Drug policy reform advocates from around the globe will be attending the Drug Policy Alliance‘s 2011 International Drug Policy Reform Conference this week. The bi-annual conference, co-hosted by NORML and various other drug law reform organizations, will take place from Wednesday, November 2 through Saturday, November 5, at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
Representatives from NORML and the NORML Women’s Alliance — including NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano, NORML Advisory Board Member Rick Steves, California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer, and NWA west coast representative Kyndra Miller — will be speaking at this year’s conference, which will feature over 50 separate panels and round-table discussions.
On Thursday, November 3, conference participants will gather for mass public protest at the Levitt Pavilion in historic MacArthur Park to call for an end to America’s drug criminalization strategies.
Other participants at this year’s conference include DPA Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, former two-term Republican Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson, and California NAACP director Alice Huffman.
Conference registration and agenda information is available online here.
Have fun and good luck!
I speak openly and proudly about my standpoints regarding marijuana and its status in this country. I will never let anyone or anything scare me into secrecy. I don’t drink alcohol because I am a bodybuilder. I dont do drugs because I believe they’re wrong. But I do smoke cannabis because it’s all natural, it won’t make me crazy and make me toss my inhibitions and cautions to the wind like alcohol will, and I believe that it makes me more productive in school. Since I began smoking cannabis again six months ago, my GPA in college has shot up almost half a letter grade.
I see no sensible reason why my means of relief and concentration should be illegal, meanwhile it’s considered acceptable to pump our children full of lab-made chemicals such as concerta and ritalin, even aderrol. Our children are being subjected to the FDA “approved” drugs that have killed over 10,000 people since 2005, while grown adults, fully capable of making their own decisions and leading their own lives, cannot opt for the natural alternative.
Who gave the government power over what God has put on Earth for us? God did not make ritalin, and God certainly did not make all the drugs you get perscribed by your doctors. But we hand those over with eager smiles, while hiding away cannabis like some unwanted vermin. This must stop.
HERE IS A LITTLE HOPE……..
Plans to make marijuana legal in California received a boost over the weekend with an announcement by a state official.
California Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, said Saturday that proponents of decriminalizing pot can begin collecting petition signatures for next November’s ballot.
Proponents of the potential ballot measure said it’s based on making the jobs of law enforcement easier all while benefiting the state.
“It’s a campaign that’s completely different from past efforts,” said proponent, Steve Kubby. “It represents a compromise. Officials have seen that the drug war is causing more harm than good and they want to stop pot from raising money for gangs and terror each year.”
The measure aims to make marijuana usage within the state taxable as well as making sure it’s regulated.
“Our point is to regulate it like alcohol and start taxing it…it’s one of the biggest crops in California and it goes completely untaxed,” said Kubby.
Kubby added that the measure will aim to move pot from California’s Controlled Substance Act.
Nearly 505,000 signatures from registered voters must be collected in order for the initiative to make it to the ballot and they must sign before March 26 of next year, according to a media release.
nbcbayarea
im too far away to do any good, but i am with you in spirit. please help stop the violence our government has helped cause in mexico…..
roy
Even if we get pot removed from the controlled substance act and states do legalize it. You cant force employers to hire people that test positive for weed. So it will come down to is its legal federal and state but if you choose to smoke you have no job.
There are a lot of jobs that wouldn’t drug test, but they have a financial incentative to with a reduction in taxes I believe. Plus a positive test does not mean that some is under the influence, it just means that they have the metabolite, which could be taken to court in a discrimination suite.
Hey Eric, even if you don’t smoke you may not have a job! If its legal, why drug test? You might be better off stocking your pantry and getting ready for the other economic shoe to come down. This recession is no where near completion. It can only be propped up for so long!
We need an emergency joint session of congress,,the DEA can furnish some of their stash they picked up in CA earlier this month.
Keep on fighting for justice. Continue to educate people on marijuana’s many positive aspects. This isn’t some movement made purely for future recreational enjoyment by American citizens. There are people who are suffering because marijuana is illegal. If our founding fathers knew our government today had condemned their once proud cash-crop, I’m sure they would be astounded by the blatant tyranny and propaganda that has befallen our once great nation. Too many worry about the rest of the worlds’ problems when we have wrongs that need to be made right here first before we continue to move on. The positives out-weigh the negatives tremendously. Get all your marijuana facts together, and when you find someone who is anti-marijuana, make a believer out of a doubter. We need all the support we can possibly get. This is an extremely serious issue, and people need to accept that. Stop the greed, free the weed!
@Eric Byers
People will just continue to fake drug tests. Not that hard. It all comes to us people standing up for what we believe in and changing the world in OUR vision. Not the FDA, DEA, Pharma Corps, and of course the ever meddling, federal government.
Meanwhile, people are dying from big pharma’s solution to legal pain management. http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/PublicHealth/29383
Okay , so our government likes to do things backwards, right? Well how about we do something backwards as well? no votes until they sign marijuana into full legalization and return full legalization back to the states. It’s better than hoping for it after the election,right? and all is back to where it was. Now make the petition. This makes things run smoother since we can’t trust them anymore . Nothing personal just GOOD business and maybe politics? Everyone has my caution of trust until they give me a reason not to. And this govt.has given me every reason not to trust them. When you sign we will review it and decide if anyone is worthy of OUR WHITE HOUSE or any part there of.
@ #5, True American
This is some great news to hear, I wish I lived in California so I could be one of the 505,000+ who will sign it.
Just going to say, I can’t take pills or tablets, my stomach and liver can not handle them, I usually end up vomiting, and have horrible intestinal problems after. I had been using cannabis for recreation for about 6 years, and finally had to stop using for job interests. I was fine for about 3 months then, one morning I woke up with one of the worst headaches of my life, the pain would throb on the right side of my head all the way from front to back, any bright light would increasingly intensify the pain, to the point of vomiting. Went to the urgent care later were they proceeded to give me a shot for the pain and nausea, and told me I was most likely suffering from a migraine. They wrote me a prescription for tylenol with codiene, xanax for my anxiety to help rest, and zofran for my nausea. Long story short end up back at my doctors a week later, still having migraines, and more stomach problems, had a blood test done, told me my liver had high enzyme levels and to stop taking the tylenol with codiene. I had nothing to take for pain, and by the time I would take my anti-nausea pill I would have already vomited it out, or was already too sick, not to mention all the other side effects prominently bowel symptoms, creating worse pain. I had enough, the only thing I had changed in the past 3 months was that I was not smoking cannabis. I firmly believe that it has improved my quality of life and helps me manage my pain, when I can’t take the mainstream medicine, I wish it is a lot cheaper, but its just a fact, my body can not handle them. I don’t vomit anymore and I can easily relieve symptoms at onset without having to wait for 3 to 4 hours to kick in, which I haven already lost a considerable amount of time.
Think of it this way: cannabis is the plant part, THC is the drug part, and marijuana is the smoked part.
This would be made clear and could become official with a simple definition of marijuana:
16. The term ‘marijuana’ means all parts of the smoke produced by the combustion of the plant Cannabis sativa L.
I wish I could be there, because I think this would be a good topic for discussion at the drug policy reform conference.