A welcome from your new host, “Radical” Russ
Sunday, February 10th, 2008 at 12:02 am | By: Radical Russ
Good day and welcome to the new NORML Daily Audio Stash. Many thanks to the great techs at RedAphid for this great-looking and easy-to-use site.
I’m your new host, “Radical” Russ Belville. What’s up with the “Radical”? Well, I grew up in conservative small-town Idaho, and when you believe that free fields of cannabis hemp should be growing from sea to shining sea, saving our environment, ending our oil addiction, feeding our people, saving our farms, and boosting our economy, people in my hometown tend to think of you as a “radical”. So be it. Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Ben Franklin were “radicals”, too.
I’ve come to this position thanks to lots of great luck on top of lots of hard work. I couldn’t be where I am right now without having been involved with my local chapter of NORML, Oregon NORML. That’s what is so great about NORML: this is the grassroots organization dedicated to ending adult marijuana prohibition. There is a place for you and your talents — whatever they may be — in joining (or founding) your own local chapter. The staff at NORML are eager to help you get started.
Get involved with your movement. You have nothing to be ashamed of. The responsible use of marijuana by adults is of no harm to society, and the prohibition of marijuana is, in fact, detrimental to society. The continued harassment and arrest of adults who use cannabis is a civil rights outrage and antithetical to our Constitutional rights as written two centuries ago on hemp paper.
Come out to the festivals, protests, and conferences in your area. Fifty percent of this battle is just showing up. As my Executive Director of Oregon NORML (and new NORML Board Member), Madeline Martinez, is fond of saying, “Put down the joint and step away from the bong. You’re government and I’m government!” Together we can finally bring and end to the war on American citizens who choose marijuana over martinis or Marlboros. Make a pilgrimage to the Seattle Hempfest or the NORML Annual Conference and feel the camaraderie and the strength that our numbers truly provide. One of our movement’s problems is that prohibition forces us to be an invisible minority, so step out of the cannabis closet and join us in demanding our rights to farm and use nature’s most perfect plant – cannabis sativa!
Finaly, I’ve got to give much thanks to Chris Goldstein, who has built this podcast into the #1 source for marijuana-related news, politics, music, and comedy on the web. Again, another fine person working for marijuana law reform that I met through activism with my local NORML chapter by attending the National NORML Conferences.
The movement needs you. Are you ready to join with me in re-legalizing hemp?
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