That National Organization for Marijuana Law Reform (NORML) campaigned for the legalization of cannabis before some of us were born.
Keith Stroup founded NORML in 1970 with $5,000 seed capital from the Playboy Foundation. Strup, a lawyer and his colleagues kept the work going for almost four decades thanks to a monthly grant from an earlier version of High Times Magazine, among other supporters. Today, NORMAL has a large grassroots network with 135 local chapters, over 550 lawyers and is still growing.
In these often turbulent yearsNORML did not blink or stagger in the face of government intimidation during the war on drugs and the worst days of cannabis prohibition.
This is NORML’s answer on President Biden’s Thursday announcement of forgiveness all previous federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana.
NORML Managing Director Erik Altieri made the following statement:
“Many of the efforts that the President has undertaken and proposed today are long overdue. For nearly two years, NORML has been calling on the government to fulfill the president’s campaign promise to provide assistance to those stigmatized by a minor cannabis conviction. We are pleased that President Biden is delivering on that promise today, and that he is also encouraging governors to take similar steps to ensure that the millions of Americans convicted of previous state-level marijuana crimes can finally get on with their lives . Since 1965, nearly 29 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana-related violations — activities that a majority of voters no longer believe should be a crime.
“Going forward, the administration must work with congressional leadership to repeal America’s failed marijuana criminalization laws. Nearly half of voters now agree that legalizing marijuana should be a Congressional priority, and such action can only be taken by delaying and repealing cannabis…
