NOTE: Ustream has instituted a storage limit for videos. We will be moving all our show videos to our new YouTube channel at http://YouTube.com/NORMLnet. Until then, previous embed codes for video will not function. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access
Standard Podcast Feed (27.5MB 64Kbps) | High-Def Podcast Feed (82.5MB 192Kbps)
Download audio file (NORML_SHOW_LIVE_2011-02-08.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

1. Roseanne Barr announces candidacy for Green Party presidential nomination
2. Texas Councilman says he gets his marijuana and meth from prostitutes
3. Peter Lewis bankrolls Massachusetts medical marijuana bill

Daily Toker Tunes

Irie Wednesday: Brought to you by NorCalPurps in the California Bay Area

• Katchafire – “Meant to Be”

Cannabis Science with Dr. Mitch Earleywine

• New study underscores that passing medical marijuana laws does not affect teen use of marijuana

Government at Work

• Rep. Patricia Todd working to pass medical marijuana in Alabama legislature

(LionizeMusic.com) Bands who combine Clutch-style boogie rock with reggae dub aren’t exactly a thriving subgenre in the alternative music world. In fact, we’re not even sure there’s been a genre pegged for the kind of multifaceted rock that Lionize crank out on Superczar And The Vulture, but we’re about to peg it with one. Boogie-dub. Bow-worthy, bass-drenched boogie-dub with off-kilter lyrics that would make Neil Fallon double-check his notes for potential copyright infringement while the members and ex-members of bands like Bad Brains and the Clash—and even classic rockers like Canned Heat and Savoy Brown—shake their heads and wish they’d thought of that.

SONG LINK
Download audio file (Lionize – Superczar.mp3)

Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access

Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access
Standard Podcast Feed (27.5MB 64Kbps) | High-Def Podcast Feed (82.5MB 192Kbps)
Download audio file (NORML_SHOW_LIVE_2012-02-03.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

• Colorado Legalization Effort Comes up 2400 Valid Signatures Short
• Washington State Bill Asking Government To Reclassify Marijuana Moves Forward
• Ballot Measures Competing for Funds from Big Backers
• Firefighters Mistake Butane Hash Oil Extraction Equipment for Pipe Bomb
• “Fast and Furious” Program Sparks Lawsuit and House Hearing for the Attorney General

Daily Toker Tunes

Rockin’ Friday: Brought to you by Urb Thrasher from Urb Age Designs

• Lionize – “Superczar”

Legislative Update with NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano

• ALABAMA: The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act (HB 25) which seeks to enact legal protections for authorized medical marijuana patients, has been marked for reintroduction in the Alabama Legislature for the session starting on February 7th. It is currently assigned to the House Committee on Health. A separate medical cannabis bill, House Bill 66, has also been prefiled in the House and is also before to the House Committee on Health, while a third measure that seeks to reduce penalties on adult cannabis possession is anticipated to be introduced shortly. You can learn more about these efforts via NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’ here.
• INDIANA: Senate lawmakers heard testimony on Tuesday, January 24, in favor of legislation, SB 347, to decriminalize marijuana possession penalties in Indiana. Lawmakers on Senate Committee on Corrections, Criminal, and Civil Matters did not vote on the measure. Therefore, there is still time for constituents to contact their Senate members and encourage them to support marijuana law reform. You can do so via NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’ here. A separate House measure, HB 1370, that seeks to legalize the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes, is pending before the House Committee on Public Policy.
• KANSAS: House Bill 2330, which seeks to enact legal protections for authorized medical marijuana patients, was heard by the House Committee on Health and Human Services on Tuesday, January 24th. You can read media coverage of the hearing here and here. You can track the progress of this measure and contact your state elected officials regarding HB 2330here.
• NEW HAMPSHIRE: Members of the House Criminal Justice Committee heard testimony on Thursday, January 25, in favor of House Bill 1705, which seeks to allow adults age 21 or over to use marijuana legally in their home. The measure also seeks to establish a regulated cannabis market governing the wholesale production and sale of marijuana. Non-commercial transactions involving less than one ounce of cannabis would not be subject to state taxation or regulation under the measure. You can watch clips from the hearing here and you can contact your elected officials in support of the measure here.
• The House Criminal Justice Committee is also scheduled to hear testimony this Thursday in favor of separate legislation, HB 1526, which seeks reduce the penalties on minor marijuana possession offenses (up to one ounce) from a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine to a nominal monetary penalty of no more than $100.00. To contact your House representative regarding HB 1526, please visit NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’ here.
• VIRGINIA: Legislation seeking to establish a joint study committee to investigate the fiscal impact of regulating the production and sale of marijuana to adults 21 and over is anticipated to be heard by the Virginia House Committee on Rules as soon as this Thursday. You can read NORML’s published op/eds in support of this measure here and here. To learn more aboutHouse Joint Resolution 140, please visit Virginia NORML or contact your state officials here.

NORML Newsmakers

• Mark Pedersen from Sensible Missouri and Show-Me Cannabis Regulation

Click for the full lineup of The NORML Network

Next weekend we will be bringing you live coverage of the HIGH TIMES Medical Cannabis Cup in Los Angeles.  Tune in to http://live.norml.org on Saturday, Feb 11 and Sunday, Feb 12 from Noon to 7pm Pacific Time for free live coverage of the panels, the expo floor, and interviews with cannabis culture celebrities.

If you plan on attending the event, get your tickets online NOW – they sell out fast!  Use the promo code CANORML to get a special 40% discount for supporters of The NORML Network!

We will be holding our Special “4:20 Somewhere” Raffle both days at the Cannabis Cup.  Tickets are $5 at the event or five for $20 and the proceeds benefit The NORML Network.  We’ll have six raffles each day for over $2,000 worth of prizes and your ticket is good for every raffle until you win or the last raffle ends.  You need not be present to win, but you must pick up your prizes at the event; we will not ship them or hold them after 7pm Sunday.

We will announce the winning ticket numbers at :20 after on our live coverage (which you can view on our Ustream app for your iPhone or Android), through our @NORMLNet Twitter account (so follow us!), by text message to your cell (if you write your number on your tickets), and on a whiteboard at our merch desk.

These packages may change by event time… most likely, they’ll get better as we get donations from other vendors to add!

Online viewers can also get in on a piece of the action.  At every raffle, we will randomly select one of our @NORMLNet Twitter followers to win a “Schwag” prize pack.  In the last three raffles of the day, we’ll add an autographed NORML banner signed by the whole NORML SHOW LIVE crew, HIGH TIMES crew, and other cannabis celebrities.

Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access
Standard Podcast Feed (27.5MB 64Kbps) | High-Def Podcast Feed (82.5MB 192Kbps)
Download audio file (NORML_SHOW_LIVE_2012-02-02.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

1. Attorney General Holder grilled by House Republicans over testimony in Operation Fast & Furious investigation
2. Oregon case reiterates that freshly harvested marijuana is neither plant nor usable marijuana under Oregon’s medical marijuana law
3. Update on Veterans for Weed story – they’ve changed their name to Veterans for Weed United

Daily Toker Tunes

Groovin’ Thursday: Brought to you by The Ganja Jon Show

• Wiz Khalifa – “You Take Me (feat. Wale)”

Southern California Scene with Hollywood Hemptress Tere Joyce

• Dan Hanken from the Cannabis Clubs United with Community activist group

Grassroots Activism

• Cultivation legend Jorge Cervantes promoting new DVD via Skype in Barcelona, Spain

(AP / Newser) When police knocked on Josh Brewer’s door to check for marijuana, even one of the nation’s most liberal medical marijuana laws was put to the test.

Officers were fine with the two pounds 10 ounces he and a cousin had grown, harvested, and processed. That was under the pound and a half each allowed by law. And they didn’t care about the 12 plants _ six each _ growing in the backyard. Also legal.

But after they discovered the additional two pounds 11 ounces drying on coat hangers suspended from the ceiling in the living room, officers arrested Brewer, sparking a legal battle over what was enough _ in the maximum sense _ for medical use, and what crossed the line into the potential for illegal sales.

Under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, each cardholder…

ORS 475.320(2)(b) May possess up to six mature plants and up to 24 ounces of usable marijuana for each cardholder or caregiver for whom marijuana is being produced.

And under the law…

ORS 475.302(11) “Usable marijuana” means the dried leaves and flowers of the plant Cannabis family Moraceae, and any mixture or preparation thereof, that are appropriate for medical use as allowed in ORS 475.300 to 475.346. “Usable marijuana” does not include the seeds, stalks and roots of the plant.

So our attorney general has informed the judge in this case that an Appeals Court ruling from 2007 had already determined that marijuana that has been freshly harvested is not “usable” in the legal definition of the term.  If it is “drying” it is not yet “dried”.  So the 42 ounces of dried marijuana the pair had was within legal limits and the 43 ounces of drying marijuana can’t count against that.  Furthermore, a branch pulled off a plant to hang and dry is itself not a plant, either, so they don’t count against the 6 mature plant limit.

Theoretically speaking, with my caregiver card, I could be sitting here with 24 ounces of dried buds and six mature plants with ten pounds of bud on them apiece.  I could chop off a branch each week and dry it and so long as I’ve gone through my dried pound-and-a-half before the pound-and-a-half on the branch dries, I’ve never broken the law.  In fact, theoretically there is no limit to how much weight in wet bud I could be drying here, so long as no more than 24 ounces of it is dry at one time.

Now, I can see how law enforcement is freaking out about this.  There is no doubt that some patients need 24 ounces of medicine in order to make edibles, tinctures, and oils, and to hedge against uncertain supply, since we have no reasonable retail access to marijuana.  However, it can also be argued that this is also a huge loophole through which commercial growers can use the medical marijuana law to shield their illegal production.

This goes to show how unworkable it is to carve out an exception to prosecution for 10% of marijuana users.  No matter what firewalls, limits, inspections, or requirements are created for the medical use of cannabis, the overwhelming market forces driving the personal use of marijuana will always find a way to exploit exceptions and thwart limits.  Then those we persuaded for exceptions say, “See, we told you legalizing a little would lead to this!” and they push for tighter restrictions and limits that do nothing to stop the personal use market, but cause huge problems for the medical user who has always been the least able to function in an illegal market.

While President Obama is ignoring our calls to end adult marijuana prohibition and Google/YouTube is deeming our pleas “inappropriate” and unworthy of serious discussion like tennis, parties, and the president’s dancing ability, police in Mexico are forced to put themselves in protective custody because of the threat of assassination at the hands of the drug cartels.  For reasons that escape me, our president and congress seem to prefer that the lucrative marijuana trade is controlled by and benefits these murderous criminals.

(Los Angeles Daily News) CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – Every one of the 2,500 police officers in this Mexican border city has been ordered to leave home and stay in a hotel after the killing of five officers by a local drug cartel.

The gang threatened a week ago to kill one policeman a day unless Police Chief Julian Leyzaola resigns.

Police spokesman Adrian Sanchez said officers were ordered to stay away from their houses after Monday’s shootout between assailants and policemen. That assault and previous attacks happened as officers were going to or from home.

The city’s government said it has secured 26 million pesos ($2 million) to house officers in hotels but did not specify how long that would last.

At least 10 banners bearing threats to Juarez’s police chief appeared around the city last week. The messages were signed by the New Juarez Cartel, an offshoot of the La Linea or Juarez Cartel, a major target of law enforcement actions in recent months.

Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access
Standard Podcast Feed (27.5MB 64Kbps) | High-Def Podcast Feed (82.5MB 192Kbps)
Download audio file (NORML_SHOW_LIVE_2012-XXXX.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

1. NYPD has 7th straight year of marijuana arrest increase, over 50,000 busted for pot
2. Veterans for Weed groups sparks outrage from POW likeness in logo, similarity to Veterans of Foreign Wars acronym
3. Fort Collins lawsuit challenges ban on dispensaries
4. FBI chainsaws through wrong apartment in raid, terrifying mother and toddler
5. Joan Rivers smokes pot on camera in her new reality show

Daily Toker Tunes

Irie Wednesday: Brought to you by NorCalPurps in the California Bay Area

• Winstrong & DJ Jacques – “Free Weed”

Cannabis Science with Dr. Mitch Earleywine

• Israeli study shows promise of cannabinoids in treatment of cancer

Radical Rant

• Big Pharma’s lobbying power shows incentive to oppose medical marijuana in Washington

"I'm FBI Special Agent Leatherface, open up!!!" (credit: CBS Boston)

(CBS) FITCHBURG, Mass. – The FBI accidentally raided the wrong apartment last Thursday, cutting through the apartment door of a central Massachusetts woman and her three-year-old daughter with a chainsaw, in a botched effort to seize guns and drugs.

No. When you send paramilitary urban assault troops into an apartment building to initiate violence with guns and chainsaws and someone innocent is victimized, that is not called a “botched effort,” that is called “collateral damage”.

Within moments, the chainsaw had cut through most of her door, and someone on the FBI’s arrest team kicked the rest of it in.

“That’s when I heard the clicking of a gun and I heard ‘FBI, get down!’, so I laid right on down.

And they said get your dog, so I got her and at the same time I am laying in her urine because she did pee on herself at the same time.”

[The woman] says the agents told her not to move, so, fearing she’d be shot if she did, she stayed put on the floor while her daughter screamed for her in the other room.

This woman is lucky her dog wasn’t shot.  Can you imagine laying in dog piss with an automatic weapon to your head while your toddler screams in terror at the black masked armored soldiers invading through your chainsawed front door?

Mistakes are inevitable in police work and when that work is an armed raid of a civilian home, mistakes cost the lives of cops, citizens, and pets.  This is why this tactic must be an absolute last resort.  We cannot accept this mayhem in the name of stopping people from doing drugs when we know this prohibition never stops people from doing drugs and creates most of the violence people attribute to drugs.