"It is apparent that voters' views regarding marijuana policy have evolved significantly over the past decades," said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, in an email. "Yet, the positions of their federally elected officials have not progressed in a similar manner."

"As Election Day approaches, the public is showing unprecedented support for ending America’s nearly century-long experiment with cannabis prohibition, and replacing it with a controlled and regulated adult marketplace," says Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML.

A lot of attention has been paid to the nine states voting on legalization initiatives this year, but November 8th is a time for every eligible adult to represent their interests at the ballot box.

And if you happen to value cannabis reform, NORML created this helpful guide. It assigns a letter grade to every lawmaker on Capitol Hill based on their marijuana track record. 

The state is voting on recreational legalization later this year, which could also change the relationship's industry with law enforcement for the better. "Most certainly, legalizing the commercial industry, as proposed under Prop. 64, will bring greater transparency and oversight to an industry that, by and large, has previously operated underground and without regulatory guidance," says Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML.

Keith Stroup, the founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, points out the futility of trying to pressure the DEA to reschedule marijuana. 

"Instead of trying to convince the DEA that they should act responsibly and compassionately and lower marijuana to a more appropriate schedule under federal law, or remove it entirely, it is now time to put our efforts behind a push to convince the next Congress to solve this problem directly," Mr. Stroup said.

Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said the number of states voting on marijuana initiatives is unprecedented.

“I think that speaks to both the public support of the issue and the maturation of the campaigns behind reforming marijuana laws,” Mr. Armentano said.

Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, argues that there is more than meets the eye in the DEA's recent refusal to reschedule marijuana under federal law. 

Paul Armentano of NORML, a group advocating legalization, said the DEA's action reaffirms its "flat earth" approach to regulation.

"Ultimately, the federal government ought to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act altogether in a manner similar to alcohol and tobacco, thus providing states the power to establish their own marijuana regulatory policies free from federal intrusion.," he said.

Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, (NORML) explains why.

“The federal regulations have made clinical investigations involving cannabis needlessly onerous and have placed unnecessary and arbitrary restrictions on marijuana that do not exist for other controlled substances,” he says. “Ample scientific evidence already exists to remove cannabis from its Schedule I classification and to acknowledge its relative safety compared to other scheduled substances, like opioids, and unscheduled substances, such as alcohol.”

Paul Armentano, the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), explains why oral saliva testing isn't effective for marijuana detection.

"It really is the state that wags the tail of the nation, so if California's 55 senators and representatives in Congress were to be in favor of legalization, then it would be a total dynamic change," says Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

"California really is the linchpin for hemispheral legalization," said St. Pierre of NORML, hoping that a green light in California could trigger a snowball of legalization throughout the country.

Commentary by Deputy Director Paul Armentano

The most straightforward legal precedent to whether tenants can smoke weed in rented apartments is the building owner’s stance on smoking tobacco. Landlords frequently impose tobacco restrictions, citing lingering smells, damages from smoke, or fires. Marijuana smoke poses the same set of concerns; as such, tobacco and pot are often lumped together under laws forbidding smoking indoors, says Judd Golden, a member of the state board of directors for Colorado NORML.

“Over the past three years, I am seeing more and more criminal defense attorneys representing clients that have come above ground and are now running legitimate businesses,” Stroup says of the recent shift in session topics. “So more and more of these attorneys are transitioning into marijuana business law, which we’re trying to zero in on.”

On Monday, May 23, NORML presented attorney Gerald Goldstein with the first ever Michael J. Kennedy Social Justice Award. The presentation took place in Washington D.C. at the NORML 2016 Congressional Lobby Day, which was attended by hundreds of activists who participated in a daylong training and informational conference. Eleanora Kennedy, Michael Kennedy’s widow, and Anna, his daughter, made the presentation, along with NORML national director Allen St. Pierre and NORML founder Keith Stroup.

In a statement to Complex, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) Deputy Director Paul Armentano praised the scholarship news as indicative of the many possibilities present in a regulated and taxed marijuana industry. "Regulating and taxing above-ground market sales of cannabis like other retail commodities allows for lawmakers to establish legal parameters regarding where, when, and how an adult cannabis market may operate, permits greater safety and transparency for both the consumer and the seller, and redirects revenue from the black market to the greater community," Armentano said.

Paul Armentano, deputy director of the marijuana advocacy group NORML, told ATTN: he isn't sure if Adelson will influence Trump's marijuana position or not, but he said the two do appear to have conflicting beliefs. He said Adelson's opposition to Florida's medical marijuana initiative "would appear to be at odds with some of Trump's recent public statements, where he has said he is supportive of medical marijuana."

Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), which advocates for the decriminalization of both medical and recreational marijuana, said the laws were a transparent attempt by conservatives to avoid appearances of a flip-flop on medical marijuana. "These same politicians who have opposed legislation for whole-plant cannabis are falling over themselves to support this legislation that has helped very few people," he said.

Though the overlapping dates are “most likely coincidental”, according to the deputy director of the American National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Norml), Paul Armentano, the date still deserves reflection.“It is an indication of the unique cultural and social acceptance enjoyed by cannabis that this date now garners such wide-stream awareness and attention from the mainstream media,” Armentano said. “It is meaningful that world leaders are finally engaging in substantive discussions with regard to cannabis policy and possible law reform.”

But, as NORML’s Armentano knows from experience, we shouldn’t expect massive policy shifts like this anytime soon. After all, he points out, the current petition to move marijuana from Schedule I to II was filed in 2011. “If the past is to serve as any precedent, the DEA has been recalcitrant for decades with regards to moving forward with these sorts of petitions,” he said. “The positive takeaway on this is the DEA only waited five years and the filers of the petition haven’t had to file additional litigation to force the DEA to respond to it. That in itself is a change.”

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law Deputy Director Paul Armentano has pointed out that a search of the PubMed database of biomedical literature shows results for more than 20,000 published studies or reviews referencing cannabis, including more than 100 controlled clinical trials. 

“Marijuana policy is going to evolve over time,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization For The Reform Of Marijuana Laws, in an interview with MintPress News. “This is not something where there can be a quick fix to address decades long institutional injustices. ... This is going to be an issue where proponents are going to continually have to revisit, they’re going to have to continually fight to maintain the gains they’ve made, and they’re going to continually have to fight for future progress.”

Paul Armentano, deputy director of the marijuana advocacy group NORML, told ATTN: that he believes local bans are counterproductive. "Contrary to their alleged intent, they do nothing to halt cannabis commerce; they simply force it underground abdicate control of the market to those who typically operate outside the boundaries of law," he said. "Local regulations, by contrast, allow for lawmakers to establish legal parameters regarding where, when, and how an adult cannabis market may operate."

Paul Armentano, NORML’s deputy director, said the citation-only policies allow local authorities to “reprioritize resources” away from marijuana possession toward more serious crimes.

According to Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), “Breath test technology is simply a detection test, not a per se indicator of whether subjects are ‘under the influence.’ To date, no such data exists correlating THC/breath detection levels with behavioral impairment (as opposed to breathalyzer detection of alcohol at levels above .08 in blood, which have been correlated as valid predictors of alcohol-induced driver impairment). No scientific study that I am aware of has even attempted to correlate the detection of THC in breath with actual behavioral or psychomotor impairment of any kind. (Moreover, studies that have attempted to correlate THC/blood levels with a significantly increased risk of traffic accident have largely failed to do so.)” 

Commentary by Deputy Director Paul Armentano

"Many politicians aren't educated on the actual science behind cannabis, its mechanism of action, and the way it interacts physiologically," says Paul Armentano, deputy director of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). "When people take medicines, they take pills. There's a stigmatization against smoking."