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Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2011-01-24.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

1. 40% of Kentucky state inmates are non-violent drug offenders according to new survey
2. Now 100 dispensaries will be allowed to operate in Los Angeles, to be selected by random lottery
3. Colorado report shows that dispensaries are not the “crime magnets” opponents claim

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

• Roots Monday: Karissa – “Shades of Green”

Government at Work

• Dan Linn from Illinois NORML on new decrim and medical marijuana bills in Springfield

Radical Rant

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• Cigar Association of America lobbying for state bans on blunt wraps is about selling more cigars, not “protecting image”

Show 004: Three special episodes live from NORML National Conference!

NORML’s new talk radio program, NORML SHOW LIVE, will be streaming for three days at the 2009 NORML National Conference, “Yes We Cannabis”, live from the Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Francisco. These special three-hour episodes will be available at live.norml.org at the following special times and archived for download later just fifteen minutes after broadcast:

1. Thursday, September 24
   11:00am – 2:00pm Pacific Time
2. Friday, September 25
   11:00am – 2:00pm Pacific Time
3. Saturday, September 26
   3:00pm – 6:00pm Pacific Time

The show will be hosted by “Radical” Russ Belville, but with very limited commercial interruption and the occasional narration.  After the shows broadcast remotely in the difficult wireless environment of Portland’s Kelley Point Park and the noisy backstage of the Boston Freedom Rally, Russ is excited to present an indoor event that will take its audio directly from the conference PA system.

Thursday’s show will begin with a presentation by Dr Brooks J Kelly, Ph.D, Chief science officer for Genovations Laboratory, Cannabis Therapeutics, and then will feature panels on Individual Patients, Caregivers, and Small Patient Collectives in California and other medical marijuana states, including:

Patient and Caregiver rights under 215/SB420

• Possession: current caselaw and statutory law
• Cultivation: current caselaw and statutory law
• Transportation: current caselaw and statutory law
• Obtaining Cannabis: where and how to get it
• Patients Not Authorized to:
  distribute to other patients
  distribute “excess” to clubs
  engage in conduct harmful to others

Cannabis Patient rights (or lack thereof):

• No right to protection from employment discrimination
• No protection from Feds or other states
• Student loans
• Section 8 housing
• Small collectives: formation, cultivating, obtaining of medicine, money considerations
• Interaction with Law Enforcement

Your panelists will include Dr. David Bearman, Chris Conrad, Omar Figueroa, Esq., Zenia Gilg, Esq., Dr. Frank Lucido, and your moderator is William Panzer, Esq.

Friday’s show will begin with a panel on Pot Politics 2009 and Beyond.  A record number of state legislatures debated marijuana law reform in 2009; a nationwide panel of experts discusses our progress.  Our moderator is Keith Stroup, Esq., NORML, speaking on Federal Legislation, and also includes:

• Chris Goldstein, Director, Penn. For Medical Marijuana
• Rob Kampia, Executive Director, Marijuana Policy Project
• Dan Linn, Executive Director, Illinois NORML
• Madeline Martinez, Director, Oregon NORML, member of NORML’s board of directors
• Jesse Stout, former Director of RIPAC
• Ken Wolski, RN, Director, Coalition for Medical Marijuana NJ

We follow with a luncheon with travel author and NORML advisory board member Rick Steves presenting the ACLU DVD: ‘Marijuana: Its Time for a Conversation’, and close by asking “Has support for legalization reached a critical mass/tipping point?”  According to national polls, public support for legalizing marijuana has never been higher. Why now? And how do we mobilize this public support into political change? Leaders in the drug law reform movement discuss these trends, and what they portend for future reform efforts.  Our moderator is Dave Fratello, Coast Campaign Group, and the panel includes:

• Dale Gieringer, Ph.D, Director, CA NORML; member of NORML’s board of directors
• Rich Lee, Proprietor of ‘Oaksterdam University’ and Campaigner for ‘The Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010′
• Harry Levine, Ph.D, Queens College

Saturday’s closing show will feature a look at Marijuana Legalization As a Local, State, Federal Revenue Stream. In today’s sagging economy national, state and local leaders are looking for alternative streams of revenue. They should look no further than to America’s #1 cash crop: cannabis.  Our moderator is Dale Gieringer, Ph.D, Director, CA NORML, and the panelists include:

• Jon Gettman, Ph.D
• Rebecca Kaplan, Oakland City Council
• Mark Kleiman, Ph.D, UCLA

We follow with a panel on Cannabis and Athleticism. Some of the nation’s top athletes discuss why today’s pros are turning to cannabis — and away from alcohol and painkillers — off the field, and question why pro sports leagues are continuing to sanction those who do.  Our moderator is Steve Bloom, Author, Pot Culture; editor, celebstoner.com and the panelists include:

• Toby Grear, MMA fighter,
• Sean Neumann, Documentary Filmmaker; former ESPN producer
• Mark Stepnoski, Former All-Star NFL football player, NORML Advisory Board
• Rob Van Dam, Professional wrestler

Our three-part special show concludes with a talk from Rick Steves, TV host/best-selling travel author, NORML Advisory Board

Please join us for unparalleled access to the heart of marijuana law reform, nine total hours of content from the best and brightest minds in the movement, all absolutely free for you on the internet, courtesy of the donations of stakeholder cannabis consumers and liberty lovers all across this country who donate to and volunteer with NORML.  Mark us as a favorite on BlogTalkRadio and post us on your Twitter and Facebook with the tag #NORML.

Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access

Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2009-08-06.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

1. Federal government seeking marijuana growers
2. Can marijuana help alcoholics stay off the bottle?
3. New device claims roadside testing for marijuana within 90 seconds
4. Former Detroit WR: “I [smoked marijuana] every day”

Southern California Scene with Tere Joyce

• Degé Coutee from Patients Advocacy Network live at the LA City Council’s PLUM meeting where activist Craig X Rubin promised to give a free eighth to the first 500 patients to testify.

Daily Toker Tunes by Marijuana Music Awards . com

• Rockin Thursday! – ‘Potfest’ by The Breezeway

Cannabis Conversations

• Dan Linn from Illinois NORML discusses the Symposium of the International Cannabinoid Research Society

Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access

Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2009-05-19.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

1. Sheriff Arrested for Selling Marijuana!
2. Iowa city councilman with Crohn’s disease busted for medical marijuana use
3. Minnesota House passes medical marijuana 70-64; on to Gov. Pawlenty’s veto
4. Medical marijuana is ‘nightmare’… for some Michigan law enforcement

Government at Work

• Dan Linn from Illinois NORML shares the latest updates on Illinois Senate’s upcoming vote on medical marijuana bill.

Daily Toker Tunes by Marijuana Music Awards . com

• Best Rock Song – ‘O-De-Po’ by Ian Lloyd

Cannabis Conversations

• Kevin Booth, writer / producer / director of “American Drug War: The Last White Hope”

Download link: NORML Daily Audio Stash for 2009-04-14

Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2009-04-14.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

1. Ottawa County, Michigan Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Scott Huizenga facing two years for shooting Derek Copp in his home
2. Supporters rally for victim of Derek Copp shooting… Deputy Ryan Scott Huizenga
3. Deputy Ryan Huizenga back on the job at Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department

Government at Work

• Dan Linn from Illinois NORML on medical marijuana bill status

Daily Toker Tunes by Marijuana Music Awards

• Variety Tuesday – ‘Sweet Hydro’ by Sean Reefer and the Resin Valley Boys

Cannabis Conversations

• Chris DeLaForest from Minnesotans for Compassionate Care on medical marijuana bill status

Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2009-03-03.mp3)

Today on the Stash:

• Hemp Headlines:
  NORML’s Weekly Legislative Round Up
  Study Links Alcohol, Cancer Risk in Women
  House Bill Expected on FDA Control of Tobacco
• Stupid Stoner Story: Man accused of stuffing cat into bong
• Government at Work: Dan Linn from Illinois NORML and Jesse Stout from Rhode  Island Patients Advocacy Coalition 
• Music: Variety Tuesday – ‘And I Smoke’ by Oai Star
• Lt. Mike Dingaman testifying on Senate Bill 388 at the Oregon Statehouse

Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2009-02-24.mp3)

Today’s Stash: Dan Linn from Illinois NORML joins us for Government at Work to discuss Illinois HB 2514 and SB 1381, the twin measures to make Illinois the 14th medical marijuana state (call the Illinois reps at 217-782-2000).  It’s like New Jersey, Illinois, and Minnesota are in a race or something.

Jet Baker joins us as a regional Cannabis Correspondent with his report on the Texas NORML reformer’s bootcamp in Austin, or “the ATX, y’all”.

Taku from THC Japan calls in from Tokyo to discuss sumo testing positive for weed, emerging Japanese cannabis culture, and the similarity of Reefer Madness in all languages.  I take it back – I called Taku… what’s the per-minute charge to Japan?

And Rich Hardesty not only provides today’s Daily Toker Tune, he talks to us about his music and getting his song on the Totally Baked DVD.

But what about me?  Glad you asked…

Today I began the day at 6am, following four hours of sleep, following five hours of video editing, following producing yesterday’s Stash.  This was so I could return to the dreaded 7am commute to go all the way across town and through the Tunnel of Prosecutorial Despair* to get to the TV studio for Portland’s CW affiliate.  I was on a point-counterpoint show on marijuana law reform and the episode will air Sunday at 6:30am.  Great time slot, I know.

But that’s not the best part.  The host (good guy) tells me of how he had a local columnist on defending the right of gay people to equal marriage and they could not get a single opponent of marriage rights for gays to come on the show.  So he had collected the talking points of all the local opponents (this was following the marriage rights measure passed by Oregon in 2006) and delivered them against the columnist using Socko, the Family Values Sock Puppet.

You see where I’m going with this?

The funniest part for me was that this studio was not two exits away from where I had my last corporate job as an IT trainer.  When I worked there I had a co-worker named Bill who used to bring, swear to Mary Jane, a sock puppet to work that was called Mr. Socko.  He would use this sock puppet as a threat to students who weren’t paying attention in a software class, as in, “Don’t make me get Mr. Socko.  I’ll have him teach this whole class.”  Occasionally someone would call his bluff and he’d whip out the briefcase, pull out Mr. Socko, use a high-pitched voice, and the fun was on.  Bill was a great trainer, because let me tell you, when you’ve tried to explain the SUM() function in Excel for the thirteenth time in a month to job retraining candidates who, bless their hearts, have as much chance of grasping spreadsheet formulas as I have grasping the repair and maintenance of a combine.

So the host informs me there would be no opponent, as no one from law enforcement, the business community, nor anyone who represents the consistent opponents of medical marijuana in Oregon would dare to appear on camera against a well-informed articulate opponent.  Would I agree to appear with a sock puppet?

I thought about the trouble we have getting our issue taken seriously, but I also thought that, handled correctly, it would be a great opportunity to inform a large audience.  Besides, I’m a big Mr. Socko fan and I had to do it, if only to make a fun story to tell Bill.

The first two segments were me and the host alone.  Good stuff, talking about NORML’s mission, why call it “reform marijuana laws” and not just “legalize”?  (Because “reform” runs the spectrum from lopri intitiatives to decrim to medical to legalize and lots of things in between.)  Yada yada yada.

Then in the second two segments Socko, the Prohibitionist Puppet is introduced.  The host seriously intones that they reached out to numerous opponents and could not get one to come on camera, but that he wished to make sure both sides of the debate were represented.  Then with his hand in a white sock with a gold toe and two buggy red eyes drawn on hastily twenty minutes before, the host asked in a falsetto voice:

SOCKO: “If we legalize marijuana, a so-called ‘soft drug’, that’s going to lead to more abuse of the hard drugs like meth and heroin!”

To which I replied (paraphrasing, I was strangely nervous):

ME: First of all, I want to thank Socko for agreeing to be on this show today.  It is getting difficult to find human beings who will even try to make these anti-marijuana arguments anymore.  Like this ‘gateway theory’ you’re mentioning.  In 1999, the United States government’s own Institute of Medicine reviewed the studies and found that there is no ‘gateway effect’ from marijuana to hard drugs, and that’s been backed up by numerous studies since.  There is nothing about smoking marijuana that either physiologically or psychologically leads one to try other drugs.  

The ‘gateway theory’ is a myth that holds on because people look at meth, cocaine, and heroin addicts and say, “Aha!  They all used marijuana!”  But they never look the other direction, at the millions – one hundred million Americans have tried marijuana in their lives, and so very very few of them ever use, much less become addicted to, any other drugs.  For most, cannabis is a ‘terminus drug’ rather than a ‘gateway drug’.

SOCKO:  I don’t know what that means.

ME:  A ‘terminus drug’, meaning that for most of the people who use marijuana, that’s where their use of drugs stops.  Most don’t go on to other drugs.

This will be on YouTube so when it is available, I will post it here.  I’d much rather debate a human, but so far no human will debate me on camera.  (Yes, because they’re quaking in their boots at the thought of matching wits with a college dropout stoner blogging in his basement wearing sweats and eating Cheetos between bong hits.  You know, like Bill Hicks mentioned, what does it say when they declare a war on drugs and they are losing to the people on drugs?)

Tuesday is Government at Work day on the podcast, and coming up after the news, we’re going to look at medical marijuana in the great Midwest with Dan Linn from Illinois NORML. He’s got updates on the medical cannabis bills that are being debated this week in their legislature. Then we head east to Rhode Island with Jesse Stout of the Rhode Island Patients Advocacy Coalition to discuss the proposal for a non-profit state-regulated medical cannabis distribution system.

After that we go back to the Midwest for our musical break with Sly Joe from Neenah, Wisconsin and his song “High” – just the kind of break Wisconsinites need to soothe the sorrow since Brett Favre announced his retirement from the Green Bay Packers… or maybe that’s just me.

And to end the show, I debut a new segment for the Stash – Patient Perspectives – where we sit down with ordinary Americans who have found incredible relief from the medical sue of cannabis. Today we speak with Susan, who is a registered patient in the state of Oregon who is using cannabis to help save her sight from the ravages of glaucoma – something the people of Michigan and Illinois should be considering as they debate enacting medical marijuana laws in those two Midwestern states.

So sit back and relax with your favorite strain – this is the Daily Audio Stash.