Five of the last eight people to get the major party nomination for president have been admitted pot smokers (Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Bush, & Obama)

Hey, Stashers, join me in giving a warm welcome to our new intern here at the Stash, Amanda.  She will be handling the “Politicians on Pot” series here at the Stash.  That’s where we take the constituent letters our congressmembers and senators send to cannabis consumers when we ask for their support of marijuana regulation, decriminalization, or medical use.

If you’d like to do your part to end prohibition, write three letters: one for both of your senators and one for your elected representative.  When they reply to you, send us that reply to stash@norml.org and we’ll post it on the Stash so everyone in the nation knows where your reps stand on marijuana issues.

And yes, Amanda is earning college credit while helping end marijuana prohibition.  You can, too!  Just send me an email with the subject “Intern Application” to learn how you can earn credit while devoting time to something you love.  (Warning: We do have a drug test… but the good news is, it’s multiple choice.)

NORML SHOW LIVE provides you with exclusive access to Oregon’s world-famous Cannabis Café, this Saturday Night from 6pm-8pm Pacific.

You’ve read about it on the Reuters wire, New York Times, the Times of London, and even Al Jazeera, USA Today, and the Associated Press will be bringing you the story soon, but only “Radical” Russ can get you inside the first café exclusively for Oregon’s 21,000 medical marijuana cardholders.

Madeline Martinez from Oregon NORML and the NORML Board joins us to describe how her vision of a cannabis café has become a reality. We also speak to the patients in the café enjoying cannabis liberty in a way few outside Amsterdam enjoy.

We’ve upgraded to the latest 4G WiMax wireless technology to bring you the best remote audio possible from the café. Cannabis Karri will be screening your calls from back in the studio and Cousin Kenny will take your questions online via our live chat window.

It’s two hours of live talk radio from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Hosted by “Radical” Russ Belville, NORML SHOW LIVE features a recap of the week’s top stories in medical marijuana, consumer cannabis, and industrial hemp; interviews with the top cannabis activists, politicians, scientists, doctors, actors, musicians, and comedians; and your calls live at 347-994-1810.

(PhillyNORML: Chris Goldstein & Derek Rosenzweig) Philadelphia could save more than $3,000,000 annually by not taking pot smokers in for mugshots.

Minor marijuana possession arrests in Philadelphia are handled with mandatory custody; this is a different process than every other county in Pennsylvania costing the city millions of dollars. A disproportionate number of citizens (84%) arrested for marijuana possession in the city are black.

Research by PhillyNORML this year has uncovered these two disturbing trends that present serious challenges to the city. But in a sign of a pragmatic shift in attitudes, city officials have held an ongoing dialogue with reform advocates to proactively address these concerns.

In March of 2009 the Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws performed their annual observation of the Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Report data for the marijuana arrest numbers. At the same time, the city was beginning to face a heartbreaking economic plight that pitted police jobs against a lack of Public Safety Budget funds.

Data indicates that 4,716 adults were arrested in 2008 on the singular criminal misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession less than 30 grams. In Philadelphia such arrests are required to be custodial. For even a single cannabis joint this means an offender must be handcuffed, transported to a holding cell, photographed and perhaps make bail before release. In every other county in Pennsylvania there is no mandate for the custodial arrest of citizens found with small amounts of marijuana. Instead, summary violations are issued along with a date to appear in court.

PhillyNORML is a sterling example of how ordinary cannabis consumers can band together under the NORML banner and affect real change at the local level.  Reformers at the national level don’t have the on-the-ground knowledge of local politics like everyday citizens living in cities like Philadelphia.  Local reformers can better cultivate personal relationships with mayors, city councils, and all their staff, as well as integrate with groups as disparate as unions and libertarian groups, parents and police, and churches and universities.

If you’re sitting around wondering when they are going to legalize pot, you’re part of the problem.  YOU have to legalize pot.  You and your like-minded pot smokers, cannabis consumers, medical marijuana patients, and lovers of liberty, peaceably assembled to exercise your free speech and to petition your government for a redress of grievances… there’s nothing more American than being NORML.

I’m proud to announce the affiliation of two new college chapters in the NORML network.

Andrew Ball is the founder of a new chapter at the University of Texas San Antonio.

Donald Brooks is the founder of a new chapter at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania.

Welcome aboard!  And if you’re interested in starting a NORML Chapter at your college campus, send me an email with the subject College Chapter to stash@norml.org.

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Cue up to 2:15 in the video… nice punchline… even better follow-up!

I am so excited to break the news that we have four new contributors to help bring you the Daily Audio Stash!  In response to my call for volunteer music editors I received a lot of applications and picked from the best of them to give you our new lineup:

These fine Stashers will be finding the best 420-friendly music on the web and bringing it to us each week.  You already know me and Cannabis Karri.  Sahra Kant joins us from Massachusetts; I met her up at the Boston Freedom Rally this year.  Johnny Reeferseed’s music has been featured on the Stash before.  And John Doe is the man behind John Doe Radio, another fine internet podcast.

But just because we have music editors that doesn’t mean you can’t still be involved.  If you have a band or have found a tune that you think should be on the Stash, just email it to me at stash@norml.org and I’ll pass it along to our editors.

Also join me in welcoming Amanda Bannon to our lienup of contributors.  Amanda is getting college credit as an intern working for me in NORML Chapter Outreach.  She will begin by reviving our dormant “Politicians on Pot” series, where you send us the replies you get from your elected officials when you write to them about ending marijuana prohibition.  If you haven’t written to your elected officials, visit our Take Action center and get started.  Now that the AMA has reversed its position on smoked cannabis as medicine, many of these congresspeople will need to update their form letter!  Write your congressperson and send that reply back to us at stash@norml.org.

Show 012 This Saturday, 9pm Eastern / 6pm Pacific

My deepest apologies to those of you who tried listening last Saturday to Show 011, the Grand Opening of the Oregon NORML Cannabis Café. We were beset by technical difficulties and could not complete the show.

I will solve the technical issues and return this weekend to Oregon’s first Cannabis Café. Oregon’s law does not allow for marijuana sales, but does allow patients to medicate “out of public view”. Any cardholder may freely exchange medicine with any other. So Madeline Martinez and Oregon NORML have created a private, members-only club for the social benefit of medical marijuana patients.

However, this is not a medical marijuana dispensary with a café; this is a café for medical marijuana patients. Patients can visit the smoke-free vapor bar where a budtender will load up one of six Volcano Vaporizers, fill the bag with the vapor of any one of more than twenty of the strains available, and cap it with a sterilized mouthpiece. Others bring their own pipes or papers and request a small ceramic bowl filled with their choice of freshly-ground cannabis strain and roll a joint as they play pool or smoke a bowl as they join in a card game. All sorts of café food and drink are available, though not alcoholic beverages (the owner surrendered his liquor license rather than fight with the commission over the use of cannabis in the café.) Many have questioned how this café can operate due to Oregon’s smoke-free laws, but the actual statutes in question specifically reference “tobacco smoke”. Thus, no tobacco smoking is allowed in the café.

Most amazingly, all the cannabis is provided free through the donations of local area medical marijuana growers. Oregon’s law provides for six mature plants, eighteen seedlings, but only twenty-four ounces of dried, cured marijuana. I say “only” and people’s jaws drop, wishing they could possess 24 grams, much less a pound and a half of marijuana. But that works out to four ounces per mature plant, which some growers are able to surpass, so they donate their excess to Oregon NORML for distribution to patients. In fact, on the day of the Grand Opening, the café had more marijuana at the end of the day then they had started with, thanks to generous donations.

While I attended on Saturday night, two officers from the Portland Police Bureau stopped by to investigate the operations. They were very friendly and just wanted to know where the medicating was taking place and how Oregon NORML was controlling the situation. They were pleased to learn how relentlessly ID’s and medical cards were being checked and that the front entrance was closed as a measure to help control the smell from permeating the public area. The police let everyone know that they had no intention of harassing the club or its patrons and that absent any complaints from neighbors the Cannabis Café would be free to operate.

Annual membership in Oregon NORML is required, since it is a private club, as well as monthly club dues, which go to support Oregon NORML’s lobbying and outreach efforts and pay the overhead of running the club, respectively. This Saturday, November 21, we’ll return to the café and speak to Madeline Martinez and these patients and hear their medical marijuana stories, as well as taking questions about the café from the live audience and our callers. It’s live talk radio from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Hosted by “Radical” Russ Belville, NORML SHOW LIVE features a recap of the week’s top stories in medical marijuana, consumer cannabis, and industrial hemp; interviews with the top cannabis activists, politicians, scientists, doctors, actors, musicians, and comedians; and your calls live at 347-994-1810. Join us every Saturday Night, live, at http://live.norml.org from 9-11pm Eastern / 6-8pm Pacific.

I’m excited to announce the official certification of our newest NORML chapter, Beverly Hills NORML 90210. You can check out the beginnings of their website still in development at http://norml90210.org.

NORML 90210 is headed by Cheryl Shuman, a fascinating woman I first met at the Aspen Legal Seminar.  She has been working in the entertainment field in LA for over two decades and has amassed a list of celebrity contacts and friends who we hope can be motivated to speak out for the cause.  She’s a strong successful woman who perfectly embodies that “stiletto stoner” image that has captured the public imagination this summer.  She’s dealt with media public relations on a professional and personal level in the most stressful of circumstances and will be a natural for presenting NORML’s message.

Cheryl is assisted by Jacek Lentz, an attorney in Los Angeles whom I’ve also met at NORML conferences.  Jacek is an emigrant from Poland who is fiercely dedicated to protecting and expanding freedom here in America.

With the natural brand image of Beverly Hills that suggests wealth, celebrity, and the finest things in life, I look forward to Cheryl and Beverly Hills NORML 90210 showing California and the nation that cannabis is not only becoming mainstream, but it is a symbol of fame, fortune, and success as well.

This Friday, Oregon NORML’s Cannabis Café opens in Northeast Portland. I’ll be there Saturday night with a live broadcast of NORML SHOW LIVE from the café. Meanwhile, the notion of medical marijuana patients having their own private club is generating a lot of news here:

Our FOX affiliate:

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Click here to view the embedded video.