Drug Education Should Reflect Reality Not Deny It

[Fact: Drugs are pervasive in our society and, one way or another, adolescents will be exposed to mind-altering substances.]

It is an unmistakable reality that a significant number of high school students will try marijuana.  According to the recent 2011 Monitoring the Future Survey, nearly 40 percent of all high school seniors admit to having smoked marijuana in the past year – a percentage that has held relatively stable since the study’s inception over 35 years ago.

Some want to use this fact as a justification to deny any opportunity to rationally discuss marijuana, its use, and its risks with children in an open and honest manner.  They think that saying anything about marijuana other than encouraging its total abstinence is condoning its use.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.

When society teaches sex education, are we suggesting that all the teenagers go out and engage in sexual intercourse? No.  Rather, it is an acknowledgement that the best way to reduce the negative effects associated with sex (unwanted pregnancy, STD’s, etc) is through honest, objective information that allow people to understand their options and provides them with the tools they need to make informed decisions.

When we talk to teenagers about the dangers of drinking and driving, are we condoning alcohol use among minors?  No, of course not.  It is, however, a reality that many adolescents will a) likely consume alcohol as seniors in high school and b) have access to a car. Yes, we encourage students not to drink. But, we urge them specifically not to drink and drive.

We can all agree that teens should not smoke pot, or be using any mind-altering substances. Those are important, developmental years. Still, teens should be educated regarding how smoking marijuana can affect their body’s development specifically, how to reduce any harms associated with its use, and to distinguish between use and abuse. There should be honest, truthful drug education.

As Kristen Gwynne states in her AlterNet article, “Give young people accurate information, and they will use it to make better decisions that result in less harm to themselves, because teens, like everybody else, do not actually want to get hurt or become addicts.”

She goes on to say, “Giving students honest information about drugs [will]…increase the odds that they will use drugs safely, and reduce the likelihood of experiencing the [relative] harms associated with [it].”

By contrast, the Drug Czar and federal law advocates for complete prohibition, limited information explaining the real effects of marijuana and condemning any opportunity, as Gwynne states, to provide “education that helps teens understand their health options, and ways of reducing the harm of drugs.” When it comes to our children, like everything else we teach in school for development and behavioral growth, drug education should be based in reality, not a denial of it.

In the words of Thomas Jefferson, “If a state expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”

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Write to Women Behind Bars for Marijuana

The NORML Women’s Alliance has teamed up with the webzine Freedom is Green to encourage reform advocates to write letters to women serving time behind bars for marijuana-related offenses.

Several studies suggest a prisoner’s mental health is dependent on their contact with the outside world. For many, mail correspondences are their primary contact with the public.

Many of the women incarcerated for marijuana offenses are isolated and alone.  Receiving any outside communication from the public can be the highlight of their week or month.  These small gestures let them know that they are not forgotten, and that the NORML Women’s Alliance is here to support and comfort them.

Recently, the NWA and Freedom Is Green collected letters for Patricia Spotted Crow, a first time offender from Oklahoma who was sentenced to 10 years behind bars for selling $30 worth of marijuana. Here is her heartfelt response to this small gesture from the outside world:

Want to write a marijuana prisoner?

Beth Mann of Freedom is Green provides some guidelines for individuals who are interested in writing to women (and men) that are in prison for marijuana-related crimes: “What should you write? Anything. Prisoners benefit from seemingly mundane letters about your daily life to words of inspiration to pieces of creative writing to news or current events. The important part is simply reaching out.”

[Note: We are focusing on one prisoner at a time. Right now we are sending letters to Patricia Spotted Crow. Please send a letter appropriate for her.  Soon we will focus on other prisoners.]

Please keep in mind that all of the prisoner’s mail is read by authorities.

- Please send text only, no images or attachments
- Put the prisoner’s name in subject line of email
- Send separate emails for each prisoner
- Up to 1,000 words per letter
- By sending a letter through freedomisgreen.com we may contact you and ask that your letter be posted on the site to bring awareness to victims of prohibition. You may decline and we will still forward your letter directly to the prisoner.

- Send your emails to marijuanaprisoners@gmail.com

Questions? chris@freedomisgreen.com

NORML Explains Why It Supports Prop. 19

California stands on the precipice of great change. This November 2nd, the Golden State is poised to make history by passing Proposition 19 and legalizing the adult recreational use of cannabis. Passage of Prop 19 would have a profound and cascading impact on marijuana reform movement in this country. It is impossible to understate its significance. In light of the state’s bleak economic outlook, the legalization of marijuana would provide a leg up out of this fiscal hole. A regulated industry for producing and distributing cannabis will provide additional taxes revenue and create new jobs. The money and resources that will be saved on the enforcement and prosecution of the state’s flawed marijuana laws could be reprioritized to combat violent crime. It would also allow us to control who consumes the product and prevent it from easily falling into the hands of children (who can currently acquire it more easily than regulated tobacco or alcohol).

Proposition 19’s victory would go beyond California’s borders; it would provide a beacon of hope to all of us still living in the dark ages of marijuana prohibition. This initiatives success would set the example for the rest of the states to follow. So I beg of you in California, act as though the whole world is watching (because it is) and vote ‘yes’ on 19.

Please watch the embedded video to hear why NORML’s Executive Director, Allen St. Pierre, and Founder/Legal Counsel Keith Stroup, support Proposition 19 and think you should too. It’s time to legalize marijuana use for responsible adults.

Join NORML at the Rally to Restore (Pot) Sanity

It is time to end reefer madness and restore pot sanity.

Join NORML and other drug policy reform groups at Jon Stewart’s Rally To Restore  Sanity.

When: Saturday, October 30, 2010

Where: The National Mall, Washington, DC

Time: 11am -3pm

NORML is working to organize the thousands of marijuana law reform supporters that will be attending this rally to stand together in support of California’s legalization initiative, proposition 19, and ending marijuana  prohibition nationwide.

Meet us at the Rally!  We will be handing out “Legalize Pot” posters (like the one above) with other drug policy reform groups  on the National Mall, at the intersection of Constitution Ave and 4th St.

**Note: This is not a marijuana law reform rally, this is a political rally with a mainstream message–We need to represent ourselves as mainstream activists.  Be clean and conscientious of what you wear. This is serious business. It is important to recognize that you will be representing the cause to the media and the rest of the country**

How To Prepare

-RSVP on facebook and invite all your friends

-Get to the rally on time.

-Pick up one of our signs on the corner of Constitution Ave and 4th St NW

-Bring everyone you know!

After The Rally:

Phonebanking to Restore Sanity – Time: 3:00-Midnight

Location: 1623 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC

Activists and volunteers are encouraged to join us at the Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) headquarters where there will be a phonebanking party to call voters in support of Proposition 19. There will be pizza! If you can, please bring a laptop & your phone.  RSVP for the post-rally phonebanking party.

GO-FIGHT-WIN!!

NORML Women Campaign For Cannabis in High Style

(From left to right: Sabrina Fendrick, Margot, Pepper, Shaleen Title, Anne Davis, Diane Fornbacher-Wall, Greta Gaines)

A little over one week before California voters will decide on proposition 19, a ballot initiative to legalize and tax marijuana for recreational purposes, the NORML Women’s Alliance and creators of Pot Couture, the first online magazine for sophisticated lady stoners, joined with several other female cannabis activists to spread the message of marijuana reform with a high-style photo shoot designed to reframe the perception of the marijuana legalization movement, and the stereotype of those involved.

The women gathered for the photo shoot are activists and professionals who support proposition 19.  The online magazine partnered with the NORML Women’s Alliance in 2010 with the shared mission of giving a voice to the women in America who oppose marijuana prohibition. “The passage of California’s historic ballot initiative Proposition 19 is a priority for women who recognize that legalization and regulation will create a safer environment for children and families,” says Sabrina Fendrick, coordinator for the NORML Women’s Alliance.

“There’s still this idea that supporters of marijuana reform are on the fringes of society, but that’s just not the case. Marijuana is as mainstream as it gets, and these women are proof,” says Pepper, of Pot Couture.

“Regardless of what happens in California in November, marijuana reform is an issue that is here to stay,” adds Margot of Pot Couture. “The medical benefits of marijuana are proven, and the economic opportunities are real. American women are savvy, and they have no interest in funding a losing war on drugs.”  Margot and Pepper are the two characters depicted in the magazine.

New Jersey NORML Executive Director, Anne Davis, Esq argues, “What we need are common sense marijuana regulations that are practical and enforceable. Marijuana is not nuclear energy or heroin; it is a plant with incredible qualities.  To hold that a natural substance should be prohibited while far more dangerous man-made toxins are permitted is insanity.”

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) speakers bureau director and attorney Shaleen Titlesays, “The pro-legalization cops, judges, and DEA agents at LEAP believe that taking back control of the marijuana trade is about de-funding the only groups that benefit from the prohibition of marijuana – violent gangs and cartels who control its distribution and reap immense profits by murdering rivals and supplying drugs to kids.”

Also taking part in this game-changing makeover of female cannabis consumers are Nashville southern rock singer Greta Gaines, and long-time activist Diane Fornbacher-Wall of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey.

Gaines sums up the purpose of the campaign by saying “if so-called prohibition had succeeded in reducing use rates, reducing crime, decreasing our prison population and benefiting our social and economic conditions, we, the NORML Women’s Alliance, would not be here today.”

All participants in the NORML Women’s Alliance and PotCouture.com photo shoot are available for further comment. For more information on the NORML Women’s Alliance, PotCouture.com and their upcoming campaign please contact sabrina@norml.org.  For behind the scenes footage and the making of the shoot, click here.

NORML would like to thank everyone who was involved in making this campaign possible: Michel Leroy (Lead Photographer), Jen Rosado (Fashion Stylist), Crews (Hair),  Brandon Remler (Photographer), Patricio Robayo (Photographer), Margot Mendez (Makeup), and Marvin Stevens (Hair).