, which seeks to provide students with the highest quality training for the cannabis industry.

Richard was one of the driving forces behind the recent passage of Oakland’s Measure F, which imposes the nation’s first ever business tax on retail marijuana sales, and is presently spearheading The Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, which seeks to allow California adults 21 years of age and older to possess and consume, cultivate, and possess small amounts of cannabis. Richard will be discussing and debating various aspects of both of these reform endeavors, and what they mean for the cannabis community, at NORML’s 2009 conference.

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

More about Richard Lee:

San Francisco Examiner: Pro-Pot Activists Take Step Toward Putting Legalization On Ballot

Sacramento Bee: Oakland pot tax adds fuel to legalization fire

CNBC’s Marijuana Inc profiles Oaksterdam University

Get more info on this year’s panels. We’ll be updating these pages with audio, photos, and video as it becomes available.

• Individual Patients, Caregivers, and Small Patient Collectives Go>
  
  
• Larger Patient Cooperatives and Dispensaries Go>
  
  
• Pot Politics 2009 and beyond Go>
  
  
• Has support for legalization reached a critical mass/tipping point? Go>
  
  
• What impact would legalization/regulation have on use rates? Go>
  
  
• Pot, Parenting and Legalization Go>
  
  
• Putting The Mexican Cartels Out Of Business Go>
  
  
• Breakout Sessions: Go>
  • Tools For Activists (What Can I Do?)
    
    
  • High Times Cultivation: More Root, More Fruit: Growing Medical Marijuana in the Era of Plant Limits
    
    
  • California NORML: Law Reform and Activism In The Golden State
    
    
• Marijuana Legalization as a Local, State and Federal Revenue Stream Go>
  
  
• Cannabis and Athleticism Go>

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)

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.

NORML is proud to confirm that Jessica Peck Corry will be speaking at the 2009 NORML National Conference in San Francisco, CA.

Ms. Corry is a Denver-based public policy analyst and political strategist, specializing in civil rights issues. In 2008, Jessica was highlighted as one of Colorado’s most influential women by the Denver Examiner; in 2007, she was named one of Colorado’s top political “Movers and Shakers” by the Colorado Statesman. She regularly appears on Denver TV and radio for her policy expertise and her blog, “The Corry Story,” is published by The Denver Post’s PoliticsWest.com.

Jessica is a former GOP candidate for the Colorado state senate, where despite being outspent more than four-to-one, she garnered nearly 47 percent of the vote against a two-term incumbent. She began her career as a press secretary in the United States Senate, working for U.S. Senators Fred Thompson (R-TN) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and for the U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.

Ms. Corry is the proud parent of two young daughters, and is an outspoken critic of cannabis prohibition ­ in particular, its adverse effects on children. “It costs $30,000 a year to incarcerate a pot dealer,” she says, “and we spend $10,000 a year to educate a child.”

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

More about Jessica:

Colorado Daily: Republican Moms Hold the Keys to Marijuana Legalization

Mom’s Logic: Pot Parents: Smoking’s Better Than Drinking

NORML Daily Audio Stash interview: “Let me be the parent to my children”