prohibition
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In This Prohibition Saga, Obama Plays Hoover
December 5, 2011The guest column below published in the MetroWestDailyNews is from former NORML board member and Lifetime Award recipient Richard Evans –
From MetroWestDailyNews:
It was a curious coincidence last month, that as PBS was broadcasting the Ken Burns/Lynn Novick documentary, Prohibition, describing the Hoover Justice Department’s last-gasp crackdown on alcoholic beverages in the late 1920s, prosecutors in the Obama Justice Department were announcing a crackdown on medical marijuana in California, threatening to confiscate the property of people “involved in drug trafficking activity,” which is fedspeak for providing pot for sick people.
After nearly a decade under the Volstead Act, the utter futility of enforcing public abstinence from alcohol was evident to all but prohibition’s stakeholders – chiefly police, prosecutors and bootleggers. Despite the draconian penalties imposed by the 1926 Jones Act, which turned Volstead violations into felonies, booze remained generally available. Similarly, despite the draconian penalties of the Nixon-era Controlled Substances Act, and nearly a million arrests annually, marijuana has proven itself ineradicable, and, indeed, has become a part of our culture. (more…)
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Current TV: Marijuana Prohibition In America Examined Tonight
November 28, 2011The award-winning (and totally watchable) Vanguard series from Current TV examines Cannabis Prohibition in America tonight at 9PM (eastern) in ‘The War on Weed’ with not only an obligatory review* of western states’ medical cannabis laws (including California, Colorado and Washington), but, more notable for NORML, is the documentary’s critical review and juxtaposition to the western United States ongoing experiment with allowing medical access to cannabis–and the general cultural and political acceptance for cannabis in most of the western states–to that of the decidedly anti-cannabis attitudes and law enforcement practices for decades in supposedly ‘liberal’ and ‘tolerant’ New York City, where 50,000 cannabis consumers a year are arrested, about ninety percent black and Latino.
*Obligatory, because starting at 10PM (eastern) on December 1st is the Discovery Channel’s Weed Wars, a new series that looks at the fine legal line between compassion and big commerce regarding California’s medical cannabis industry.
Contrastingly, Discovery Channel is also premiering that same week a new series called Moonshiners.
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Cato, Cannabis, Conference and Coalescing For Reforms
November 14, 2011Joining my colleagues and friends Morgan Fox of Marijuana Policy Project, Paul Armentano of NORML and Norman Stamper of LEAP, I’m an honored contributor to a series of essays published by the Cato Institute’s Unbound series on the topic of cannabis law reform and the war on some drugs.
My essay examines 1) identifying concerns for reformers, 2) why cannabis law reform enjoys ever-increasing public support, 3) who supports continuing cannabis prohibition and 4) what are some steps to hasten reforms.
Many thanks to Cato’s Jason Kuznicki for inviting an array of contemporary essays from the perspectives of active reformers!
Allen St. Pierre, executive director, NORML, November 11, 2011:
The other essays in the series from Fox, Armentano and Stamper are found here.
Speaking of Cato, tomorrow they’re hosting what I hope is a news-making conference in Washington, D.C. that examines the growing tide of public wont and scientific research in support around the world for a different direction then ‘prohibition’ laws for currently illicit drugs like cannabis, instead favoring the emerging public health and criminal justice doctrine of ‘harm reduction’.
The line up of speakers and topics should not be ignored by the media and policymakers as Cato has assembled an impressive line-up:
Former President, Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mexico, Jorge Castaneda
Speaker of the House of Deputies, Uruguay, Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou
Wall Street Journal, Editorial Board Member and Columnist, Mary Anastasia O’Grady
Columnist Glenn Greenwald
Law Professor and LEAP board member, Leigh Maddox
Drug Policy Alliance, Director, Ethan Nadelmann, Ph.D
Daily Caller, Editor, Tucker CarlsonVideo messages are expected from former President, Mexico, Vicente Fox and former US Secretary of State, George Schultz.
Looks like you can watch the conference at Cato Live!
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Weed the People: Over 35,000 Strong for Marijuana Legalization
September 26, 2011It was just last Thursday that the White House launched their petition website, “We the People.” That morning, NORML submitted a petition calling for the legalization of marijuana. In just four short days the petition has received over 35,000 signatures, making it the most signed petition on the website by nearly 15,000 names. Thousands of Americans are calling upon President Obama to end marijuana prohibition and more are joining in every minute.
While the caliber of the President’s response may, in the end, be questionable, what is unquestionable is that this outpouring of support generated a large, positive, media buzz for marijuana legalization. Including coverage on the Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC.
Forbes:
What The People Want: Abolishment of the TSA and Marijuana LegalizationInternational Business Times:
Marijuana Legalization is Top Issue in White House PetitionRaw Story:
Marijuana question sky-rockets to top of new White House petition siteThe Blaze:
Topping the White House’s New Online Petition Site? Marijuana LegalizationLA Weekly Blog:
Marijuana Legalization Issue on Obama’s Desk Thanks to White House’s Online Petition ProgramNew York Times Blog:
A Petitioning System Goes to Pot, and MoreGawker:
White House Solicits Ideas from Internet, Internet Demands WeedHuffington Post:
New White House ‘We The People’ Petition Portal Launched, With Predictable ResultsThe Hill:
Petition to legalize pot is first to hit White House threshold; ET proposal closeLocal News Affiliates:
Such as KLTV7 in MissouriIf you haven’t already, you can join the 35,000+ Americans taking a stand for marijuana legalization by clicking the button below:
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This Week in Weed: September 18th – 24th
September 24, 2011
Now streaming on NORMLtv is the latest episode of “This Week in Weed.” This Week: thousands of Americans take a stand for marijuana legalization, a study looks at marijuana dispensaries’ effect on crime rates, and we review Dutch coffee shops and their influence on youth drug use.
Be sure to tune in to NORMLtv each Thursday afternoon to catch up on the latest marijuana news. Subscribe to NORMLtv or follow us on Twitter to be notified as soon as new content is added.
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If you haven’t signed the petition already, you may do so by clicking above.
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