January 2, 2019
Everyday NORML Chapters from around the country invest countless hours in advocating for meaningful marijuana law reforms on the local, state and federal level! Below is a brief rundown of some of their most recent accomplishments.
NORML Chapters are Organized and Energized for State Legislative Sessions in 2019
“That’s why dozens of NORML chapters are organizing citizen lobby days to advocate for the end of marijuana prohibition and other reforms ranging from depenalization and expungement, to workplace drug testing and social consumption.”
Read more from NORML.org!
Follow NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
California NORML Supports Legislation to Protect Cannabis Compassion Programs
“These programs are now threatened by Prop. 64, which requires that all donations be taxed at the same rate as if they were sold. Thus every pound of cannabis which is donated free of charge to legal patients is liable for nearly $1000 in state taxes.”
Read more from City Watch!
Follow California NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
MassCann NORML Joins Mass. Grower Advocacy Council and the Mass. Patient Advocacy Alliance to Host Second Annual Harvest Cup
“We believe small and medium businesses are the lifeblood of the industry – the ‘mom-and-pop’ shops. That’s who we are and that’s who we believe will really make this industry flourish.”
Read more from the Telegram.com!
Follow MassCann NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Virginia NORML Issues Advisory Concerning Synthetic Cannabinoids and other Psychoactive Constituents in CBD Products
“Four products contained the synthetic cannabinoid agonist 5F-ADB, a schedule I controlled substance that has also been identified in Spice and other so-called herbal cannabis products.”
Read more from the News Leader!
Follow Virginia NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
NORML Leaders in the Media
Radio: Dan Viets, Executive Director, Missouri NORML
Radio: Paul Kirchberg, Executive Director, Connecticut NORML
Radio: Rick Thompson, Board Member, Michigan NORML
Alan Robinson, Communications Director, Madison NORML
“He believes marijuana is only dangerous because it is illegal, explaining that a friend of his consumed marijuana that was laced with fentanyl, something he said would not happen if cannabis was legalized and regulated.”
Read more from The Badger Herald!
Follow Madison NORML on Facebook and become a member today!
Brad Forrester, Board Member, Michigan NORML
“One of the best and most important aspects of our law is that it really makes it very difficult for some average person who’s either using or growing a little bit of marijuana for themselves to get a criminal charge,” he says. “I happen to have been a victim of arrest for cultivating cannabis for my own use, so this is personal to me.”
Read more from the Rolling Stone!
Follow Michigan NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Cindy Cutler, Board Member, Virginia NORML
“She’s advocating to decriminalize simple possession of marijuana, and Tuesday the Norfolk City Council officially endorsed that position with its 2019 Legislative Agenda.”
Read more from 13 News Now!
Follow Virginia NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Dan Linn, Executive Director, Illinois NORML
“Dan Linn, executive director of the state chapter of the pro-cannabis lobbying group NORML, said cultivation centers have been frustrated because they have more capacity than is currently necessary for as few as 45,000 patients receiving state-approved medical cannabis cards.”
Read more from The Charlotte Observer!
Follow Illinois NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Dan Linn, Executive Director, Illinois NORML
“Illinois would have to pass the law almost immediately in the spring session, have it have an immediate effective date, and then set rules and regulations drafted by the agencies that are going to oversee the program.”
Read more from One Illinois!
Follow Illinois NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Dan Viets, Executive Director, Missouri NORML
“Dan Viets says it will still be until next year for people to access cannabis. He believes that people who are allowed medical marijuana from states with legalized marijuana will be protected.”
Read more from KOMU!
Follow Missouri NORML on Facebook and become a member today!
Dante Townsend, Founder, Chicago NORML
“Illinois currently has no black-owned medical dispensaries or cultivation centers. Townsend hopes cannabis legalization can both embolden black and brown entrepreneurs and spark reforms to the criminal justice system.”
Read more from the Chicago Sun Times!
Follow Chicago NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
David Phipps, Communication Director, Indiana NORML
“Phipps isn’t confident new Republican leadership under Sen. Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, will benefit the movement. He said the committees that review the bills are most responsible for hindering an open cannabis debate in the Senate, citing past decisions by Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, while she chaired the Health and Provider Services Committee.”
Read more from The State House File!
Follow Indiana NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
David Phipps, Communication Director, Indiana NORML
“Phipps said Indiana NORML coordinated much of the pro side of the argument brought before the committee. He said he agreed with Tallian’s assessment.”
Read more from NUVO!
Follow Indiana NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
David Phipps, Communication Director, Indiana NORML
“A lot of our followers are already going up there, and a lot of them are veterans seeking medical help, and they can’t get it here in Indiana, so they are going to go up north and get it.”
Read more from Fox 59!
Follow Indiana NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Edie Moore, Executive Director, Chicago NORML
“If legislation is introduced that does not address our policy concerns, Chicago NORML, its supporters and community partners are prepared to push back until we are satisfied that every opportunity for advancement has been exhausted,”
Read more from NORML.org!
Follow Chicago NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Ellen Komp, Deputy Director, California NORML
“Ellen Komp, the deputy director of nonprofit marijuana advocacy group California NORML, said her organization regularly fields phone calls from tenants that fear they will be evicted from their homes as a result of their marijuana use”
Read more from the Desert Sun!
Follow California NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Jax Finkle, Executive Director, Texas NORML
“Finkel said her group will be concentrating the bulk of its efforts during the upcoming session on expanding access to medical marijuana, as well as on decriminalizing possession of small amounts of pot and on winning approval of hemp production.”
Read more from the Statesman!
Follow Texas NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Jenn Michelle Pedini, Executive Director, Virginia NORML
“We are in the middle of an (opioid) epidemic and we are taking up all these resources to send a person to rehab for using pot that could be used for a heroin addict,”
Read more from WY Daily!
Follow Virginia NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Jeri Sheppard, Board Member, Colorado NORML
“Shepherd, a criminal defense attorney in Weld County who is also on Colorado NORML’s board, claims that most of what she sees while representing clients accused of cannabis crimes can be traced back to the failed War on Drugs.”
Read more from the Westword!
Follow Colorado NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Jesse Scaccia, Fundraising Director, Virginia NORML
“Three quarters of Virginians are in support of decriminalization and I expect that number to rise as more people try medical and see the benefits and the days of reefer madness fall to the wayside,” said Scaccia.
Read more from 13 News Now!
Follow Virginia NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Lauren Morgan Kie, Deputy Director, Kentucky NORML
“Kentucky’s children, patients and veterans deserve the right to seek relief with medical cannabis, which has been proven by countless studies to be a safe and effective alternative to damaging and dangerous pharmaceuticals”
Read more from the Richmond Register!
Follow Kentucky NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Mary Kruger, Executive Director, Rochester NORML
“We’re spending a lot of money right now on the black market and none of it is going back into the community.”
Read more from News 10 NBC!
Follow Rochester NORML on Facebook and become a member today!
Matthew Abel, Executive Director, Michigan NORML
“If you’ve got a few joints layin’ around, I’m happy to take them off your hands,” says Abel, who says he is celebrating tonight with an end-of-prohibition party. “This is a monumental day, but there’s still a long road ahead of us.”
Read more from the Detroit Metro Times!
Follow Michigan NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Matthew Abel, Executive Director, Michigan NORML
“The polling has changed pretty quickly over the last 10 years, and I think much of that is due to the fact that we’ve had medical marijuana in this state and people have grown accustomed to it being in our society and they have experience that their friends and relatives have benefitted from it and the sky has not fallen,”
Read more from MLive.com!
Follow Michigan NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Matthew Abel, Executive Director, Michigan NORML
“This is the last day of prohibition,” he said on Wednesday. “It’s significant and a milestone for marijuana laws in Michigan. But we still have a ways to go.”
Read more from the Chicago Sun Times!
Follow Michigan NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Mikel Weisser, Executive Director, Arizona NORML
“Weisser expects the new initiative would also include provisions on home cultivation, reforming DUI laws and also funding. He tells us, he’d like to see some of the money raised through sales to fund law enforcement.”
Read more from ABC 15 Arizona!
Follow Arizona NORML on Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Rick Thompson, Board Member, Michigan NORML
“Thompson supports new legislation that would get the records expunged of those who were previously criminally convicted of low-level marijuana charges.”
Read more from WWMT News 2!
Follow Michigan NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Steve Vandewalle, Director of Development, Rochester NORML
“Advocate against workplace drug testing, because I think it could be counter productive.”
Read more from ABC 13 WHAM!
Follow Rochester NORML on Facebook and become a member today!
For more than 45 years NORML chapters have been the driving force behind policy decisions on the local and state level. Have you connected with your local NORML chapter? If there isn’t one in your community, please email NORML Outreach Director Kevin Mahmalji at KevinM@NORML.org for help with starting your own!
Ready to start a NORML chapter in your hometown? Click here to find out how!
