The relationship between cannabis and opioid use is among of the best-documented aspects of marijuana policy. In short, the science demonstrates that marijuana is a relatively safe and effective pain reliever — and that patients with legal access to it often reduce their use of conventional opiates.

Klobuchar held a D rating from marijuana advocacy organization NORML, indicating a "hard on drugs stance," while serving as a prosecutor in her home state, but she was later upgraded to a B while serving in the US Senate.

It is time for politicians to reject the unsubstantiated “reefer rhetoric” and fear-mongering of the past and move forward to amend U.S. cannabis laws in response to the emerging science, public opinion and the plant’s rapidly changing cultural status.

"Our time has come," said Justin Strekal, political director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. "Never in modern history has there existed greater public support for ending the nation's nearly century-long experiment with marijuana prohibition."

“Someone who is living in government-subsidized housing could lose their housing if they [consume cannabis] at home. Many apartment buildings forbid smoking or vaping of any kind," said Justin Strekal, a Washington-based spokesman for NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "Some people don’t like to medicate in front of their families. So cafes fill a real need.”

“You’re seeing a lot of employers moving away from firing individuals just for having THC metabolites in their system,” said Erik Altieri, head of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Washington, D.C. “The reality in 2019 is that employers in states with legal marijuana can’t continue to enforce the same drug-testing protocol.”

“California’s state statute is arguably the most progressive as it does not place the burden on those convicted to petition the court, but instead mandates the state to review prior criminal convictions and to automatically expunge those cases that are eligible,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director of the marijuana advocacy organization NORML.“Thousands of citizens carry the undue burden and stigmatization of a past conviction for behavior that is no longer considered to be a crime,” Armentano added. “Our sense of justice and our principles of fairness demand that officials move swiftly to right the past wrongs of cannabis prohibition and criminalization.”

Erik Altieri, executive director of NORML, a national cannabis advocacy organization, said by email that while Alaska would be the first U.S. state to finalize statewide rules for onsite consumption, “we expect more states to follow suit in the not too distant future.”

According to Erik Altieri, the executive director of the marijuana law reform organization NORML, Alaska’s legislation is significant — not just for visitors who want to smoke up in public or for the vendors who cater to them, but from a social justice perspective as well. “By preventing retail outlets and other venues from being licensed and regulated for social consumption, many patients will have to chose between effective cannabis treatment for their ailments or being thrown out of public housing,” Altieri said in a press release. “This causes the civil liberties that come with marijuana legalization to still being kept at arms length from low-income individuals and members of other marginalized communities.” 

Carly Wolf, state policies coordinator at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, says the provisions for state-run stores and medical cannabis subsidization both would be new to the United States, as New Mexico seeks to become the first state to set up a complete regulatory framework through legislation.

“The support for marijuana legalisation has quickly become a litmus test in the 2020 Democratic primary,” said Erik Altieri, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Norml). “With the upcoming primary, it is also clear that support for prohibition is ultimately disqualifying with the Democratic electorate – and with the American electorate generally.”

The goal is to prepare more people to participate in the industry so they are ready if, as expected, Illinois legalizes marijuana for recreational use. “Everything can flourish if we do this the right way,” said Donte Townsend, co-founder of Chicago NORML.

Justin Strekal, the political director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said last year that legalization of marijuana was “good politics” for the Democratic Party.

"The constituencies which the party claims to stand for are the ones who have most felt the weight of prohibition and the lifelong consequences of prohibition," Strekal said.

"This legislation is effective in its simplicity," says Erik Altieri, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a national nonprofit that advocates for marijuana legalization. "The Ending Federal Prohibition Act is about acknowledging political, scientific, and economic reality. Marijuana legalization is here to stay and it is time that federal policy reflect that."

“The End Federal Prohibition Act is about acknowledging political, scientific, and economic reality,” Erik Altieri, executive director, NORML, said. “Marijuana legalization is here to stay and it is time that federal policy reflect that. This legislation is effective in its simplicity, it will deschedule marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and end federal prohibition once and for all, full stop.”

"In the 2020 Democratic primary, support for legalization is mandatory and propping up the failed status quo of prohibition is outright disqualifying,” Erik Altieri, executive director of the pro-legalization lobby NORML, told BuzzFeed News. He praised Gabbard's bill for being "effective in its simplicity," saying it would "end federal prohibition once and for all, full stop."

Justin Strekal, political director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, believes some legislation can advance during the next two years.“I do think that there is a real chance that we’re going to be able to make progress; at least in restricting federal enforcement, particularly in the states that have moved forward in clear defiance of federal law,” Strekal said. “As of right now, we are in this very uneasy détente.”

News Leader reporter Monique Calello talks with Jenn Michelle Pedini, executive director of the Virginia chapter for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws to answer Virginian's most pressing questions on cannabis in the Commonwealth.

"The Democratic candidates are just acknowledging the practical and political reality - this is not only good policy, it's good politics," said Erik Altieri, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

“When we see [studies showing] large swaths of this marketplace are selling products that either contain no CBD whatsoever or contain elements of THC, then those that are seeking therapeutic benefits aren’t able to be able to develop a regiment that works for them,” Justin Strekal, the political director with marijuana advocacy group NORML, told Rolling Stone. “We wouldn’t allow companies to say that they’re selling Tylenol and they’re only selling sugar cubes.”

Testifying before members of the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell called upon Congress to provide necessary clarity to banks and other financial institutions that wish to participate in the growing cannabis retail market.

“The Marijuana Justice Act is the most comprehensive piece of federal legislation ever introduced to end the failed policy of marijuana prohibition and to address the egregious harms that this policy has wrought on already marginalized communities.”

Branding individuals — many of whom are at an age when they are just beginning their professional careers — as lifelong criminals for minor marijuana possession offenses results in a litany of lost opportunities including the potential loss of employment, housing, professional licensing and student aid, and serves no legitimate societal purpose. Norfolk’s policy change is a recognition that marijuana criminalization is a disproportionate public policy response to behavior that is, at worst, a public health concern. But it should not be a criminal justice matter. 

We live in a day and age where we can watch the rise of cannabis non-profits like NORML and FOCUS honor their communities by giving back to vulnerable populations—a noble pursuit to be sure.... “We have found it to be difficult to get brands to donate product for our patient programs,” says Madisen Saglibene, founder and Executive Director of the Las Vegas and Nevada chapters of NORML. “This is partially because it would require non-vertically integrated license holders to coordinate delivery and intake with a dispensary, which can be costly and time consuming.”

Almost none of these licensed businesses operating in this lucrative space can legally obtain a bank account, process a credit card, or take a standard business deduction on their federal taxes. This is because federal law continues to inappropriately define all marijuana-related endeavors as criminal enterprises, including those commercial activities that are licensed and legally regulated under state laws.

"[K]lobuchar has no real record on marijuana reform and hasn’t been a leader on the issue in her time on the Senate,” Erik Altieri of NORML told us. “Joe Biden was an architect of mandatory minimum sentences . . . He clearly has begun to move away from some of his previous stances but his record is what his record is and that could come back to harm him should he run.”

Paul Armentano, the director of marijuana advocacy organization NORML, advised MarketWatch in an email that “the possession of cannabis is illegal under federal law, as it is a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Therefore, technically, it is a federal offense to engage in the act of transporting and/or shipping cannabis products across state lines.”

We'll be looking at two key pieces of federal legislation as part of candidates' voting records: the Marijuana Justice Act and the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act, or STATES Act. 

The stepped-up efforts came as more states legalized marijuana, creating a disconnect with federal law, which still classifies marijuana as an illegal substance. Cannabis is legal in some form—from limited medical use to full recreational use — in more than 30 states.