When I started NORML in late 1970 I realized that our movement would need the support of some courageous doctors and other health experts to overcome the widely-held perception that existed at that time that marijuana must remain a crime to protect the public health. I found that support in Dr. Lester Grinspoon, Dr. Norman Zinberg, and others.
Even in the continually uncertain world that Nevadans find themselves in, Nevada NORML is continuing to advocate for cannabis reform despite the strange corona-world of 2020.
NORML leadership today sent an open letter to Nora D. Volkow, M.D., Director of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), asking her to recognize the detrimental impact that racially-discriminatory marijuana law enforcement has had on the public health of communities of color.
If you haven’t read our statement on the murder of George Floyd and the intersections…
Since 1619, when the first ships arrived on the coast of Virginia with enslaved Africans in chains, our country has long had to struggle to address the inequality and structural racism embedded within our public institutions — particularly within the criminal justice system.
High Times founder Tom Forcade and Legal Counsel Michael J. Kennedy assured the magazine remained a major NORML financial supporter, until it was recently sold to corporate greedheads!
Hugh Hefner and the Playboy Foundation ended up providing NORML’s initial funding in early 1971 and subsequently became our primary funder throughout the 1970s.
Democratic Governor Ralph Northam officially signed legislation today decriminalizing marijuana possession. The new law takes effect July 1, 2020 and reduces penalties for offenses involving the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana to a civil violation – punishable by a maximum $25 fine, no arrest, and no criminal record.