NORML SHOW LIVE provides you with exclusive access to Oregon’s world-famous Cannabis Café, this Saturday Night from 6pm-8pm Pacific.
You’ve read about it on the Reuters wire, New York Times, the Times of London, and even Al Jazeera, USA Today, and the Associated Press will be bringing you the story soon, but only “Radical” Russ can get you inside the first café exclusively for Oregon’s 21,000 medical marijuana cardholders.
Madeline Martinez from Oregon NORML and the NORML Board joins us to describe how her vision of a cannabis café has become a reality. We also speak to the patients in the café enjoying cannabis liberty in a way few outside Amsterdam enjoy.
We’ve upgraded to the latest 4G WiMax wireless technology to bring you the best remote audio possible from the café. Cannabis Karri will be screening your calls from back in the studio and Cousin Kenny will take your questions online via our live chat window.
It’s two hours of live talk radio from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Hosted by “Radical” Russ Belville, NORML SHOW LIVE features a recap of the week’s top stories in medical marijuana, consumer cannabis, and industrial hemp; interviews with the top cannabis activists, politicians, scientists, doctors, actors, musicians, and comedians; and your calls live at 347-994-1810.
My deepest apologies to those of you who tried listening last Saturday to Show 011, the Grand Opening of the Oregon NORML Cannabis Café. We were beset by technical difficulties and could not complete the show.
I will solve the technical issues and return this weekend to Oregon’s first Cannabis Café. Oregon’s law does not allow for marijuana sales, but does allow patients to medicate “out of public view”. Any cardholder may freely exchange medicine with any other. So Madeline Martinez and Oregon NORML have created a private, members-only club for the social benefit of medical marijuana patients.
However, this is not a medical marijuana dispensary with a café; this is a café for medical marijuana patients. Patients can visit the smoke-free vapor bar where a budtender will load up one of six Volcano Vaporizers, fill the bag with the vapor of any one of more than twenty of the strains available, and cap it with a sterilized mouthpiece. Others bring their own pipes or papers and request a small ceramic bowl filled with their choice of freshly-ground cannabis strain and roll a joint as they play pool or smoke a bowl as they join in a card game. All sorts of café food and drink are available, though not alcoholic beverages (the owner surrendered his liquor license rather than fight with the commission over the use of cannabis in the café.) Many have questioned how this café can operate due to Oregon’s smoke-free laws, but the actual statutes in question specifically reference “tobacco smoke”. Thus, no tobacco smoking is allowed in the café.
Most amazingly, all the cannabis is provided free through the donations of local area medical marijuana growers. Oregon’s law provides for six mature plants, eighteen seedlings, but only twenty-four ounces of dried, cured marijuana. I say “only” and people’s jaws drop, wishing they could possess 24 grams, much less a pound and a half of marijuana. But that works out to four ounces per mature plant, which some growers are able to surpass, so they donate their excess to Oregon NORML for distribution to patients. In fact, on the day of the Grand Opening, the café had more marijuana at the end of the day then they had started with, thanks to generous donations.
While I attended on Saturday night, two officers from the Portland Police Bureau stopped by to investigate the operations. They were very friendly and just wanted to know where the medicating was taking place and how Oregon NORML was controlling the situation. They were pleased to learn how relentlessly ID’s and medical cards were being checked and that the front entrance was closed as a measure to help control the smell from permeating the public area. The police let everyone know that they had no intention of harassing the club or its patrons and that absent any complaints from neighbors the Cannabis Café would be free to operate.
Annual membership in Oregon NORML is required, since it is a private club, as well as monthly club dues, which go to support Oregon NORML’s lobbying and outreach efforts and pay the overhead of running the club, respectively. This Saturday, November 21, we’ll return to the café and speak to Madeline Martinez and these patients and hear their medical marijuana stories, as well as taking questions about the café from the live audience and our callers. It’s live talk radio from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Hosted by “Radical” Russ Belville, NORML SHOW LIVE features a recap of the week’s top stories in medical marijuana, consumer cannabis, and industrial hemp; interviews with the top cannabis activists, politicians, scientists, doctors, actors, musicians, and comedians; and your calls live at 347-994-1810. Join us every Saturday Night, live, at http://live.norml.org from 9-11pm Eastern / 6-8pm Pacific.
We’re back in studio this Saturday for our special Halloweed show! Our guest is ROBERT PLATSHORN, a.k.a. “The Black Tuna”. We’ll be discussing his life as America’s longest-imprisoned (30 years) non-violent marijuana offender, once referred to by President Carter’s attorney general as one of the “slickest, most sophisticated pot smugglers of the 70’s.” Read all about it in Platshorn’s book, “The Black Tuna Diaries”.
We’re also broadcasting from the site of NORML’s West Coast Media HQ Halloweed party, with guests such as Oregon NORML’s Madeline Martinez and UrbAge Designs‘ Scott Gordon. Plus your calls about the scariest marijuana moments in your life. It’s live talk radio from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
This Saturday night at 9pm Eastern (6pm Pacific), “Radical” Russ takes on all the top lies told by prohibitionists for a two-hour “Reefer Madness” special on NORML SHOW LIVE! From the idea that today’s pot “is not your father’s Woodstock Weed” to claims of schizophrenia, psychosis, cancer, lung disease, birth defects, and even “man boobs” being caused by marijuana use, to the latest scare that taxes from legalized marijuana would not cover the public health costs of marijuana, “Radical” Russ breaks them all down and gives you the simple replies you need to easily win the debate. We’re taking your calls all show long at 347-994-1810; ask us your reefer madness questions and we’ll give you the science that debunks it.
You can listen to the show LIVE Saturday at 9pm using the player on the right, which will also give you access to our archived shows from Madison Harvest Fest and NORML CON in San Francisco, or just by visiting http://live.norml.org. You can also subscribe to the archived shows as a podcast through iTunes.
Next week on NORML SHOW LIVE we’ll bring you exclusive live access to the Cypress Hill Smokeout in San Bernadino, California, featuring Cypress Hill, the DefTones, SlipKnot, Kottonmouth Kings, and the first ever reunion of the band Sublime with their new lead singer. Steve Bloom and I will be on hand, as well as Ed Rosenthal, Adrienne Curry, Ngaio Bealum, Tommy Chong, Alison Margolin, and many others, plus surprise guests I’m not allowed to mention.
Please check out the show every Saturday night and mark as us a favorite on BlogTalkRadio.
I hope you’ll join me tonight in the chat room and on the air for NORML SHOW LIVE, coming up at 6pm PT / 9pm ET. I’m streaming from the University Inn on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in room 207. There are young men staying in every room on the floor but me, and if tonight is like last night, they will be yelling and drinking and partying. Should make for an interesting show.
My guests tonight will include Paul Stanford from The Hemp & Cannabis Foundation to give us an update on the health of the Emperor of Hemp, Jack Herer. Paul has been at his bedside at Portland Emanuel Hospital and will squash all the internet rumors about Jack’s condition. You can help by donating to The Jack Herer Fund at ANY US Bank location.
My very special guests on this 39th Annual Great Midwest Harvest Fest edition are Wisconsin activist Gary Storck (http://immly.org), New Jersey activist Jim Miller (http://cmmnj.org), and medical marijuana patient and activist Jackie Rickert, for whom Wisconsin’s medical marijuana bill is named.
Cannabis Karri will bring us the latest news stories and we’ll be taking your calls live at 347-994-1810.
Check it out on http://live.norml.org – Rick Steves coming up soon, plus discussions from the founder of Oaksterdam, Richard Lee; Dr. Harry Levine on race and marijuana arrests; and California NORML’s Dale Gieringer on the current legal landscape there.
[Update: check out the recording - a little tough to hear at times, but great interviews with Miss New Jersey 2006 Georgine DiMaria, High Times Cultivation Editor Danny Danko, rap star Styles P, MMA fighting champion Toby Grear, NORML founder Keith Stroup, a new activist patient named Lori, NORML New Jersey's Chris Goldstein, and live audio from 4:20 at Boston Freedom Rally. -- "R"R]
This weekend NORML SHOW LIVE comes to you direct from Boston, Massachusetts, for the twentieth annual Boston Freedom Rally. The live stream begins at the special time of Noon PT / 3pm ET (since Freedom Rally only runs Noon to 6pm ET) and continues for two hours.
You can listen to the show live three ways (and no, regular terrestrial or satellite radio is not one of those ways… yet):
Point your web browser to http://live.norml.org and follow the links to Show 003. (Or use the link on the powder-blue BlogTalkRadio player you see there on the right…)
Point your mobile phone’s browser to http://m.blogtalkradio.com/norml. Click the link at the bottom of the page for Shows and Blogs. Click the link for Show 003.
Call 347-994-1810 on your mobile phone. (”347″ is a New York area code, so long distance charges, if any, would apply. Probably only an option if you’ve got unlimited minutes and free domestic long distance.)
The show will also be archived about one hour following the live broadcast. You’ll be able to hear it all week on the embedded player to the right or by subscribing to it as a podcast on iTunes. (The live show should be available at 6pm Pacific and should stay on this page until Thursday. Click the “play” button to begin.) You can listen to last weekend’s show up until showtime.
We’re also taking your calls at the bottom of each hour. Dial 347-994-1810 to listen in on your phone and press 1 at any time if you’d like to speak to the host or guests. Your call will be screened and we remind you to have a question ready, keep it short and to the point, and avoid profanity (we’re not FCC regulated on the net, but if we want to take this to terrestrial radio, we need to act like it.)
This weekend NORML SHOW LIVE comes to you direct from Kelley Point Park in Portland, Oregon, for the fifth annual Portland Hempstalk. The live stream begins at 6pm PT / 9pm ET and continues for two hours.
You can listen to the show live three ways (and no, regular terrestrial or satellite radio is not one of those ways… yet):
Point your web browser to http://live.norml.org and follow the links to Show 002. (Or use the link on the powder-blue BlogTalkRadio player you see there on the right…)
Point your mobile phone’s browser to http://m.blogtalkradio.com/norml. Click the link at the bottom of the page for Shows and Blogs. Click the link for Show 002.
Call 347-994-1810 on your mobile phone. (”347″ is a New York area code, so long distance charges, if any, would apply. Probably only an option if you’ve got unlimited minutes and free domestic long distance.)
The show will also be archived about one hour following the live broadcast. You’ll be able to hear it all week on the embedded player to the right or by subscribing to it as a podcast on iTunes. (The live show should be available at 6pm Pacific and should stay on this page until Thursday. Click the “play” button to begin.) You can listen to last weekend’s show up until showtime.
We will be performing the show in front of a live audience at the Hemposium Stage. We’ll be pulling in guests from the Hempstalk lineup as they become available. Jack Herer, The Emperor of Hemp will be there and should stop by for a visit. NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre will also be on the show. Spoken word artist and Native American activist Jon Trudell will speak and perform. Amy Nelson and Cathy Guthrie (the daughters of Willie Nelson and Arlo Guthrie, respectively) as the acoustic duo Folk Uke will be performing at Hempstalk. Chris Conrad and Mikki Norris from the West Coast Leaf newspaper will be on hand to discuss Chris’s work as an expert witness in cannabis cultivation and Mikki’s work with the Cannabis Consumers Campaign. Paul Stanford of The Hemp & Cannabis Foundation and Madeline Martinez, executive director of Oregon NORML and NORML Board memberwill speak about Oregon’s move to tax & regulate marijuana in 2010. NORML Legal Committee attorneys Paul Loney, Lee Berger, and John Lucy IV will answer your legal questions.
We’re also taking your calls at the bottom of each hour. Dial 347-994-1810 to listen in on your phone and press 1 at any time if you’d like to speak to the host or guests. Your call will be screened and we remind you to have a question ready, keep it short and to the point, and avoid profanity (we’re not FCC regulated on the net, but if we want to take this to terrestrial radio, we need to act like it.)
Marijuana legalization is the hottest topic in the media these days. MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, FOX, NatGeo, and CBS News have presented special features on marijuana business, medical marijuana, and the marijuana legalization movement. Google Trends is showing double the interest in searches and news hits for the term “marijuana legalization”. Showtime’s hit series Weeds, about a suburban mom turned pot dealer, is entering its fifth season. Everywhere you look, corporate media are happy to profit from America’s most popular herb.
Unless you want to address marijuana’s illegality and the lives that are shattered by the effects of marijuana prohibition. In that case, the corporate media cannot have anything to do with you, even if you want to pay to broadcast the message of ending adult marijuana prohibition.
Earlier this year NORML requested your assistance to help us launch the first ever nationwide television ad campaign calling for the regulation of cannabis for adults. Because of your generous support, NORML was able to purchase over 7,500 ad buys in all 50 states on cable networks like CNN, CNBC, Fox News, Fuse, FX Networks, G4, MSNBC, CNN Headline News, and Spike TV. These ads were viewed by over 2.4 million households nationwide.
Today we are asking for your help so that we can once again make history.
For the past several weeks NORML has been negotiating with CBS radio to launch the nation’s first live talk radio show dedicated to all things cannabis: NORML SHOW LIVE: Marijuana Nation. That’s right, NORML is planning to take the talk radio world by storm – and we intend to smoke the competition!
NORML SHOW LIVE, will be hosted by Russ Belville – the voice of NORML’s daily podcast, the Audio Stash — and will air on ChatAboutIt.com, the next generation of talk radio. ChatAboutIt.com streaming online radio is powered by CBS radio and features original and cutting edge programming – available free over the internet or via download on your iPhone or Blackberry.
The cultural and political influence of talk radio is undeniable and is growing –- as is the popularity of streaming radio. Today, one in seven adults between the ages of 18 to 54 listens to online radio. This audience has more than doubled over the past four years and is expected to grow significantly in the future. NORML’s content and message naturally appeals to this demographic, which is frequently turning away from the mainstream media and turning to groups like NORML to obtain fact-based educational and political information about the world’s most popular plant.
However, before we launch this effort, we want to hear from you — the cannabis community. Please offer us your thoughts and suggestions regarding how we can make NORML SHOW LIVE: Marijuana Nation the premiere talk destination for activists and NORML supporters. I have no doubt that much of the success of this venture will be based on the active participation and support of our members and listeners.
Even more importantly, we need your donations to help defray the start-up costs associated with launching and publicizing NORML SHOW LIVE: Marijuana Nation. In the coming weeks we need to create an unprecedented “buzz” in the marijuana law reform community, and within the talk radio industry, about our new show. Specifically, we need to print and distribute flyers at upcoming events, such as the Seattle Hempfest, place online banners on marijuana-friendly websites, purchase advertising in talk-radio trade magazines, and pay for updated studio equipment and voice-over technology.
NORML SHOW LIVE intends to be the voice of the marijuana nation for the students, homemakers, retirees, soldiers, patients, professionals, and working people who demand equal treatment under the law and for an end to America’s longest and costliest war. For a one-time donation here of $100, $25, or even just $10, you can assure that your voice will heard by millions. Marijuana law reformers will no longer have to be dependent on the mainstream media; we can be a part of the mainstream media.
Finally, NORML SHOW LIVE is seeking advertisers! If you have a business or a product, and would like to utilize and cost-effective way to reach millions of listeners each week, please contact russ@norml.org or call toll-free 888-772-3422 to inquire about our discounted introductory ad rates.
NORML would like to thank you in advance for helping us make history — again.
NORML SHOW LIVE provides you with exclusive access to Oregon’s world-famous Cannabis Café, this Saturday Night from 6pm-8pm Pacific.
Earlier this year NORML requested your assistance to help us launch the first ever 
