Washington, DC: Hundreds of marijuana law reformers from around the nation convened in Washington, DC last week to lobby their members of Congress and attend NORML’s 2004 National Conference. NORML applauded the greater-than-expected turnout, and is coordinating with other drug law reform groups to plan a similar, multi-organizational Congressional lobby day for late 2004 or early 2005.
“There’s no substitute for face-to-face contact between constituents and their elected officials,” NORML Executive Director Keith Stroup said.
Following NORML’s Lobby Day, at least four additional members of Congress promised to vote “yes” for the Hinchey amendment, which seeks to bar the Justice Department from prosecuting patients who use medical marijuana in compliance with state laws. The amendment, which is expected to receive a vote next month, was defeated last year by a 273 to 152 vote.
“The intent of NORML’s first annual Congressional Lobby Day was to encourage hundreds of marijuana law reformers to begin careers as ‘citizen lobbyists,’ and to urge them to replicate their efforts not only in Washington, but also in their home districts,” Stroup added.
More than 150 patients, parents, and students participated in the Lobby Day – the first day of NORML’s three-day conference, entitled: “We’re Here. We Smoke. We Vote.” Featured speakers at the conference included best-selling author Eric Schlosser (author of Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market); Boston University Law Professor Randy Barnett, chief legal counsel in Raich/Monson v. Ashcroft, in which the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found the federal prosecution of state-sanctioned medical marijuana patients to be unconstitutional; the Drug Policy Alliance’s Marsha Rosenbaum; and noted cannabis researcher Melanie Dreher, Dean of the University of Iowa’s School of Nursing, and the 2004 recipient of NORML’s Lester Grinspoon Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Marijuana Law Reform.
Over 350 individuals attended the final two days of the conference, which received prominent news coverage in The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Roll Call, The Hill, The Free-Lance Star (Fredricksburg, VA), and The Anderson Valley Advertiser (Boonville, CA), among other publications.
The conference was the first held by NORML in the nation’s capitol since 2001.
“The underlying message of the conference was that marijuana smokers comprise a potentially powerful political constituency, and that it’s high time for our elected officials to take this constituency seriously,” Stroup said.
NORML and the NORML Foundation offer our sincerest gratitude to everyone who attended and helped to make the 2004 conference one of our most successful.
Photos and highlights from the 2003 NORML conference will be available shortly on the NORML web site at:
http://www.norml.org