Latest California Crime Stats Emphasize Need To Pass Prop. 19

It seems not a day goes by where the staff at NORML doesn’t receive some sort of e-mail or comment arguing that marijuana use is ‘already legal’ in California. Really? Then how do you explain this? California Marijuana Arrests Remain Near Record Levels in 2009 via California NORML According to data from the Bureau of Criminal Statistics, California [...] (read more)

Inhaled Marijuana ‘Clearly Has Medical Value’ For Hard to Treat Chronic Pain Conditions

[Editor's note: This post is excerpted from this week's forthcoming NORML weekly media advisory. To have NORML's media advisories delivered straight to your in-box, sign up for NORML's free e-zine here.] Inhaled cannabis reduces pain and improves sleep compared to placebo, and is well tolerated by patients with chronic neuropathy, according to clinical trial data published [...] (read more)

NORML Action Alert: Urge California’s Gov. Schwarzenegger To Sign Marijuana Infraction Measure

On Monday, members of the California Assembly approved Senate Bill 1449, which reduces adult marijuana possession offenses in California from a criminal misdemeanor to an infraction, by a vote of 43 to 33. The vote split largely along party lines, with Democrats voting 40 to 8 in favor of more lenient penalties and Republicans voting 2 [...] (read more)

Prohibitionists Say The Darndest Things

Over the weekend the Christian Science Monitor newspaper published the latest installment of their ‘one minute debates’ series. The subject of the debate: “Should California Legalize Pot?” I authored the ‘pro’ argument, which you can read here, and longtime, professional prohibitionist Calvina Fay penned the ‘con’ side. Now anyone who is familiar with Calvina already [...] (read more)

L.A. Times: Some Facts For The Drug Czar — Marijuana’s Social Costs Are Far Less Than Those Of Legal Intoxicants

Last week I posted a brief response to the Los Angeles Times commentary authored by Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske (along with five previous drug czars) condemning California’s Prop. 19. Today the Los Angeles Times has posted my full rebuttal, which I’ve excerpted below. Some marijuana tax revenue is better than none via The Los Angeles Times … Kerlikowske’s opposition [...] (read more)

NORML Conference: Key Speakers, Agenda and Earlybird Discounts Concluding

Key Speakers At 2010 NORML Conference in Portland, Oregon: Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, Congressman Earl Blumenauer and Best-Selling Travel Author and TV Host Rick Steves There are three important components in this 2010 NORML conference alert: -Key Speakers -Early-bird Pricing For Registration Is About To Expire -Conference Agenda and Speakers Announced -Key Speakers- NORML is honored and proud to [...] (read more)

BBC Video: Cannabis and Human Evolution

While not necessarily ground-breaking science to longtime observers of cannabinoid research and cultural anthropology, the BBC video below (with about 45 seconds of pro-reform advocacy added), featuring US taxpayer-funded medical research conducted just up the road from NORML’s Washington, DC offices at the National Institute of Mental Health is very well done. Question: When will a [...] (read more)

Your Tax Dollars At Work

Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, along with five previous drug czars (including gambling addict William Bennett), have an op/ed in today’s Los Angeles Times condemning California’s Prop. 19. Given that the Drug Czar is required by law to oppose any and all efforts that would seek to legalize marijuana — including “any study … relating to the [...] (read more)

So-called Civil Forfeiture: Another Cannabis Prohibition Fiction

Bear witness with me please to the end of what has been nothing less than a slow and torturous cannabis prohibition persecution, sorry, prosecution of a most decent fellow named Bernie Ellis. On his bucolic and much-loved Tennessee farm Mr. Ellis we arrested and prosecuted for growing a small amount of cannabis, much of it [...] (read more)

District Of Cannabis: Got $200,000 To Open A Dispensary?

According to an article in the Washington City Paper, it appears that citizens who want to open a medical cannabis center in the nation’s capital will have to possess some reasonably deep pockets, and plenty of patience–while bona fide patients who need cannabis suffer waiting for government bureaucracies through at least January 2011 to figure out [...] (read more)