The Indiana chapter of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is planning what is being billed as “the largest medical cannabis town hall meeting in our state's history” for this weekend.

"The time for the federal government to end the practice of arbitrarily discriminating against current and potential workers for marijuana consumption is now," said Justin Strekal, the political director of NORML.“With 46 states having reformed their cannabis laws to be in direct conflict with the federal Controlled Substances Act, individuals acting in compliance with state law should not be denied the opportunity to serve their country as public servants. We sincerely appreciate the leadership of Congressman Charlie Crist and Congressman Drew Ferguson."

The newest chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) launched in Winchester on Tuesday.

James Huff, a 2009 Millbrook High School graduate, said he started the group because he’s tired of watching his aunt suffer from seizures that can be treated with medicinal marijuana products.

“That was a big push for me,” the 26-year-old said. He also wants to fight the prosecution of people who carry and smoke small amounts of marijuana, particularly after a relative got in trouble this year.

“One of the main driving forces behind Act 16 was to make medical cannabis available to all Pennsylvanians,” said Patrick Nightingale, executive director of the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “So, I would say that Commissioner Cummings’ proposed resolution goes directly against the stated intent and will of the Legislature, and when it comes to Laureen Cummings versus the Legislature and the governor and the executive branch, I put my money on everyone else.”

"The lawmakers and people of CNMI are on track to make history, and more U.S. policymakers would be wise to take notice before the upcoming midterm elections," Justin Strekal, political director for NORML, said in an interview, referring to marijuana reform's growing popularity with voters.

“More lawmakers are acknowledging this is an issue their constituents care about … [and] are trying to address this inherent conflict” between federal and state law, said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, a national marijuana advocacy group.

“While some specific components of the DRE evaluation may have some correlation with recent cannabis use, many of these indicators may also be triggered by subjects who have not used cannabis at all,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director at NORML. “Moreover, other components of the test, such as the rigid muscle tone or pupil size, have no validation for cannabis. Ideally, both of these examinations should be amended and updated to better utilize measures that are validated for discerning subjects who may be under the influence of cannabis versus those who are not.”

David Holland, executive director of the New York chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Empire State NORML, said: “We’re not aware yet of all the different aspects that the governor is considering, but we look forward to reviewing them and making ourselves available to him for guidance in this area.”

Erik Altieri, Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), also commented by email, "After years of feet dragging, it is encouraging to see movement on marijuana legalization in New York State. Around 23,000 individuals are arrested in the Empire State every year, overwhelmingly individuals of color, and it is long past time for that practice to end."

Denver NORML executive director Jordan Person and six other members of the organization recently returned from a lobbying trip to Washington, D.C., and based on her experiences, members of Congress are not just more comfortable talking about marijuana issues these days. They're really into it. 

Paul Armentano is NORML’s Deputy Director. NORML has been a player in the marijuana legalization effort since the jump. I talked to both by phone to find out the best way to beat a drug test, if the stuff they sell at the local head shop works, and what home remedies can help beat a drug test. Here’s what they had to say.

This money could be used as a serious investment in communities, says Justin Strekal, political director at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, an advocacy group devoted to the legalization of recreational marijuana. "We've seen that it has generated over a billion dollars in tax revenue over the last few years, and just this year we saw the largest ever amount of money being allocated for new school construction (in Colorado). A significant amount of that allocated money was from the taxes generated from the sale of marijuana. There are more jobs in marijuana than there are in the coal industry," NORML's Strekal says.

“This is not a marijuana bill, it is an information bill,” said Justin Strekal, political director of the marijuana advocacy group NORML. “No member of Congress can intellectually justify opposition to this legislation.”

“It has been fascinating and encouraging to see district attorneys in the nation’s marijuana arrest capital turn against the criminalization of marijuana possession, something that has been overly focused on targeting already marginalized communities,” NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri told Cannabis Now. “We would hope that state lawmakers take heed of the recent Department of Health report calling for marijuana’s outright legalization in the Empire State and immediately fix the flaws in their current decriminalization law while beginning to move forward to a legalized and regulated system for adult use.”

In 2015, legislation provided people with drug-resistant epilepsy and their caregivers a legal defense for the possession of cannabis oil. But the product couldn’t be obtained in Virginia; the law simply provided some protection for people who were getting their medicine from out of state, according to Jenn Michelle Pedini, executive director for Virginia National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. 

Phillips was first introduced to Slightly Stoopid by Brad Nowell of Sublime and has been working with the band for more than two decades. Cannabis has always been a part of the band’s brand, from events promoting the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and the original Cypress Hill SmokeOut in the ’90s to the “Summer Haze,” “Blazed And Confused” and “Legalize It” tours in the 2000s.

"Voters believe that ending America's failed marijuana prohibition laws is a common sense issue, not a partisan one," said Paul Armentano, deputy director of the reform advocacy group NORML. "It's time for their elected officials to take a similar posture, and to move expeditiously to amend federal law in a manner that comports with public and scientific consensus, as well as with marijuana's rapidly changing cultural and legal status," Armentano added.

Nine states — Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington — have legalized the adult possession and use of marijuana. In the coming months, some or all of these states will likely be joining them.

"Voters believe that ending America's failed marijuana prohibition laws is a common sense issue, not a partisan one," said Paul Armentano, deputy director of the reform advocacy group NORML.

"It's time for their elected officials to take a similar posture, and to move expeditiously to amend federal law in a manner that comports with public and scientific consensus, as well as with marijuana's rapidly changing cultural and legal status," Armentano added.

"We're simply looking at the impact that legalization has on the economy, on crime rates, on housing prices, on everything that it could possibly have an impact on. I'm not sure how that is biased," said Erik Altieri, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), which worked to create the bill.

Reps. Tulsi Gabbard and Carlos Curbelo (FL-26), along with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), introduced bipartisan legislation to evaluate states’ marijuana policies. The Marijuana Data Collection Act directs the National Academy of Sciences to create a federally recognized report on state-level marijuana legalization policies, including both medical and non-medical use, and their effects on public health, safety, the economy, the criminal justice system and more. The information compiled in the report would provide scientific data and statistics on the impact of various marijuana policies on our nation.

In a statement, Evan Nison, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law New Jersey executive director, applauded Grewal's memo for delaying — and possibly preventing — thousands of unfair prosecutions.

"These offenses can follow people around for their entire lives and make it more difficult to get a job or college education," Nison said. "We‘re thrilled to see this kind of action and are excited to continue the public discussion on legalization."

“We are in such a partisan, polarized political state that my fear was that if we allowed a branch of the federal government to do this, that no matter which administration was in power, the political party that was out of power was going to be concerned that this was a biased report,” Paul Armentano, the Deputy Director of the marijuana advocacy group NORML, tells Rolling Stone. “If we allowed the National Academy of Sciences to do this report we avoided that potential conflict.”

in February of 2017, the DEA removed the gateway drug theory argument from its website, and now there is a growing cohort of individuals (such as The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, NORML) and Americans for Safe Access (ASA), who are arguing that pot should be considered as a possible gateway-off drug so as to help in the terrible effects of withdrawal from opiates and a way to keep from relapse.

And handing off the oversight of the industry to a part-time, five-person regulatory body that includes members who have publicly announced opposition to legal use of marijuana was not a brilliant move, said Paul Armentano, deputy director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws(NORML), adding that most medical pot initiatives across the U.S. have been implemented quickly and competently in states where lawmakers are on the same page as voters.

“This is not a marijuana bill, it is an information bill," Justin Strekal, political director for NORML, said in an interview. "No member of Congress can intellectually justify opposition to this legislation. Our public policy needs to be based on sound data and science, not gut feelings or fear-mongering. Approving the Marijuana Data Collection Act would provide legislators with reliable and fact-based information to help them decide what direction is most beneficial to society when it comes to marijuana policy.”

Paul Armentano, deputy director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, offered a similar take. He said he’s not aware of any states that allow medical marijuana in prisons.

Emergency rules enacted by the Board of Health restricting patients from obtaining whole-plant herbal (inhalable) cannabis from licensed dispensaries violate the spirit of State Question 788. More importantly, the restriction undermines the health and safety of those patients the law is intended to protect.

In the six years since the first states legalized adult use, pot advocates have learned to craft more sophisticated ballot initiatives, said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates for legal weed.