JAX NORML, the Jacksonville, Florida affiliate of NORML, is really capturing the media spotlight for its decriminalization campaign for Jacksonville Beach.  They sent me a list of their Media References and that struck me as a very fine idea I should pass on to other NORML chapters.  Have your Media References list ready to go and accessible from your website.  These are what build your public image and gain you legitimacy in the community.

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I received an email from Clif, who has almost completed the process for forming Waco NORML in Texas:

Thanks for everything, and to Leon and DFW NORML for their $500. grant to help with start-up and all info, by laws and to get me on the right track. Also thanks goes out to Josh and TX NORML for their help with getting the Letter of Incorporation.

This is EXACTLY the sort of grassroots cooperation that makes NORML stand head and shoulders above the other marijuana law reform organizations.  Established chapters with money and resources should be planting little seedlings of NORML chapters all around their state.  Similar work is going on in Wisconsin, with the folks from Madison helping Milwaukee get started, in Oregon where the mighty Portland chapter is setting up chapters in Bend and Salem, and in Michigan, where they pioneered the art of “sub-chaptering” (setting up remote outposts of Michigan NORML that aren’t technically independent chapters, just remote meetings of Michigan NORML).

Eventually this sort of mentoring process will be codified and introduced at the NORML National Conference this year.  I intend to set up an intermediate level of state chapters to act as the organizational hubs for the local chapters in their state.  This should accrue more gravitas, responsibility, local control, and rapid response for the state-level chapters, while serving to promote the national NORML presence in all fifty states.

Have at it, state chapters!  Set the goal of instituting chapters in every region of your state.

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Oregon NORML's cleaning up Highway 26, milepost 14-16

I just got this photo from Madeline Martinez at Oregon NORML.  The chapter has joined the “Adopt A Highway” program that puts volunteers on the roadside to clean up garbage along our roadsides.  Oregon NORML adopted Highway 26, the busy route from Portland to the skiing and camping destinations at Mt. Hood, from milepost 14 to 16.  They’re working on adopting another stretch of road that passes right by the residence of one particularly weed-hating state representative (the Yiddish word is “chutzpah”, I believe).

Other NORML chapters, like Oklahoma NORML, have done this and it is one of the coolest ways to make your chapter known.  It helps to show society that we cannabis consumers care about the same things everyone else does, like clean roads.  It takes only a couple of hours every few months to fulfill the requirements.  It can be a fun activity for your volunteers to feel like they are part of a worthwhile activity that generates positive public relations for the movement.

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I am proud to announce the creation of the NORML North American Chapter Map in Google Maps. The map will locate all the State, Regional, Local (subchapters) and College NORML Chapters in the US and Canada. Click the icon for a chapter and you’ll be linked to their website. As I continue updating the database, more information will be added to the map, such as meeting times and locations, public events, and email contacts, as well as each chapter’s logo.

View the NORML Chapters Map at http://tr.im/NORMLmap.

If you use Google Earth, you may open the NORML.kml file, which will link to the database and retrieve the latest updates. You can save that link to your “My Places” and it will always show an up-to-date map when you open Google Earth.

View Larger Map

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Help us end the 21st century prohibition! Join NORML today!

I am now NORML’s National Chapter Outreach Coordinator.  In that capacity, I receive the emails from people all across the country looking to join NORML.  We currently have 64 chapters and 47 campus chapters in 38 states, and 8 international chapters.

I want a NORML chapter in all fifty states, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.  I want double the number of chapters.  So I really need your help.

Just this last two weeks, I have received emails from budding activists (pun intended) looking to start NORML Chapters in Colorado, North Carolina, Alaska, Alabama, Florida (Miami), Missouri, Virginia, Idaho, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Mississippi, Vermont, Texas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Kansas, as well as four new college chapter inquiries and inquiries from Australia, Japan, Guam, and Mexico (Cuidad Juarez).

I work to put the people in the same state in touch with each other because the hardest thing about forming a NORML Chapter isn’t finding the guy or gal to lead, it’s finding the other four people to form your board.

So Stashers, if you’re in one of the above-named states or countries and you’d like to get on board with a new local chapter, send me an email to stash@norml.org with the subject “Join a Chapter” and I’ll hook you up.

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