"The numbers are low,” said Christopher Cano, executive director for the Central Florida Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.  “They're only about a quarter of what they should be, and the reason for that is because of the barriers to entry to becoming a patient."

Sens. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) made an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss the bipartisan legislation, Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States, to remove the threat of federal intervention and prosecution in states that regulate marijuana use and sales.

Boehner said many universities shun marijuana research because it's a Schedule I drug, however National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) Deputy Director Paul Armentano told Newsweek that federal regulations do permit clinicians to apply for licensing to conduct clinical trials using cannabis. But he added that the stringent regulations on these tests require that researchers work only with marijuana grown and provided by federal government agencies.

“The Senate Appropriations Committee finally read the writing on the wall and accepted the inevitable, that allowing the Department of Justice to interfere with state-legal medical marijuana programs is bad policy and losing politics,” Justin Strekal, political director of NORML, said in an interview. “Looking at the scorecard, today it's medical freedom: 1; Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his reefer madness ways: 0.”

"Our real goal is to change the face of cannabis," particularly for West Texans, said Jax Finkel, executive director of Texas NORML, the state's chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Justin Strekal, political director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said the bill introduced this week falls within the parameters of what Trump told Gardner he would support during their discussion in April. By signaling early support for such legislation, Trump has gone “way further” toward supporting major marijuana reform than any previous president.

“Given that this bill is being co-led by Sen. Gardner, who is the head of the NRSC, it is a sign that it is time for the Republican-led Senate to address this issue and move the legislation forward,” Strekal said in an email to Truthout.

Justin Strekal, Political Director for the nonprofit marijuana reform group NORML, which helped develop the bill, commented in a statement, “With the introduction of [The STATES Act], the movement to end the federal government’s failed policy of cannabis criminalization has truly become a bipartisan effort. The majority of states now regulate marijuana use and more than six out of ten voters endorse legalizing the plant’s use by adults, making it time for the federal government to no longer stand in the way of this progress at the state level."

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Political Director Justin Strekal also touted the lawmakers' bipartisan effort to protect states from federal interference on marijuana policy. 

"The majority of states now regulate marijuana use and more than six out of ten voters endorse legalizing the plant's use by adults, making it time for the federal government to no longer stand in the way of this progress at the state level," he said in a statement. 

"It's a wonderful bill," said Corey Hedgepeth, executive director of the Charlotte chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. "It puts a halt to the ability of law enforcement to use cannabis to search a car or even to stop an individual suspected of possessing marijuana." This is important, Hedgepeth said, because "going to jail over small amounts ruins lives."

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law's political action committee has endorsed Representative Jared Polis's 2018 campaign for governor of Colorado. And NORML executive director Erik Altieri is psyched that Polis, a Democrat, is as enthusiastic about this backing as the venerable cannabis advocacy group is with regard to his candidacy.

"Typically, a large percentage of our endorsements are at the federal level, for the House or the Senate," acknowledges Altieri, speaking from Aspen, where NORML is holding its annual legal seminar. "I believe we've only endorsed a handful of other gubernatorial candidates — and certainly no candidate I can think of has embraced that endorsement to the degree that Jared Polis has."

According to marijuana advocates, passing this through the legislature instead of as a ballot initiative – as it was originally intended – would leave the bill open for partisan changes. "The intent [of pushing it through the legislature] is not in the interest of public opinion," says Justin Strekal, political director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. "It's in the interest of political expediency."

CBD is legal in the 30 states that have legalized medical or recreational use of marijuana and in 17 other states that have legalized some form of CBD, says Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). But like marijuana, it is still not legal on the federal level.

"CBD is interpreted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, National Institute on Drug Abuse, FDA, and Congress to be a Schedule I substance, and therefore it is not legal in all 50 states," Armentano says.

"On the one hand, we should have been so much further along with this," said Karen Goldstein, head of the Florida chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). "The amendment was so clear — medical marijuana is legal — but the Legislature has muddied the water so much by creating regulations out of thin air.

“Our real goal is to change the face of cannabis,” particularly for West Texans, said Jax Finkel, executive director of Texas NORML, the state’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

“The stereotype (marijuana user) is the pothead hippie from the ’70s,” Finkel said. “It’s really time to push back on that. People aren’t thinking of an active, hardworking person who wants to stay active and hardworking” but requires access to medical marijuana to do so.

Joshua Bauchner, a Woodland Park lawyer who advises the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said he expects nearly 100 legal dispensaries in New Jersey, based on the number of Taco Bell locations in the state. It's a fair rule of thumb to expect marijuana retailers to roughly equal locations of the popular fast-food franchise, Bauchner said.

"State and federal officials who perpetuate our ongoing failed prohibition of cannabis" share the blame for injuries and deaths resulting from fake weed with distributors "peddling this despicable product," says Erik Altieri, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML.

Pallett said she is hoping to bring an end to many victimless crime laws, including statewide criminalization of marijuana possession.

As an active member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (or NORML), she believes laws criminalizing marijuana possession should be repealed.

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws' (NORML) Political Director Justin Strekal issued a statement to Newsweek Monday responding to de Blasio's stated intentions: 

“It is encouraging to see Mayor DeBlasio’s evolution regarding the criminal status of marijuana and hope that the City Council will swiftly reinforce this policy directive with legislation to completely remove criminal and civil penalties for possession and expunge prior cannabis possession convictions. With a clear public mandate in support of outright legalization for New York City, it is time to remove the ability for law enforcement to continue harassing otherwise law abiding citizens, particularly people of color.”

“Today’s vote marks a victory for medical marijuana patients and another defeat for Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his prohibitionist agenda," Justin Strekal, political director for NORML, said in an interview. "Representative David Joyce has demonstrated to his colleagues that it is time for mainstream Republicans to embrace federalism and provide protections for state-approved marijuana programs."

Patrick Nightingale, of marijuana-advocacy group Pittsburgh NORML, isn’t happy about the increase in arrests. He says the decriminalization ordinance, which essentially issues tickets and a small fine to violators, was used about 200 times in 2017. But Nightingale says that number should be higher, considering most of the misdemeanor marijuana-possession charges end up being withdrawn anyway.

Population-based studies find that medical cannabis access is associated with reduced levels of opioid use, hospitalizations, and mortality.

Is state-level medical cannabis access mitigating or fueling America’s opioid crisis? Testifying before Congress last week, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) acting administrator Robert Patterson claimed the latter. But when he prompted to provide evidence in support of the agency’s position, he acknowledged that he could not.

“I think there is a recognition from federal lawmakers that advocating in favour of legalizing marijuana is a position that is more popular than they themselves are,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

This hardly represents a change for NORML, whose political director, Justin Strekal, notes that "we've long maintained that it's imperative to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, given that it's a disproportionate policy response."

"Democracy isn't a spectator sport," he emphasizes. "The reason we're seeing multiple pieces of legislation for de-scheduling at the federal level, and more and more states moving toward state-level reform, is because of the pressure created by advocates at every level. Now is not the time to let off the gas. Now is the time to floor it."

Speaking with The New York Times, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) executive director Erik Altieri suggested Boehner’s pot pivot was “really just a sign of the times in terms of where the American public is going.”

"Our mission with this rally is to bring attention to HB 5394 and educate the community about cannabis legalization, so they can urge their legislators to vote favorably, on this issue before the end of the session," NORML spokesperson Avery Press said.

All three of the Lehigh Valley's major cities have had marijuana decriminalization ordinances on the table in the last two months.

The 8th annual March for Cannabis was organized by the local chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

"Nobody should be arrested for a plant," said Deputy Director for Delaware NORML Michael Pukatsch. Dozens of supporters gathered at Rehoboth Beach's Boardwalk in Delaware to take part in the annual global cannabis march and bring awareness to House Bill 110.