NORML is pleased to announce the addition of four new members to its Board of Directors.
Chris Cano is a US Air Force veteran and a founder of the Suncoast (Florida) chapter of NORML. In 2014, he was arrested for providing his father with medical cannabis. He has been active in the fight for medical access and for the establishment of patient-centric cannabis policies ever since.
“I am honored to be elected to the board of America’s leading advocacy organization for responsible marijuana consumers,” Cano said. “I believe our work at NORML is vital to everyday consumers, patients, and other important stakeholders.”
Imani Dawson is the founder of TCC Media, a strategic communications and political consulting firm. Dawson is an alumnus of the Drug Policy Alliance’s Start SMART NY legalization campaign, and she is a board member of the Cannabis Education Advocacy Symposium and Expo (CEASE), which seeks to increase awareness and educate communities that have been disproportionately impacted by America’s war on drugs about the economic benefits of cannabis legalization.
Nikki Fried is an attorney who recently served as Florida’s 12th Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. During her tenure in elected office, she helped build the state’s hemp industry, stood up for LGBTQ+ equality, fought for clean water, and filed a federal lawsuit that sought to strike down the federal ban prohibiting state-registered medical cannabis patients from legally possessing a firearm.
“I am honored to be elected to the Board of Directors of NORML, the longest-standing cannabis reform organizations in the country,” she said. “It is essential that lawmakers and stakeholders work together to establish public policies that end cannabis prohibition.”
Pete Holmes was Seattle’s elected City Attorney for three terms, from 2010-2021. Immediately upon taking office in January 2010, Pete halted all prosecutions for marijuana possession. In 2011, he sponsored Initiative 502, which along with a similar voter initiative in Colorado, first legalized the adult use of marijuana in the United States. Holmes previously served as an original member of the Seattle Police Department’s Office of Professional Accountability Review Board (OPARB), reviewing police misconduct investigations, policy and procedures, and maintaining civilian oversight of the police department.
“As a former prosecutor who just said ‘no’ to charging cannabis users, I hope to use my NORML board position to urge other prosecutors to exercise similar discretion so that we can one day bring an end to the ruinous War on Drugs,” Holmes said.
Also, at NORML’s most recent Board of Directors meeting, Rick Steves was re-elected to serve as the organization’s Board Chair. Steves is a popular public television host, a best-selling guidebook author, and an outspoken activist who encourages Americans to broaden their perspectives through travel. He has served on NORML’s Board for many years and was first elected to the position of Board Chair in 2021.
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