Enjoy the "atmosphere" of NORML's annual fundraising party!

I’m excited for our annual fundraiser this year!  We’re holding it on the rooftop of the downtown Red Lion Hotel in their Skyroom this Friday at 6pm-10pm.

Download audio file (NORML-CON-2010-Party.mp3)
NORML CON 2010 Party Ad MP3 download

Chief Greenbud from Nashville, Tennessee, joins us straight from his headlining gig at the mammoth Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.  Winner of numerous Marijuana Music Awards, Chief Greenbud’s country-infused toker tunes range from the rockin’ Song on the Year “It’s 4:20 Somewhere” to pop pot parodies like “It’s Only a Weed” (Plain White T’s “Hey There, Delilah”) and “It’s Another Dry Day” (Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day”).

Los Marijuanos from Las Vegas, Nevada, are veterans of the marijuana movement who’ve performed at Seattle Hempfest, Amsterdam’s Cannabis Cup, and Eddy’s Medicinal Gardens.  PonyBoy and FCM Click make up the hip-hop hempsters whose songs “Time 2 Get High”, “Mr. Weedman”, and “Flame On” are Pacific Northwest favorites.

Ngaio Bealum is the editor of West Coast Cannabis magazine and one of America’s brightest cannabis comedians.  Ngaio will have you in stitches as he tells you why storing hash in your passport is a bad idea and how smoking pot can make you a better parent (“My kids smell me smoking pot and they know we’re heading to miniature golf in the next twenty minutes.  I’m down for any animated feature when I’m high!”)

Tickets for the fundraiser are $75… and you’ll enjoy much more than just music and comedy for that price.  It is a NORML Party, after all.

Casino officials fear 50,000 cannabis consumers will be uncontrollable and the Mandalay Bay could lose its gaming license

I have the unfortunate duty to let you all know that Cannapalooza, the entire event, has been canceled.

Just yesterday I posted the official press release from Cannapalooza announcing the event.  Today, as I am beginning my live show, people in the chat room asked me why Cannapalooza was canceled.  I logged on to their website while preparing the show to find:

We regret to inform all of our fans who were eagerly anticipating the Cannapalooza event that Mandalay Bay has decided to cancel our contract for space and therefore we will not be able to hold the event.

We are incredibly disappointed and appreciate the overwhelming support for the event that we have received since first announcing our plans.

I spoke with Louis, my contact at Cannapalooza, the man who recruited me to host and create the live speaker’s panel that we were to air on a special three-hour NORML SHOW LIVE March 19-21.  He sounded as devastated as you would expect.

I asked him what happened and he told me that the Mandalay Bay Casino just canceled the contract.  Organizers of the event found out that the casino had been bombarded by lobbying from law enforcement groups and gaming commission officials, who painted a scenario that 50,000 cannabis consumers descending on the Mandalay Bay would get “out of control” and open the casino up for possible violations that would cost its gaming license. So rather than risk the millions Mandalay Bay makes every day from gambling, they’d rather pay the $300,000 or so in expenses to make Cannapalooza go away.

In the meantime, I’m hoping some attorneys on the NORML Legal Committee look into this.  I’m not sure why the Antique Arms, Int’l Sporting Arms and Invitational Knifemakers Show scheduled for June 1-3 at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is less likely to get “out of control” than a bunch of glass and hemp displays and non-profit activists.

LAS VEGAS, NV — 01/27/10 — March Madness takes on a whole new meaning with the first ever Cannapalooza event, debuting March 19-21, 2010 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. Cannapalooza, the international marketplace for all things cannabis, will showcase the latest products and technologies that have made cannabis one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Open to the public, Cannapalooza expects to draw 50,000 attendees from across the country and around the world.

Now, more than ever cannabis is moving into the mainstream, with marijuana playing a key role in popular culture. Showtime’s Weeds, pot infused musical lyrics and cover stories in national media outlets, along with heated political and medical debate have all pushed cannabis into the spotlight. The beauty and fashion industries have embraced the plant as well, with a rise in demand for natural hemp clothing and cosmetics.

The event will span 50,000 square feet of convention center space and is designed to provide an entertaining forum where everyone from industry insiders and medical marijuana users to those with a casual interest can gather to celebrate the culture. Attendees will be surrounded by every imaginable product including hand blown glassware, industrial hemp goods and more. For three days Cannapalooza will be the largest head shop on the planet.

Cannapalooza will also feature an educational symposium moderated by NORML’s Russ Belville, with expert speakers and celebrity guests addressing legalization, decriminalization and medicinal benefits, while debunking marijuana myths and sharing simple home garden techniques, green agricultural technologies and more.

Legalization and reform advocacy groups including The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Americans for Safe Access (ASA), Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), and Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) will be represented at Cannapalooza. Currently fourteen states, including Nevada, allow for the medical usage of marijuana and another fourteen are weighing legislation or ballot initiatives that would legalize medical marijuana in 2010. There are strong movements pushing for the outright legalization of cannabis across the United States, including California’s Tax and Regulate initiative that will be on the 2010 ballot.

To learn more about the event or reserve exhibitor space, visit www.cannapalooza.com.

Chief Greenbud and his guitar provide the hilarious Toker Tunes in-between presentations

I’m really excited to be a part of Cannapalooza, and more excited that the educational symposium I’m hosting will be streamed live for you on NORML SHOW LIVE at http://live.norml.org.  I’m taking a seven-person crew down to Vegas for the event and we’re going to get you a look at Cannapalooza that is second only to being there yourself.

Our show will stream from 1pm-4pm Pacific Time.  Chief Greenbud from Nashville, Tennessee, will serve as our “house band” to play speakers on and off the show.  Cannabis Karri will be by my side to help with the show, as I will be giving my presentations:

• Oregon Medical Marijuana Act: The Gold Standard
• The Top Dozen Reefer Madness Lies and How to Stop Them
• History of Marijuana’s Popularity during Nixon’s War on Drugs
• The Racist Nature of America’s War on Marijuana

I’m proud to announce that our speaker line-up will include:

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• Alison Holcomb (Washington State ACLU) – Medical Marijuana, Decriminalization, and Legalization in Washington State
• Chris Conrad (Oaksterdam University) – Medical Marijuana Cultivation Expert Witness
• Georgine DiMaria (NORML New Jersey) – Miss New Jersey 2006 Fights For Medical Marijuana
• Jessica Corry (Denver Attorney) – Republican Moms for Marijuana
• Jim Gierach (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) – Why Cops Say Legalize Drugs
• Madeline Martinez (NORML / Oregon NORML) – A NORML Mom Blazing the Oregon Trail
• Mikki Norris (West Coast Leaf newspaper) – The Rise of the Marijuana Media
• Ngaio Bealum (West Coast Cannabis) – Observations on California’s Marijuana Culture
• Omar Figueroa (Oaksterdam University) – Medical Marijuana Law in California
• Paul Armentano (NORML) – Medical Marijuana Science and Research
• (tentative) Rob Van Dam – World champion pro-wrestler and outspoken cannabis advocate
• Robert Platshorn (“The Black Tuna Diaries”) – America’s Longest Serving Non-Violent Marijuana POW

Stay tuned to NORML SHOW LIVE for more details.  If you want to join us in Vegas, log on to http://cannapalooza.com and book your hotel rooms now before the special $99 room rate has expired (February 19 is your deadline).

I got the call from Steve Bloom while in Orlando. “Do you want to represent NORML on a Legalization Panel at the Cypress Hill Smokeout in San Bernadino in a couple of weeks?”

Uh, let’s see, hosted by Tommy Chong, guests include Cypress Hill, SlipKnot, the Deftones, Sublime, Method Man & Redman, Bad Brains, Kottonmouth Kings and others, plus panels with Ngaio Bealum, Sarah Diesel, Allison Margolin, Ed Rosenthal, Mikey Avalon, Adrienne Curry, Andy Milonakis, Debby Goldsberry, Shirley Halperin, Steve Bloom, RZA, and me? Is there a stronger reply than “Hell, yes!”

The whole show / expo / panels extravaganja runs Friday, October 23rd and Saturday, October 24th. I’m on the Saturday 3:00pm Legalization panel with Rosenthal, Margolin, and Goldsberry. (I’ll even provide you podcasts for that Thursday & Friday… though you may have to deal with the road noise on the Thursday one as I produce it from the laptop in the car while my wife drives.)

Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access

Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2009-10-06.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

1. What Parents Need to Know About Pot (Truth Edition)
2. Three Sheboygan men facing eighteen months imprisonment for unauthorized camping while high
3. Westword in Denver looking for cannabis critic

Daily Toker Tunes by Marijuana Music Awards . com

• “Election Day” by Pass Margo

NORML Newsmakers

• Pot & Parenting Panel from NORML CON 2009, moderated by Dr. Marsha Rosenbaum, with Ngaio Bealum, Rick Steves, Jessica Corry, Rob Corry, George Rohrbacher, and Dr. Mitch Earleywine.

Cannabis Planet, a new weekly half-hour news show, premieres at midnight July 31 and will continue at that time Thursdays and Saturdays for 13 consecutive weeks. It will cover “the merits of the cannabis plant (medicinally, industrially, agriculturally), and the benefits this plant brings to planet earth, mankind and the United States,” say producers.

The show is co-hosted by West Coast Cannabis Magazine publisher Ngaio Bealum and medical marijuana activist Sarah Diesel. Horticulturist and author Ed Rosenthal, who serves as resident cannabis expert, will provide weekly growing tips. But topics will extend beyond pot as medicine or hemp as an industrial product, focusing on music, entertainment and celebrity tie-ins to the wonder plant as well.

“We are very excited to be bringing the latest in cannabis news and information into millions of living room each week,” says Brad Lane, the Cannabis Planet creator and executive producer. “The show will also be available on the Internet, but we think the information is important enough to be seen on television.”

Download link: Secret Stash - Register to access

Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2009-03-20.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

1. Maxine Waters introduces bill to end mandatory minimums
2. UGA NORML Faces Hearing On UGA Trademark
3. Connecticut Poll: Decriminalize small amounts of pot
4. CBS News Poll: Americans Oppose Legalizing Marijuana

Cannabis Conversations

• Ngaio Bealum, comedian, publisher of West Coast Cannabis, on Oregon NORML benefit show tonight at Portland’s Bagdad Theater

Daily Toker Tunes by Marijuana Music Awards

• It’s a Rap Friday – ‘MaryJane’ by ill e. gal

Cultivation Corner with High Times’ Danny Danko

• Spring planting tips