The NORML Foundation announced today that it had received a $1 million contribution from a supporter who wants to encourage and stimulate a healthy public debate over marijuana policy. NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said the gift, the largest in the organization’s 30 year history, “will provide us with the opportunity to launch a national media campaign against arresting responsible marijuana smokers.”
The generous donor, a supporter who has been successful in the business and corporate world, supports NORML’s goal of ending marijuana prohibition and stopping the arrest of smokers.
“Like millions of Americans, he’s someone who knows from personal experience that marijuana smoking should not be a crime,” St. Pierre said. “He has been quite successful in the world of science and business, and he has decided to devote some significant resources to reinvigorating this movement. NORML and its members are extremely appreciative of his support. Now our challenge is to identify donors willing to make a contribution towards matching this grant.”
NORML Board Member Ann Druyan, a writer, producer and CEO of Cosmos Studios, was instrumental in obtaining this grant, and immediately pledged $25,000 towards the $1 million matching fund. Another board member, Paul Kuhn of Nashville, TN, chair of the NORML Foundation Development Committee, pledged $50,000 towards the match.
“This grant gives a voice to the tens of millions of responsible, productive citizens who wish to see an end to this senseless persecution,” said Ms. Druyan. “It represents the hope of an antidote to the propaganda and pseudo science of the drug war profiteers.”
Supporters willing to help the NORML Foundation match this grant should please contact the NORML Foundation, 1600 K Street, NW, Suite 501, Washington, DC 20006-2832.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Foundation Executive Director at (202) 483-8751.
