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The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is a social welfare organization based in Washington, D.C., that advocates for the reform of marijuana laws in the United States regarding both medical and non-medical use.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is a component of the Executive Office of the President of the United States.
Seattle Hempfest is an annual event in the city of Seattle, Washington, United States, advocating the legalization of cannabis. Vivian McPeak serves as the organization's executive director. Founded in 1991 as the Washington Hemp Expo, a self-described "humble gathering of stoners" attended by only 500 people, and renamed the following year as Hempfest, it has grown into a three-day annual political rally, concert, and arts and crafts fair with attendance typically over 100,000. Speakers have included Seattle city council member Nick Licata, actor/activist Woody Harrelson (2004), travel writer and TV host Rick Steves (2007), (2010), 2012 Green Party speaker Jill Stein, Dallas Cowboys center Mark Stepnoski (2003), and former chief of the Seattle Police Department Norm Stamper (2006). Hempfest has also in recent years attracted such well-known performers as Fishbone (2002), The Kottonmouth Kings (2004), Rehab (2006), and Pato Banton (2007) to its five stages spread throughout Myrtle Edwards Park and Elliott Bay Park, on Seattle's waterfront.
Rob Kampia is an American activist who is the co-founder of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), co-founder of Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW), and founder of the Marijuana Leadership Campaign.
The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is the largest organization working solely on marijuana policy reform in the United States in terms of its budget, number of members, and staff.
Keith Stroup is an American attorney and founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
In the United States, the removal of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the category reserved for drugs that have "no currently accepted medical use", is a proposed legal and administrative change in cannabis-related law at the federal level. After being proposed repeatedly since 1972, the U.S. Department of Justice initiated 2024 rulemaking to reschedule cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. The majority of 2024 public comments supported descheduling, decriminalizing, or legalizing marijuana at the federal level.
The Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics (ACT) is an organization supporting medical marijuana that was founded in 1981 by Robert C. Randall and Alice O'Leary. The Alliance was originally formed through Randall’s personal campaigning to access medical marijuana to treat his glaucoma. After being found not guilty of marijuana possession by reason of medical necessity and being included in a research program in which he received marijuana, Randall was the first person known to have successfully used medical necessity as a defense against a charge of marijuana possession in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. After Randall’s individual success in obtaining marijuana legally, the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics sought to drive the movement in politics and public media for widespread medical cannabis usage.
Allen St. Pierre served as the Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), an American non-profit organization that wishes to remove the criminal penalties for and legalize cannabis. St. Pierre was hired by NORML's Board of Directors in 1991 when he worked as a Communications Director for the organization. He gradually rose through the ranks, becoming the Deputy National Director in 1993. When the NORML Foundation was created in 1997, St. Pierre was chosen to be its executive director. The NORML Foundation is a sister organization of NORML that works "to better educate the public about marijuana and marijuana policy options, and to assist victims of the current laws".
In the United States, the non-medical use of cannabis is legalized in 24 states and decriminalized in 7 states, as of November 2023. Decriminalization refers to a policy of reduced penalties for cannabis offenses, typically involving a civil penalty for possessing small amounts, instead of criminal prosecution or the threat of arrest. In jurisdictions without penalty the policy is referred to as legalization, although the term decriminalization is sometimes used for this purpose as well.
In the United States, increased restrictions and labeling of cannabis as a poison began in many states from 1906 onward, and outright prohibitions began in the 1920s. By the mid-1930s cannabis was regulated as a drug in every state, including 35 states that adopted the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act. The first national regulation was the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.
In the United States, the use of cannabis for medical purposes is legal in 39 states, four out of five permanently inhabited U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia, as of March 2023. Ten other states have more restrictive laws limiting THC content, for the purpose of allowing access to products that are rich in cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive component of cannabis. There is significant variation in medical cannabis laws from state to state, including how it is produced and distributed, how it can be consumed, and what medical conditions it can be used for.
In the United States, cannabis is legal in 39 of 50 states for medical use and 24 states for recreational use. At the federal level, cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, determined to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use, prohibiting its use for any purpose. Despite this prohibition, federal law is generally not enforced against the possession, cultivation, or intrastate distribution of cannabis in states where such activity has been legalized. Beginning in 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration has initiated a review to potentially move cannabis to the less-restrictive Schedule III.
Jesse Stout is an American attorney and drug policy reform activist. He practiced business law for the cannabis industry with Greenbridge Corporate Counsel. He was appointed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to serve as a member of the San Francisco Cannabis State Legalization Task Force and its successor body the San Francisco Cannabis Oversight Committee. He also recruited employees for cannabis companies, through THC Staffing Group.
The legal history of cannabis in the United States began with state-level prohibition in the early 20th century, with the first major federal limitations occurring in 1937. Starting with Oregon in 1973, individual states began to liberalize cannabis laws through decriminalization. In 1996, California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis, sparking a trend that spread to a majority of states by 2016. In 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize cannabis for recreational use.
Initiative 59 was a 1998 ballot initiative in Washington, D.C., that sought to legalize medical cannabis. The short title of the initiative was "Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative of 1998". Though the initiative passed with 69% of the vote in November 1998, its implementation was delayed by Congress's passage of the Barr Amendment, which prohibited DC from using its funds in support of the program. This Amendment delayed the start of the medical marijuana program until it was effectively overturned in 2009, with the first DC customer legally purchasing medical cannabis at a dispensary in the District in 2013.
Madeline Martinez is an American cannabis rights activist.
Portland NORML is the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) affiliate for Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The chapter was established in January 2015 by Portland-based radio host and cannabis activist Russ Belville. Scott Gordon serves as its executive director.
NORML France, previously known as Chanvre & Libertés - NORML France is a French non-profit organization based in Toulouse but active in all territories of France, whose aim is to move public opinion sufficiently to achieve the depenalization of illicit drugs consumption, the legalization of non-medical marijuana and the increased access to medical cannabis in France, so that the responsible use of cannabis by adults is no longer subject to penalty.
References
- ↑ "Erik Altieri, Forbes 30 Under 30, Law and Society". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2018-07-23. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ↑ "NORML's New Executive Director Erik Altieri". Freedom Leaf. 2017-02-21. Archived from the original on 2018-10-20. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ↑ "It looks like Jeff Sessions is kicking off his war on legal weed". news.vice.com. Vice News. Archived from the original on 2018-10-02. Retrieved 2018-11-02.
- ↑ "As Legalization Spreads, NORML Evolves Under New Leadership". Marijuana Moment. October 2017. Archived from the original on 2018-09-30. Retrieved 2018-10-23.