Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access
Standard Podcast Feed (27.5MB 64Kbps) | High-Def Podcast Feed (82.5MB 192Kbps)
Download audio file (NORML_SHOW_LIVE_2011-11-15.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

1. Tacoma, Seattle, and Olympia dispensaries raided simultaneously by DEA
2. Smaller California cities can’t afford to continue court battles against dispensaries
3. 11-year-old turns in stepdad for using medical marijuana
4. Georgia proposes drug testing for welfare qualification
5. Study shows kids with high IQs more likely to try drugs in life

Daily Toker Tunes

Electric Tuesday: Brought to you by Cannabis Cure UK – the reform podcast for the

• Sun Dried Vibes – “Revolution”

Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access

Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2010-03-12.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

1. Colorado Census workers discover marijuana growing next door to office
2. Maine government looks at institution of dispensaries
3. Olympia, Washington, councilman caught with marijuana: update
4. Chilean high school students have greatest marijuana use rates in South America
5. World-class indoor sprinter Ivory Williams suspended for three months for marijuana
6. Vote Hemp calling for more support for industrial hemp in America

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by Eric Smokesbud

• Rockin’ Friday: HUKA – “Chronic Boom”

HIGH TIMES Magazine preview with Senior Editor Dave Bienenstock, author of The Official Pot Smoker’s Handbook

• West Coast Cannabis Cup information
• Ed Norton’s new marijuana-themed movie
• Top Ten Canadian Strains and Manitoba Hemp
• HIGH TIMES new medical marijuana magazines

NORML Newsmakers

• Jen Alexander from Oregon NORML on police abuse of medical marijuana patients’ privacy rights to further anti-medical marijuana agenda

Download Link: Secret Stash - Register to access

Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2010-02-22.mp3)

Hemp Headlines

1. Denver activists protest President Obama’s visit; angry at recent DEA raids on Colorado caregivers
2. Missouri legislators looking at medical marijuana legalization in HB 1670
3. Olympia, Washington Mayor Pro-Tem arrested on suspicion of marijuana trafficking based on confidential informant

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by Cannabis Fantastic

• Roots Monday: Della Reese – “Games People Play”

Behind the Headlines with NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano

• Discussion of the recent California Senate-commissioned 10-year double-blind, placebo-controlled trials on medical marijuana’s efficacy

Reefer Madness

• Forbes.com article on “Medical Marijuana: An Over-Hyped Medicine”

This just in from ACLU of Washington’s Alison Holcomb:

Senate Bill 5615, which would have freed up Washington’s criminal justice resources by making adult possession of small amounts of marijuana an infraction carrying a fine rather than a misdemeanor carrying mandatory jail time, failed to get a Senate vote yesterday. Therefore, efforts to address adult marijuana use through a civil, public health approach, rather than a failed criminalization approach, have died for the 2010 legislative session.

The ACLU of Washington is disappointed by the legislature’s failure to pass this bill despite strong and consistent public support for it. An overwhelming majority of Washington voters support the modest change proposed by SB 5615 – a change already made in 13 other states, 11 of them as long ago as the 1970s, with no adverse impact. Studies in those states demonstrate no increase in marijuana use among adults or youth, results echoed in jurisdictions like Seattle where adult marijuana possession has been the lowest law enforcement priority since 2003.

In 2008, police and prosecutors filed 12,428 cases involving misdemeanor marijuana possession by adults in Washington courts – using funds that would be far better spent addressing other priorities, including violent crime. The Washington State Office of Financial Management estimated that SB 5615 and its companion HB 1177 would have made approximately $15-16 million in scarce public safety dollars available to combat true public safety threats, and would have directed significant resources to sorely needed state-funded treatment and prevention services.

We applaud Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, prime sponsor of SB 5615, for her tireless efforts to advocate for sensible reforms grounded in reason, science, and fiscal responsibility. And we hope our legislature will get the electorate’s message in 2011 and pass marijuana decriminalization legislation. It’s time to stop wasting money on arresting and jailing adults for marijuana use and invest instead in proven prevention and treatment programs.

(L-R) NORML Founder Keith Stroup, CA Assem. Tom Ammiano, NORML Advisory Board Member Rick Steves at NORML CON 2009 San Francisco

(The Olympian) A legislative ethics panel has thrown out a complaint against state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles and others who invited international travel adviser Rick Steves to talk in October at the Capitol about topics that included marijuana.

Steves, who supports decriminalizing marijuana possession, says travel can help people learn about how other cultures address social problems, which can help in the creation of better public policies related to health care, drug laws and other issues.

About $50 of public money was spent on posters publicizing the talk, and Steves gave out copies of a travel book he wrote, the ethics board found.

Not all lawmakers escaped sanctions stemming from complaints brought by activist Rob Kavanaugh of Lacey. The American Civil Liberties Union, which supports decriminalizing marijuana, provided free lunches at the event, and lawmakers who ate the lunches must give back a portion of their “per diem” spending allowance to the state.

It amounts to $18 each for two senators and a Senate staffer and $9.50 each for five representatives.

Rob Kavanaugh is on the case!  $83.50 of the public’s money will not be frivolously expended to reimburse lawmakers for a free lunch meeting with a travel writer purchased by the ACLU.  We no longer have to fear that the ethics of Washington lawmakers will be compromised by getting a free sandwich from the Bill of Rights advocacy organization.

If I had known that buying them a sandwich was all it takes to shift lawmaker’s views on marijuana legalization, I would have sent them each a six-foot sub years ago.

I’m excited to announce the formation of three new NORML chapters and six subchapters.

Our chapter in Spokane, Washington, formerly known as “Inland Northwest NORML“, has been promoted to our newest statewide chapter, Washington NORML. Kevin Oliver is the Executive Director and has stated it is his goal to form a Washington NORML subchapter in every county by the end of the quarter. They have already instituted subchapters in Asotin County (Clarkston), Stevens County (Collville), Whitman County (Walla Walla), Thurston County (Olympia), King County (Seattle), and Spokane County. The new Washington NORML groups are working together with Sensible Washington to collect signatures for I-1068, the legalization initiative filed by NORML Legal Committee attorney Douglas Hiatt.

Our statewide chapter in Virginia, Viriginia NORML, has gotten its official recognition from the Commonwealth and is seeking responsible volunteers to help form subchapters throughout the state. Dee Duffy and Sabrina Fendrick bring more strong female leadership to the NORML family and I’m looking forward to their East Coast activism.

We’re also accepting applications from college students interested in forming an official university chapter of NORML on campus. Students at Central Connecticut State University, led by Ross Martowski, have become the latest NORML college chapter to promote the growing truth about cannabis. College chapters table in the student unions educating their student body, provide film screenings and guest speakers, and fight to reduce university penalties for students who choose cannabis instead of alcohol.

They say that the will of politicians often lags behind the sentiment of the public. Nowhere is this adage more clear than when it comes to marijuana law reform.

It was business as usual today in Olympia, as lawmakers on the House Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness voted down a pair of bills aimed at reforming the state’s failed criminal marijuana laws.

House Bill 2401 sought to regulate the adult production, use, and distribution of marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. Here was the roll call vote:

Hurst (D) Chair — N
O’Brien (D) Vice Chair — N
Pearson (R) — N
Klippert (R) — N
Appleton (D) — Y
Goodman (D) — Y
Kirby (D) — N
Ross (R) — N

House Bill 1177 was much more limited in scope, seeking simply to reclassify minor marijuana possession offenses from a criminal misdemeanor to a fine-only civil infraction. (Note, its Senate companion bill, SB 5615, awaits floor action in the Senate.) This change, known as decriminalization, is already the law in over a dozen states.

Here was the roll call vote:

Hurst (D) Chair — N
O’Brien (D) Vice Chair — Y
Pearson (R) — N
Klippert (R) — N
Appleton (D) — Y
Goodman (D) — Y
Kirby (D) — N

The legislative defeats came despite nearly two hours of public testimony, nearly all of which was in support of one or both reform proposals.

So what reasons did lawmakers give for voting ‘no’ on these reforms? Here’s just a few excuses.

Committee Chair, democrat Christopher Hurst alleged that as a state lawmakers he is sworn to uphold both state and federal law, and claimed that both proposals would be in violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act. (For the record, neighboring Oregon first decriminalized marijuana possession offenses in 1973 and has never run afoul of federal law. Likewise, New Mexico’s government has licensed the production and distribution of marijuana for medical purposes without incident.)

Republican Brad Klippert stated, “As a law enforcement officer … on countless occasions I’ve seen the negative effects of marijuana on people’s lives.” (By that logic I suppose that the Representative would also vote to criminally prohibit alcohol, tobacco, and fatty foods.)

Fellow Republican Kirk Pearson claimed that just by lawmakers talking about the bills they were encouraging teens to try marijuana. (“I don’t want to do anything today that would make drug use seem safer to teenagers,” he said, even though by his own logic he was better off keeping his mouth shut.)

Finally, Democrat Rep. Steve Kirby alleged that he supported the reforms, in theory, but then inexplicably said that such changes in policy “require a vote of the public,” not action by the legislature. (Um, was marijuana prohibition enacted by a vote of the public?) Ultimately, however, Rep. Kirby may get his wish, as NORML Legal Committee member Douglas Hiatt has filed a petition to put the marijuana legalization issue on the November 2010 state ballot, and a recent statewide poll shows that if the election was held today it would win.

In the end, however, Democrat Rep. Roger Goodman stood as the minority voice of reason when he told his colleagues: “A ‘no’ vote … is a vote for prohibition and the illegal markets that it spawns. A ‘yes’ vote is a vote for control. … A ‘no’ is a vote for continued chaos.”

It’s a lesson that the public has already learned — even if a majority of their elected officials have not. Perhaps now is the time to teach them.

Download the NORML Daily Audio Stash for 2009-02-02

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

Well, wasn’t THAT one hell of a Super Bowl?  I was pulling for the Cards and thought my 23-21 Steelers-miss-last-second-FG prediction was going to be pretty darn close.  But what do you know, a stoner goes and catches the game winning last minute touchdown and is voted MVP.

Well, wasn’t THAT one hell of a Super Bong?  Michael Phelps was pulling from a big ol’ piece of glass without remembering that cell phone cameras exist now and he is the most famous Olympian on the planet.  But what do you know, a stoner went off to Beijing and became the only human to win eight gold in one Games.

Well, wasnt’t THAT one hell of a Super Bhang?  George Obama was pulled out of a Nairobi slum and was headed to the slammer for possession of marijuana and resisting arrest.  But what do you know, a stoner gets released from jail with charges dropped because his half-brother (a stoner) went and got elected President of the United States.

(It’s Groundhog Day.  Sonny & Cher keep playing on my radio.)

On today’s Stash, Allen St. Pierre drops by to give his take on the toker trifecta we hit this Super Bowl weekend, and Kelly Maddy from Jopin NORML is here to discuss medical marijuana legislation in Missouri.

THIS is the astonishing picture which could destroy the career of the greatest competitor in Olympic history.

In our exclusive photo Michael Phelps, who won a record EIGHT gold medals for swimming at the Beijing games last summer, draws from a bong.

And after sporting chiefs announced laws which mean four-year bans for drug-taking, Phelps’ dreams of adding to his overall 14 gold medal tally at the 2012 games in London could already be OVER.

Those dreams seemed the last thing on his mind when he puffed from the bong during two days of partying with students last November, a quiet time in the swimming calendar when athletes would not expect to get tested for drugs.

As he basked in his hero status, Phelps knocked back beers and shots of spirits. And when a student offered him the glass bong engraved with red writing, he did not hesitate, says our source.

Our source said: “You could tell Michael had smoked before. He grabbed the bong and a lighter and knew exactly what to do.

“He looked just as natural with a bong in his hands as he does swimming in the pool. He was the gold medal winner of bong hits. Michael ended up getting a little paranoid, though, because before too long he looked like he was nervous and ran out of the place.”

The US Olympics Committee, who have pledged to clamp down on drug use, refused to comment, as did USA Swimming and Phelps’ coach Bob Bowman.

More surprising still was the World Anti-Doping Agency’s refusal to comment, given that they introduced the four-year ban on sport’s drug users.

Spokesman Clifford Bloxham offered us an extraordinary deal not to publish our story, saying Phelps would become our columnist for three years, host events and get his sponsors to advertise with us.

In return, he asked that we kill Phelps’ bong picture. Bloxham said: “It’s seeing if something potentially very negative for Michael could turn into something very positive for the News of the World.”

So, you wanna explain to me how marijuana smoking will make one a lethargic, unmotivated loser who will never get anywhere in life?  This should be fun, watching sponsors and Olympic and USA Swimming officials trip all over themselves.  I expect to see a special exemption or a sudden new rule that lets firt time offenders skate with some sort of class and community service.  Does anybody really think they are going to end Michael Phelps’ career, the greatest Olympian ever, and a huge marketing and endorsement cash cow, for a picture of him doing something that isn’t even criminal in thirteen states?

Three representatives introduced a bill in the state house this morning that would reduce the penalty for marijuana possession to a mere $100 fine. [Update: Nine additional co-sponsors have signed on.] Under current law, possessing as little as one joint is punishable by up to 90 days in jail. In Washington last year, 11,553 people were arrested on marijuana possession charges.

But can it pass?

This year seems an especially unlikely time for legislators to embrace liberal civil-liberty-lovin’ bills, considering the priority of bridging Washington’s $6 billion budget gap. But the financial crunch may prove a paradoxical windfall. Sponsors and advocates behind the bill intend to capitalize on the bill’s savings.

Representative Brendan Williams (D-22, Olympia), one of the bills co-sponsors, says he plans to “frame it in terms of the tradeoff in the budget discussion … and set a square alternative. He says conservative legislators could be attracted to the cost-saving argument for decriminalization more than ever. “Do you choose to provide health care for x number of children or fund criminalizing marijuana possession?” he asks. For example, Williams cites a cost analysis of pot busts taken from Washington State Institute for Public Policy data that shows, based on the number of arrests in 2007, Washington would save $7.5 million by passing the law.

via The Stranger | Slog | State Bill to Decriminalize Marijuana Would Save Millions.

Every activist needs to keep framing the marijuana issue as one of mistaken priorities.  Don’t try to convince them pot smoking is good or that pot smokers don’t harm anyone, etc., even though it is true.  Let them hold on to the notion that pot is bad, but force them to evaluate “how bad?”  Is arresting potheads more important than educating kids?  Than providing senior health care?  Than fixing roads?  If the average non-pot-smoking public ever begins to feel that every pot arrest is money flushed down the toilet, we win.