April 1, 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 Leading the Way All Around the Country
Only three months into the 2019 legislative session, with 45 NORML Lobby Days on the books, legalization proposals are swiftly moving forward in states across the country. Irrespective of geographic location or political ideology, lawmakers everywhere are beginning to realize that now is the time to take action on marijuana law reform.
Read more from NORML.org!
Follow NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Chicago NORML Continues Push for Diversity in Cannabis Industry
“Chicago NORML, the Hyde Park-based branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, conducts classes to help underserved groups learn more about marijuana-related jobs.”
Read more from Herald- Mail Media!
Follow Chicago NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Colorado NORML Announces Endorsement for Denver Mayoral Election
“We caught up with Calderón shortly after her endorsement by the Colorado branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) to learn more about her thoughts on the cannabis industry, social pot consumption and more.”
Read more from the Westword!
Follow Colorado NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Delaware NORML Hosted Spring Cannabis Advocate Training
“Attendees will find out about the network’s Spring Outreach Strategy and learn about the tools and techniques to spread awareness about the urgent need for immediate cannabis policy reform in Delaware.”
Read more from the Dover Post!
Follow Delaware NORML on Facebook and Instagram and become a member today!
Empire State NORML and Start SMART Coalition Highlight Racial Disparities in New York
“Doug Greene of Empire State NORML and the Start SMART New York campaign coalition, spoke at a news conference at the state Supreme Court in Mineola, regarding a report that Nassau and Suffolk counties have the highest rates of low-level marijuana possession arrests in the state outside New York City, impacting minorities four times more than whites on Long Island and statewide.”
Watch full Video here!
Follow Empire State NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Rochester NORML Continues Push for Equitable Marijuana Legislation
“If recreational pot is legalized in New York, leaders from local activist groups want some of the expected tax revenue to go back to the communities impacted by drugs.”
Read more from WWXI News!
Follow Rochester NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Rochester NORML Participates in Marijuana Forum Hosted by Syracuse University
“Steve Vandewalle, deputy chief of Roc NORML, the Rochester chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law, attended the Thursday Morning Roundtable. He said he appreciated that Conway was willing to have a conversation about legalization.”
Read more from Syracuse.com!
Follow Rochester NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
NORML Leaders in the Media
Radio: David Phipps, Communications Director, Indiana NORML
Radio: Jay Selthofner, Executive Director, Northern Wisconsin NORML
Aaron Romano, Legal Counsel, Connecticut NORML
“We know big money is involved here.”
Read more from the Connecticut Post!
Follow Connecticut NORML on Facebook and become a member today!
Chris Goldstein, Board Member, South New Jersey NORML
“That is huge. No other state has even proposed to do anything like this.”
Read more from Philly.com!
Follow New Jersey NORML on Facebook and become a member today!
Dan Linn, Executive Director, Illinois NORML
“Unfortunately, I’d be surprised if the state opened up that second application round now that [recreational] adult use is on the horizon.”
Read more from the Daily Chronicle!
Follow Illinois NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Dan Viets, Executive Director, Missouri NORML
“Just because they know about licensing in Colorado doesn’t mean that they know how things are going to work in Missouri.”
Read more from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch!
“He is in fact encouraging employers to fire sick people because they’re using marijuana as medicine.”
Read more from KOMU 8!
Follow Missouri NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
David Sloan, Legal Counsel, DFW NORML
“I’ve been to states that have legalized, I’ve been involved in full legalization, and I just haven’t seen the harm that they’re talking about. It just isn’t there,”
Read more from WFAA 8 News!
Follow DFW NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
David Holland, Executive Director, Empire State NORML
“I think it’s a drug that had been you know been demonized not only unfairly but without any true scientific basis.”
Read more from WNYT 13 News!
Follow Empire State NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Donte Townsend, Co-founder, Chicago NORML
“Everything can flourish if we do this the right way.”
Read more from SaukValley.com!
Follow Chicago NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Doug Green, Legislative Director, Empire State NORML
“We think it’s premature to opt out.”
Read more from Newsday!
Follow Empire State NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Evan Nison, Board Member, New Jersey NORML
“We need to make marijuana legal in New Jersey now to stop tens of thousands of unfair arrests a year and to be able to adequately compete with other states that have had legal, regulated cannabis industries for years.”
Read more from Insider NJ!
Follow New Jersey NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Jax Finkle, Executive Director, Texas NORML
“It’s a real problem that saddles young people in particular with a criminal record, which can affect their ability to get grants, housing. It can also affect your ability to have a concealed handgun license.”
Read more from KVUE!
“It can be confusing. Hemp’s been declassified, yet it’s still kind of restricted because the 2018 hemp bill says you have to grow under a state sanctioned program. We don’t have that.”
Read more from Fox 35!
Follow Texas NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Jenn Michelle Pedini, Executive Director, Virginia NORML
“This makes sure that those students, those patients that we initially wanted to provide relief to with these medical cannabis oils, now that they have them, and are able to return to school that they can take their medicine with them.”
Read more from ABC 8 News!
“This medicine is not like a regular medicine you can get at CVS where you can just go have your spouse pick it up,”
Read more from WAVY TV 10!
“This clarifies the formulation and allows pharmacists to dispense in any way the compounding pharmacies dispense.”
Read more from The Roanoke Times!
“But the good news for consumers is that they will have a place to go get safe, regulated medicine.”
Read more from Richmond Times-Dispatch!
Follow Virginia NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Jennifer Jeppson, Board Member, Hub City NORML
“That’s what Texas is aiming for – that sweet spot where you have the medical benefits, but you don’t have the psycho active element.”
Read more from KLBK News!
Follow Hub City NORML on Facebook and become a member today!
Jessica Kelly, Board Member, NORML Kansas City
“Don’t implement any rules and regulations that make it virtually impossible for patients and caregivers to participate in the home cultivation of medical cannabis,”
Read more from Fox 4 News!
Follow NORML Kansas City on Facebook and become a member today!
John Conroy, Executive Director, Canada NORML
“The illicit market is still thriving in Canada.”
Read more from Newsweek!
Follow NORML Canada on Facebook and become a member today!
Kiana Hughes, Education Director, Chicago NORML
“So, the question for the black community is not what are we going to do about marijuana legalization, but rather, what are we going to do with it?”
Read more from the Chicago Tribune!
Follow Chicago NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Kelvin McCabe, Board Member, Illinois NORML
“We do anticipate that we will need hundreds, and hundreds more licensed producers, different sizes, it’d be nice if they could be spread out to different communities.”
Read more from Illinois News Network!
“So right there you’re talking about adding 700,000 customers from just Illinois residents, not counting residents from Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky.”
Read more from Illinois News Network!
“Again, it’s based on scale. The more licenses you have, the more businesses you have, the more jobs you create.”
Read more from Illinois News Network!
Follow Illinois NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Lee Otts, Executive Director, Memphis NORML
“I started trying cannabis and my quality of life started improving, my medication went down.”
Read more from 10 News!
“It’s really only a handful of people with a lot of money don’t want it legal.”
Read more from LocalMemphis.com!
Follow Memphis NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Madeline Martinez, Board Member, Oregon NORML
“Patients, renters, the poor, people of color and women are still marginalized for their cannabis use, despite legalization.”
Read more from the Statesman Journal!
Follow Oregon NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Madisen Saglibene, Executive Director, Nevada NORML
“It’s unlikely that President Trump’s new attorney general will spread reefer madness and misinformation to the same extent that Mr. Sessions has.”
Read more from the Herman Herald!
Follow Nevada NORML on Facebook and become a member today!
Mikel Weisser, Executive Director, Arizona NORML
“I’m not wanting to go down the path of anything like 2016 again.”
Read more from the Phoenix News Times!
Follow Arizona NORML on Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Patrick Nightingale, Executive Director, Pittsburgh NORML
“The heavy-handed tactics employed cannot be justified by the seizure of ten plants. I do not understand why law enforcement couldn’t simply wait.”
Read more from the Washington Post!
Follow Pittsburgh NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Paul Kirchberg, Executive Director, Connecticut NORML
“Right now the political climate in Connecticut is looking very promising to pass this session.”
Read more from News 3!
Follow Connecticut NORML on Facebook and become a member today!
Rick Thompson, Board Member, Michigan NORML
“Businesses are being created. Jobs are being created. And there’s redevelopment happening in dilapidated neighborhoods. The advantages of cannabis legalization are far-flung and just now being realized by the state.”
Read more from the Detroit Free Press!
“With such few players on the market, anything that unsettles one of the large cultivation centers could have a catastrophic effect on the supply chain.”
Read more from M Live!
“We’re going to see a reduced access for medical marijuana patients because of the shuttering of some of those provisioning centers that are in the process of licensing.”
Read more from Michigan Public Radio!
Follow Michigan NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Robert Rudnitsky, Executive Director, Philly NORML
“I think we’re getting a lot of momentum. I do believe this is finally getting the voice of the people.”
Read more from YourErie.com!
Follow Philly NORML on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Roger Green, Executive Director, Hudson Valley NORML
“Synthetic marijuana, which has posed dangers to users, could be barred if marijuana was regulated.”
Read more from The Examiner News!
Follow Hudson Valley on Facebook and Twitter and become a member today!
Scott Weldon, Executive Director, Lowcountry NORML
“The war on marijuana has always stood side-by-side with oppressive and racist policies designed to benefit a few at the expense of many.”
Read more from the Charleston City Paper!
Follow Lowcountry NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Steve VanDeWalle, Deputy Director, Rochester NORML
“We can’t possibly start talking about profiting off this industry, and the economics, and the agriculture, and all the things that come with a thriving cannabis industry, without addressing the people that are sitting in jail.”
Read more from 13 WHAM ABC!
“At this point it’s who can make the most noise because there’s people who have committed to push this through and some politicians on the fence.”
Read more from 13 WHAM ABC!
Follow Rochester NORML on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Tom Dean, Legal Director, Arizona NORML
“Do we want four-year-olds to have to smoke marijuana, or put a couple drops of tincture under their tongue to alleviate, for example, chronic seizure disorder?”
Read more from AZFamily.com!
Follow Arizona NORML on Instagram and Twitter and become a member today!
Tom McCain, Executive Director, Peachtree NORML
“It’s just the drug warrior mentality. This is the same county where the helicopters were flying and then they raided a man’s home over okra plants.”
Read more from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution!
“I was a little concerned that unless [Kemp] made some kind of statement that he was looking toward being favorable toward it, it wouldn’t get through the senate committee, but this is great news.”
Read more from the Daily Caller!
“As of today, Hemp has not been defined in Georgia law. The Federal definition of Industrial Hemp is cannabis sativa L containing not more than 0.3 (three tenths) of a percent of THC on a day weight basis.”
Read more from Atlanta Progressice News!
Follow Peachtree NORML on Facebook and Twitter 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!
