On Monday, somewhere in New York City, 420 people will gather for High Times magazine’s annual beauty pageant, a secretly located and sold-out event that its sponsor says will “turn the Big Apple into the Baked Apple and help us usher in a new era of marijuana freedom in America.”
They will not be the only ones partaking: April 20 has long been an unofficial day of celebration for marijuana fans, an occasion for campus smoke-outs, concerts and cannabis festivals. But some advocates of legal marijuana say this year’s “high holiday” carries extra significance as they sense increasing momentum toward acceptance of the drug, either as medicine or entertainment.
“We’ve been on national cable news more in the first three months than we typically are in an entire year,” said Bruce Mirken, the director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, a reform group based in Washington. “And any time you’ve got Glenn Beck and Barney Frank agreeing on something, it’s either a sign that change is impending or that the end times are here.”
Beneficiaries of the moment include NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which advocates legalization, and other groups like it. NORML says that its Web traffic and donations (sometimes in $4.20 increments) have surged, and that it will begin a television advertising campaign on Monday, which concludes with a plea, and an homage, to President Obama.
“Legalization,” the advertisement says, “yes we can!”
via – The New York Times “For Marijuana Advocates, Not-So-Secret Holiday Hints at Change“
The University of Georgia NORML chapter should take note of a picture in the article that shows David Perleberg selling t-shirts featuring, among other things, the Colorado University mascot smoking a joint. This means one of two things: either Colorado University is unaware of it (doubtful) or they have chosen not to be assholes like the University of Georgia by not understanding the tradition of political satire in this country.
