cannabisnews.com: NORML Director Says, 'Legalize It'





NORML Director Says, 'Legalize It'
Posted by CN Staff on October 15, 2007 at 07:00:01 PT
By Chris Durant, The Times-Standard
Source: Times-Standard
USA -- National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Executive Director, Allen St. Pierre, said during a Saturday interview that although legislative efforts on the legalization front have hit the doldrums, the new user-based multi-media advances have opened another door that has kept the organization's purpose moving forward. ”Marijuana is almost always in the top 20 search words on Internet,” St. Pierre said.
He then referred to the NORML podcast, which he said has 22,000 downloads a day. ”It's one of the most popular podcasts on iTunes,” St. Pierre said. And if you couldn't make the conference, don't worry you'll be able to catch every panel and seminar in a few days on YouTube.com . ”50,000 people will likely download what happened here,” St. Pierre. Though the legislative efforts recently, medicinal or otherwise, aren't as robust as they have been in recent past, they are still out there in various states. ”They're rather minor compared to 1996 to 2001,” St. Pierre said. He said initiatives in Rhode Island, Vermont and Montana either have recently passed through state legislation, or are making their way through. Pierre also addressed what might happen to Northern California marijuana growers if marijuana was legalized. ”Under prohibition, there are regions that profit from it,” St. Pierre said. He said Northern California is one of about five regions around the country that has an economy effected by the growing of marijuana, along with Hawaii, the Ozark Plateau and Southern Appalachia. ”There are micro economies there that will be effected by (legalization), absolutely,” St. Pierre said. “But branding is important. Hawaii and Northern California enjoy a good reputation.” He compared how “branding” may work for Humboldt County to the wine industry, saying the current marijuana cultivation scene is like the Napa Valley in the 1950s.Though wine is been made all over the country, Napa carries with it a reputation. ”Do you ever hear anyone say 'I want to get a bottle of Tuscaloosa Red,'?” St. Pierre asks. “No.” The conference is at a different location than the last two years, which were held in San Francisco, but Los Angeles was actually the third choice. He said New York hotel after New York hotel turned them down, so eyes turned west again. ”Why is this state the most marijuana tolerant state in the country,?” St. Pierre said. “It's not the water, it's not the air, it's California.” The future of NORML includes setting its sights on a national effort to decriminalize marijuana. Next month, Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank is introducing a bill to have no fines for possession of less than an ounce and NORML has it's work cut out for them garnering support. ”Even from Republicans,” St. Pierre said, adding that they initially thought Frank would be able to attend the conference and make the announcement himself. ”We'll wait two weeks, we've already waited 37 years,” St. Pierre said. Source: Times-Standard (Eureka, CA)Author: Chris Durant, The Times-StandardPublished: October 15, 2007Copyright: 2007 MediaNews Group, Inc. Contact: editor times-standard.comWebsite: http://www.times-standard.com/Related Articles & Web Site:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Drug Control Policy Critic Proves His Point http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23407.shtml NORML Heads Work To Ignite The Troopshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23405.shtmlMarijuana Conference Draws Crowdhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23403.shtml
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Comment #25 posted by whig on October 17, 2007 at 21:21:12 PT
"Legalize"
Things which are legalized are usually bad things, like gambling or prostitution or drugs. Cannabis doesn't need to be legalized. It's legal. The unconstitutional prohibition needs to end.
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Comment #24 posted by FoM on October 17, 2007 at 19:20:27 PT
observer 
I agree. That is a word that I don't like seeing because of the reasons you mentioned.
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Comment #23 posted by observer on October 17, 2007 at 19:07:11 PT
Who Says 'Legalize'?
Notice how St Pierre talks about ending "prohibition"... yet Chris Durant of the The Times-Standard inserts "legalize" there, all the same! Wow. The main stream media has defined "legalize" to mean, roughly: "five-year-olds taking bong hits." The word "LEGALIZE" in this context is crafted to scare the bejezus out of all Good church-going Americans. And scare them it does. They don't want to "Legalize" anything, much less "Legalize" "dope" for "hippies" (and if you don't know, believe me, this is the bigoted way many of them think). In the title, Durant writes 'Legalize' in single quotes: meaning St. Pierre didnt use that word. This seems to be another example.
”There are micro economies there that will be effected by (legalization), absolutely,” St. Pierre said. 
Notice here the word "(legalization)", in parentheses, meaning, that the word legalization there is supplied by the author, and is a paraphrase of what St Pierre really did say. Now, why do you suppose that the MSM is so very anxious to use the word "legalization", that they will make sure the L-word appears, even if someone doesn't say it? Don't misunderstand me. I want pot to be as "legalized" as wine. But I know that the word "legalize" does not mean the same to me as it does to The Good Church-goin', Reader's Digest-readin' American. To me "Legalize" means that the government stop jailing people for using pot, as for wine. But to "The Good American" in 2007 (they were brought up on straight propaganda), "Legalize" means, "pump your little three-year-old full of heroin." And the Good American is against that, of course. If I were St Pierre and I didn't use the word "Legalize" in the interview with Chris Durant of the The Times-Standard, there, I'd make a stink about it.  But maybe I'm too sensitized to this. It's definitely a pet peeve of mine. 
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Comment #22 posted by whig on October 16, 2007 at 23:17:02 PT
all
As of right now, the corporations run America.Of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations.Change this.
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Comment #21 posted by aolbites on October 16, 2007 at 22:29:47 PT
blah blah....
"WE WOULD MAKE A PROFIT AFTER THE FIRST YEAR OF ROUNDING THEM UP AND DEPORTING THEM!"Bullshit. we would make a profit by saying they are all legal and making them pay income tax. and fica and property tax and ....and while we are at it, make all those mega corps pay income tax on all income! no loopholes! ditto property tax etc..
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Comment #20 posted by Toker00 on October 16, 2007 at 18:44:24 PT
Auight, Dank
TY.Toke.
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Comment #19 posted by dankhank on October 16, 2007 at 17:49:39 PT
whaaaaaa ...?
Parties do not matter, but this IS the land of confusion. Whatever, click!Ain't nobody confused in here ...We've had years to investigate many things, for many years, thanks to the diverse interests of the regulars in here. From 9/11 truth to Beef Jerky that gets you high to repugnican's sick policies to Democrat stupidity to Medical Cannabis movements all over this nation to politicians who would cage a human for a personal choice to why some folks have to talk about schwag to political/human music and some of the artists who make it to horses to family and it's importance to war and the tragedy of same and so many other diverse and enervating topics.Parties matter for one reason ... they're the only game in town ... can't avoid them ... they are the reason politicians get elected ... they aren't going away anytime soon.It's disingenuous, a tactic of politicians, to suggest a position citing compelling reasons, but ignoring the "rest of the story." We in here are passionate about the rest of the story, regardless of the topic.Any who doubt it will quickly find this out.Peace to all who fight for right.
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Comment #18 posted by whig on October 16, 2007 at 15:45:45 PT
Richard Zuckerman
I don't understand why you hate immigrants and minorities and other people, and why you yell all the time.
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Comment #17 posted by whig on October 16, 2007 at 15:42:35 PT
Hope
I'm really glad to hear about your friend Carl.
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Comment #16 posted by aolbites on October 16, 2007 at 13:17:23 PT
How about a ban on yelling.
Richard Zuckerman Stop YELLING AT EVERYONE its really really REALLY RUDEStop it already!!
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Comment #15 posted by OverwhelmSam on October 16, 2007 at 08:19:09 PT
whig
Parties do not matter, but this IS the land of confusion. Whatever, click!
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Comment #14 posted by Dankhank on October 16, 2007 at 05:17:08 PT
not for a while ... :-)
not for a looooong while ...
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Comment #13 posted by whig on October 16, 2007 at 03:42:17 PT
Republicans
Ron Paul is not running for the Democratic nomination. If you are voting in the Republican primary and want to support Ron Paul, then I don't think anyone objects. I think FoM and many people don't want a Republican to be president again.
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Comment #12 posted by Hope on October 15, 2007 at 22:23:48 PT
Off Topic
I'd just send this in an e-mail, but since it's been mentioned here, I'll let you all know that Carl, my friend who had heart surgery, is home and doing well.Thanks for the prayers, FoM, and anyone else who might have thought of him.
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Comment #11 posted by OverwhelmSam on October 15, 2007 at 17:24:22 PT
FoM
I get medical care through the VA hospitals. Not the greatest medicine, but as a recovering cancer patient, definately life saving. I am just ready for marijuana to be legalized, at least for medical use. It would be pluses if the IRS went away and our soldiers didn't have to die in Iraq anymore. I think Ron can make this happen, the others are not even promoting these issues.
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on October 15, 2007 at 16:33:51 PT
OverwhelmSam
Thanks for the links but I must pass because of bandwidth issues. I will be glad when we know who will actually run for President so we won't need to talk about this as much. It will be any of the top 3 in both parties. Then the race will be on and we'll decide where we stand. It won't be long when we think how fast time goes by. 
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Comment #9 posted by OverwhelmSam on October 15, 2007 at 16:10:35 PT
FoM
Here's a better video about health care:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjuEdJ0DAGc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eronpaul2008%2Ecom%2Fvideo%2Dnetwork%3Fchannel%3D4%26video%3D23
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Comment #8 posted by OverwhelmSam on October 15, 2007 at 15:46:22 PT
FoM
Ron Paul is an OBGYN and his view that life begins at conception is based on his personal study. He believes that states should determine the pro life/choice laws, not the federal government. Ron Paul's views on health care can be viewed here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWdz1pnAFUA
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on October 15, 2007 at 13:59:04 PT
Richard
What is important to you isn't important to me. That's what makes people go in different directions in life. I can't read your post very well because of the big letters. 
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Comment #6 posted by Richard Zuckerman on October 15, 2007 at 13:54:22 PT:
FoM: YOU AND YOUR UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE!!
LISTEN, FoM: YOU MAY HAVE SERIOUS MEDICAL PROBLEMS TO CONTEND WITH ON YOUR OWN. UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE SHOULD NOT BE IMPLEMENTED AT THIS TIME BECAUSE OUR ECONOMY IS FAILING BECAUSE OF WARS AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION! PEOPLE SHOULD NOT HAVE CHILDREN IF THE PARENTS CANNOT PAY FOR THEM! ABORTION IS GOOD NOWADAYS, TO KEEP THE UNWANTED PREGNANCIES DOWN, EVEN THOUGH IT IS PAINFUL FOR THE MOTHER AND IT MIGHT BE PERCEIVED AS A "SIN" WITH THE BIBLE THUMPERS! BESIDES, I AM CONCERNED THAT THE CHILD HEALTH INSURANCE BILL WOULD BE USED TO HELP ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHILDREN. LOU DOBBS, WWW.LOUDOBBS.COM, AND ALEX JONES, WWW.INFOWARS.COM, COMPLAIN THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS BANKRUPTING MIDDLE CLASS AMERICA WITH WARS AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. CONSIDERING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAUSE $200 BILLION DOLLARS OF OUR LABOR WAGES TO BE SUPPRESSED EVERY YEAR, THIS ONE STATISTIC, COUPLED WITH THE ESTIMATED COST OF $230 BILLION DOLLARS TOTAL, $46 BILLION ANNUALLY OVER A FIVE YEAR PERIOD, TO ROUND UP AND DEPORT THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, WWW.NATIONALPOLICYINSTITUTE.ORG, WE WOULD MAKE A PROFIT AFTER THE FIRST YEAR OF ROUNDING THEM UP AND DEPORTING THEM!ABOUT TEN MINUTES AGO, I CALLED MITT ROMNEY'S TELEPHONE CONTACT, TOLD THE WOMAN THAT THE PLAGUE ON OUR SOCIETY IS NOT "MARIJUANA"; IT IS CREEPY NEOCONS WHO WANT TO IMPOSE THEIR MORALITY UPON THE PEOPLE WITH PHONY SCIENTIFIC DATA! SHE AUDIBLY FLUTTERED AND THANKED ME FOR THE CALL.
PHONEY SCIENTIFIC DATA HAS BEEN USED TO SUPPORT FLUORIDATING OUR DRINKING WATER, SEE, E.G., THE FLUORIDE DECEPTION, BY CHRISTOPHER BRYOSN, SEVEN STORIES PRESS, TO PLACE MERCURY AMALGAM DENTAL FILLINGS INTO TEETH, SEE, E.G., H.R. 2101 (MAY 1, 2007), SPONSORED BY CONGRESSWOMAN DIANE WATSON AND CONGRESSMAN BURTON, ENTITLED "MERCURY IN DENTAL FILLINGS DISCLOSURE AND PROHIBITION ACT", WWW.TOXICTEETH.ORG, DAMS INTERNATIONAL, 1079 SUMMIT AVENUE, ST. PAUL, MN, 55105, (800) 311-6265; AND, YES, THE DANGERS OF "MARIJUANA".
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 15, 2007 at 13:37:05 PT
OverwhelmSam
Let's see if you might understand where I'm coming from. Ron Paul tried to introduce a Bill that would overturn Roe vs Wade in 03 that would define when life begins. That was wrong and it was a religious decision which shouldn't be allowed I thought. We shouldn't try to make laws that force people to follow our politicians faith. I don't want anyone to follow my faith.You mention Federal Law but what isn't controlled by Federal Law if an issue is pushed? I probably could afford to pay a premium if it wasn't too high but I am uninsurable. It doesn't take alot to become uninsurable and the Federal government can help in that area. Most people that become uninsurable need care. You can't get into see a new Doctor if you don't have insurance anymore. These are major social problems we are dealing with and very critical. This can be life and death to some people. 
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Comment #4 posted by OverwhelmSam on October 15, 2007 at 13:23:35 PT
FoM
Ron Paul doesn't believe the federal government should be involved in these issues. It should be up to the People of the states to decide the Pro Life/Choice laws. In regard to health care, if big government was not involved inflating prices to the hilt, the average American could afford health care or insurance on their own. Again, it becomes an issue that can be decided upon by the states as it was always meant to be.Why do you want federal government involved in our lives? That's 100% of the problem with everything now.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on October 15, 2007 at 12:02:56 PT
Max Flowers 
I can't because he has no concern for Universal Health Care and he wants Roe Vs. Wade overturned. He tried to do it in 03 so I know it's true.
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Comment #2 posted by Max Flowers on October 15, 2007 at 11:29:12 PT
Vote for Ron Paul 2008
He believes in returning this country to what once made it so great: the idea that people are free to do whatever they want without criminalization, as long they are not hurting anyone else. In other words, back to nurturing a system of personal responsibility instead of this nanny-state, big brother nightmare we find ourselves in now.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on October 15, 2007 at 08:20:01 PT
I Like This Part of The Article
I am so glad that Barney Frank is on our side. I really like him. He is a example of being a good Democrat. I actually am not concerned anymore about becoming a Democrat. ***Excerpt: The future of NORML includes setting its sights on a national effort to decriminalize marijuana. Next month, Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank is introducing a bill to have no fines for possession of less than an ounce and NORML has it's work cut out for them garnering support. 
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