Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, said the review findings are consistent with other research reviews. He added that the findings are also consistent with "anecdotal reports of patients, many of whom are seeking a safer alternative to the use of deadly opioids. And it is inconsistent with the federal government's classification of the marijuana plant as a schedule I controlled substance with 'no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.' "

The US National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, says that it is concerned about the inadvertent ingestion of cannabis products by children in both the US and France but that more regulation could help provide a solution: "It is our contention that the frequency of these incidences can be mitigated by the imposition of stricter regulatory controls, such as more stringent and overt product labeling and by limiting such products to single serving sizes."

The public changes of heart by people in power, like the one Justin Trudeau underwent, are also helping. Just five years ago, he was still speaking of pot's ill effects and his opposition to legalization. As Susan Delacourt explained in an excellent column last weekend in the Toronto Star, Trudeau didn't start to change his mind until an emotional meeting in November 2012 with two women from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

According to the group NORML, which advocates for marijuana legalization, pot has been West Virginia’s most valuable cash crop for the past 20 years.

On Aug. 2, 1937, the Marijuana Tax Act passed. Although later laws would codify punishment for cannabis smokers, sellers and cultivators, House Resolution 6385, drafted by Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics, is regarded as the first time the federal government laid its heavy hand on the plant. 

Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, an advocacy group calling for the reform of marijuana laws, said it has been established that cannabis can influence blood pressure. Therefore, he said, "it is reasonable to advise that certain potential high-risk populations may wish to refrain from cannabis inhalation because of these concerns."

"It's significant that a federal court ruled that people targeted by feds and in compliance with California's medical marijuana laws ruled in the defendants' favor," says Dale Gieringer, director of California NORML. "This is the first case I'm aware of where McIntosh was cited and used to full effect."

“Predictably, increased rates of adult cannabis use — particularly among those residing in legal states — is associated with an increased prevalence in those testing positive on workplace mandated drug tests,” says Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

As the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Erik Altieri understands the challenges marijuana legalization faces. 

“I would argue that, in large part, many of these formerly outdoor grows have moved indoors,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML. That marijuana “commands a higher price in the market. There seems to be greater preference for indoor grown versus outdoor grown. It could be simple market forces at work.”

Longitudinal data just recently published online in the journal Addiction reports that pot smoking is not independently associated with adverse effects on the developing brain.

“In regards to marijuana, Sessions said in April that he was surprised the people didn’t like the idea of him cracking down on the states that have chosen to legalize,” said Justin Strekal, the political director at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), in an email.“ In response, Sessions now chooses to operate in secrecy. This is not how our system is supposed to work.”

Today, Trudeau and his advisers trace the shift to a meeting with two women in his office in November of that year, who armed him with some of the pro-legalization arguments that he’s still using today — now, as prime minister. The two women were Kelly Coulter and Andrea Matrosovs, then representing what was known as the women’s alliance of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

NORML Deputy Director, Paul Armentano, has also had his finger on the pulse of pot media for decades. “It is especially notable that the number of regional, hard copy publications dedicated to cannabis-centric news and profiles is growing at a time when the popularity of print journalism is generally considered to be waning,” he said, adding that these print and online ventures are being backed by both small start-ups and established mainstream media outlets — an indicator that there is a large consumer market which desires these products. “And that conventional media is not yet fully serving their needs.”

Eighty years ago today, on August 2, 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt signed House Bill 6385: the Marihuana Tax Act into law. The Act for the first time imposed federal criminal penalties on activities specific to the possession, production, and sale of cannabis.

Erik Altieri, executive director of marijuana reform group NORML, applauded Booker’s bill. In a statement, he said: “Not only is it imperative we end our failed experiment of marijuana prohibition, we must also ensure justice for those who suffered most under these draconian policies.”

Tom Angell, founder of the advocacy group Marijuana Majority, pointed out that the vast majority of those public comments were related to weed. Angell would know: His group and NORML — the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws — urged their members to contact the commission via form letters on their websites.

NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri applauded the “robust legislation” for providing “a path forward for the individuals and communities that were most disproportionately targeted by our nation’s failed war on marijuana consumers.”

New Jersey NORML Executive Director, Evan Nison, also commended on the move by Booker. “Senator Booker is representing our citizens far better than the current Governor and helping make New Jersey a leader on important issues like this,” Nison said. “It’s great to see this kind of leadership, and I believe is a big part of why he is so popular. He’s willing to do the right thing and fight against harmful policies that are hurting society and his constituents.” NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri echoed the sentiment of the New Jersey chapter.

Even if the bill doesn’t gain traction, cannabis advocates say that its introduction highlights important issues that aren't discussed often enough. "It's legislation like this, and leaders like Cory Booker, who are going to change the conversation where we need to be,” said Justin Strekal, political director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. In that regard, the senator “hits the nail on the head,” Strekal said.

“It is limited only to one condition, which is intractable epilepsy,” said Pedini. “So we do not want to follow the route that other states have taken, where they have to come back year after year after year, and revise their code, wasting legislative hours and thousands of dollars trying to decide which patients deserve access this year and which patients still deserve jail. That’s nonsense; we don’t do that with any other healthcare issue.”

“If Chris Christie and his commission actively elect to ignore the positive impact marijuana law reform has when it comes to combatting our nation’s opioid crisis, there is zero reason to believe they are letting science dictate the direction of their research,” NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri told MassRoots.

Jenn Michelle Pedini is the Executive Director of Virginia NORML. "It is certainly time for Virginia to move forward, as the majority of the country has already done so," Pedini told WDBJ7 in a telephone interview, "and implement a measure like decriminalization."

“With the troubling rhetoric coming from Jeff Sessions and his justice department, it is more crucial than ever that Congress protects state approved medical marijuana programs and the patients that benefit from them,” said NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri.

"When I was faced with a second round of cancer and potentially a third … I wanted to be sure that oncology patients in Virginia had the access to the same types of therapy that millions of Americans have,” said Jenn Michelle Pedini, NORML Executive Director.

The district court concluded that ISU’s trademark licensing practice discriminated against NORML ISU based on the organization’s pro-marijuana views, finding that ISU “took action specifically directed” at NORML ISU. The administrators of ISU appealed.

“It’s becoming legal everywhere,” said Brenda Frazier, a member of the Michigan Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or Michigan NORML. “It’s going to become a multi-billion dollar company in the future and we want our communities to accept us.”

Jenn Michelle Pedini, the executive director of Virginia NORML, which advocates for reform of marijuana laws, said the group wants the state to hear the concerns of everyday people. “Seventy-eight percent of Virginians support this type of reform,” she said.

When I ask Paul Armentano, deputy director of the NORML Foundation, about this, he says, “Just as alcohol prohibition took the production and sale of booze out of the hands of licensed businesses and placed it into the hands of organized crime, marijuana prohibition takes the retail cannabis market away from licensed entrepreneurs and places it into the hands of black-market criminals and cartels that settle their business disputes with violence rather than through courts of law.”