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  Connecticut Becomes The 17th State To Allow For The Limited Legalization Of Marijuana As Medicine

  by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

  Democrat Gov. Dan Malloy signed legislation into law on Friday, June 1, allowing for the state-sanctioned production, distribution, and use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. The new law – Public Act 12-55, An Act Concerning the Palliative Use of Marijuana – will take effect on October 1, 2012. “For years, we’ve heard from so many patients with chronic diseases who undergo treatments like chemotherapy or radiation and are denied the palliative benefits that medical marijuana would provide,” Governor Malloy said in a prepared statement. (Read it here.) “With careful regulation [...]

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  Do You Know Your Local Cannabis Laws? Get Educated Now by NORML!

  by Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director

  Dear NORML Supporters, Arrests, penalties and the threat of incarceration when widely broadcast to society are supposed to act as deterrent to unwanted human behavior. True or not, one thing is for sure: Despite nearly seventy-five years of Cannabis Prohibition in America, and the presence of nearly 40 million consumers and 850,000 cannabis-related criminal arrests annually, most cannabis consumers (and medical patients who use cannabis) do not know what their state’s laws and penalties are for cannabis. Of the many functions and responsibilities of a cannabis law reform group like [...]

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  Look Out Canada: The Women are Coming!

  by Sabrina Fendrick, NORML Women's Alliance

  The NORML Women’s Alliance has been growing at an unprecedented rate.  Women have been organizing around the country, targeting the female demographic and spreading the word of marijuana law reform.  The enthusiasm for this NORML Foundation program has crossed the border and gone international. The Women’s Alliance has become the latest sensation for marijuana law reformers in Canada, and is spreading like wildfire across the territories. From Vancouver to Toronto, the NORML Women’s Alliance has brought together an amazing group of strong, empowered, like-minded women. In early May, the NORML [...]

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  This Week in Weed: May 27th – June 2nd (and a new PSA)

  by Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Coordinator

  Click here to subscribe to NORMLtv and receive alerts whenever new content is added. The latest installment of “This Week in Weed” is now streaming on NORMLtv. This week: A new study shows cannabis use decreases mortality rate in patients with schizophrenia and related ailments and Rhode Island’s Governor signs a bill allowing for “Compassion Centers.” Also, check out this latest NORML PSA, featuring some great rhyming on the problems of prohibition, submitted to us from artist Will Brennan: Be sure to tune in to NORMLtv every week to catch [...]

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  Rhode Island: Lawmakers Moving Forward With Marijuana Decriminalization Measures

  by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

  On Tuesday, separate legislative committees in the Rhode Island House and Senate approved measures to significantly reduce the state’s criminal marijuana possession penalties. House Bill 7092 and its companion legislation, Senate Bill 2253, amend state law so that the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by an individual 18 or older is reduced from a criminal misdemeanor (punishable by one year in jail and a $500 maximum fine) to a non-arrestable civil offense, punishable by a $150 fine, no jail time, and no criminal record. You can read [...]

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  Marijuana Law Reform Supporter Dethrones Eight-Term Incumbent in El Paso Primary

  by Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Coordinator

  In early May, Ellen Rosenblum rode to a landslide victory in the Oregon Democratic Attorney General Primary with marijuana law reform being a central plank in her platform. It looks like it has happened again, this time in the Lone Star state. In the Democratic primary for the House seat representing El Paso, eight-term incumbent Silvestre Reyes faced an unexpected challenger in Beto O’Rourke, who formerly served on the El Paso city council. The race garnered media attention, largely focusing on O’Rourke’s support for marijuana legalization. O’Rourke had been vocal [...]

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  Study: Cannabis Use Associated With Lower Mortality Risk In Patients With Psychotic Disorders

  by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

  [Editor's note: This post is excerpted from this week's forthcoming NORML weekly media advisory. To have NORML's news alerts and legislative advisories delivered straight to your in-box, sign up here.] The use of cannabis is associated with lower mortality risk in patients with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders, according to a forthcoming study to be published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. (Read the abstract of the study online here.) An international team of investigators from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Inje University in South Korea assessed [...]

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  Silver Tour: Wall Street Journal Looks At Seniors and Medical Marijuana Use

  by Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director

  Today, the Wall Street Journal is featuring a news article and video casting light on the High Times and NORML-sponsored ‘Silver Tour‘ featuring former federal cannabis prisoner Robert Platshorn (who served nearly a thirty year sentence for a cannabis-only related criminal offense). To donate or learn more about Robert and the Silver Tour, click here. From Wall Street Journal: LAKE WORTH, Fla.—Selma Yeshion, an 83-year-old retiree here, says she long considered marijuana a menace. “I thought it was something that was addictive” and “would lead to harder drugs,” she says. [...]

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  It’s Time for Obama to Have His “Marijuana Moment”

  by Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Coordinator

  The internet was ablaze yesterday with talk of President Obama’s youthful pot use. Which is odd, considering the only thing atypical about Obama’s high school years is how common and relatable they seem. Recent polling has shown support for marijuana legalization growing exponentially. Just this month, 56% of people responded in favor of legalization in a survey from Rasmussen Reports, with only 36% opposed. This is just the latest in a continuing trend of polling data demonstrating majority support for regulating cannabis. In October 2011, a Gallup poll had 50% [...]

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  Marijuana and Autism Survey – NORML and UF4A Collaboration

  by Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director

  Over the last five years there have been numerous media reports about the anecdotal use of cannabis to help autistic children. Two brave women, one on the east coast the other the west, have been at the forefront of this effort to help scientifically explain why cannabis appears to be so helpful. Marie Myung-Ok Lee wrote about her experience in Rhode Island, a state with medical cannabis laws, in 2009. Soon after, inspired by Marie’s writings, Mieko Perez Hester and her son had a similarly positive experience with treating his [...]