Kharla Vezzetti

Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at a podium with "Prison Sentencing Guidelines" displayed, addressing the SF ABA Meeting. The event, broadcast live on C-SPAN with an ABA logo in the background, focuses on mandatory minimum drug-crime sentences. "1:16 pm ET" is shown at the top right corner. CA Norml

AG Holder Calls for Rethinking Mandatory Minimum Drug-Crime Sentences at SF ABA Meeting

UPDATED 8/14/2013


August 12 – US Attorney General Eric Holder was aware that coming to California’s Bay Area meant encountering drug policy reform advocates. His May appearance at UC Berkeley law school saw him greeted by medical marijuana advocates, including a banner in the sky saying, “Holder: End RX Cannabis War”

In advance of his appearance this morning at the national American Bar Association meeting in Los Angeles, Holder announced the results of a Justice Department review that recommends a re-evaluation of mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes as racist, unjust, ineffective and expensive.…

Black and white side profile portrait of an older man with short, white hair and a full beard and mustache. The man is wearing a dark suit and a bow tie. The background is dark, emphasizing his facial features and formal attire, reminiscent of California's dignitaries who saw the 100-year-old ban on marijuana. CA Norml

California’s 100-Year-Old Ban on “Indian Hemp” (aka Marijuana)

By Dale Gieringer, CalNORML director

One hundred years ago, on August 10, 1913, an obscure law banning the possession of “Indian hemp” took effect in California.

Also known as cannabis indica or hasheesh, Indian hemp had long been available in drugstores without causing any evident problems; hemp was also grown as a fiber crop in the Central Valley. Only later did it become familiar by the Mexican name “marihuana,” a word unknown to white Californians in 1913.

Public concern about Indian hemp was nonexistent in 1913.…

Writers, Starlets and Mexicans: The History of Hollyweed

Angelinos awoke to art student Douglas Finegood’s interpretation of the Hollywood sign on January 1, 1976, the day marijuana was decriminalized in California. Another “vandal” altered the sign in the same way on January 1, 2017 to celebrate the passage of Prop. 64, legalizing adult recreational use.

Los Angeles has had a remarkable relationship with marijuana, from Nathanael West’s The Day of the Locust and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon to the Pineapple Express.
-by Ellen Komp

The seminal novel of Hollywood, The Day of the Locust, was written by Nathanael West in 1937, the year that marijuana was effectively made illegal in the U.S.…

Over 21,000 Arrested in California on Marijuana Charges in 2012

The California Attorney General has released its 2012 Crime Report.

According to the report, there were 13,434 felony marijuana arrests in California in 2012, continuing a downward trend from 14,082 in 2011. Hispanics were the most-arrested ethnic group, with 4953 felony arrests, followed by whites (4617), blacks (2745) and other races (1119). Juvenile felony arrests remained stable, coming in at 1671, or 12.4% of all felony arrests for marijuana.

Misdemeanor marijuana arrests took a nosedive in 2011 because under an ounce became an infraction that year; infractions are not tallied in the AG’s report.…

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Two men are posing for a photo in a room at the US/Mexico Summit. One is wearing a light shirt, patterned tie, dark jacket, and name badge. The other man is in a dark jacket, light shirt, red tie, and light-colored pants. They are both smiling and standing side by side. CA Norml

US/Mexico Summit Looks At Legalization, Research

CalNORML Director Dale Gieringer with former Mexican President Vicente Fox at the Summit

San Cristobal, Mexico, Jul 18-20. This past weekend former Mexican President Vicente Fox hosted a symposium at Centro Fox, where delegates from the US, Mexico and Europe discussed legalizing and regulating marijuana as an alternative to Mexico’s bloody drug war. The symposium received extensive coverage from the Mexican press and over 10,000 people followed it on the Internet.

President Fox, who has been a vocal critic of recent Mexican policy, proposed legalizing and regulating marijuana in order to reduce prohibition-related violence in Mexico.…

Close-up of a person holding and using an electronic cigarette. The device emits vapor that clouds the area around their face, with a blue light glowing from the tip. Their mouth is slightly open, suggesting an inhale or exhale of the vapor, potentially highlighting concerns addressed in CA Bill Against E-Cigarettes (SB 648). CA Norml

CA Bill Against E-Cigarettes Harmful to Consumer Health: SB 648 Would Restrict Use of Medical Marijuana Vaporizers by Prop 215

Also see: Blowing smoke about e-cigarettes
By Dale H. Gieringer
Sacramento Bee
Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014

UPDATE AUGUST 14: We’re happy to report that the author has pulled SB648 over concerns about its impact on medical marijuana patients. Thanks to the many NORML members who wrote or called their representatives.

UPDATE 7/31/2013: The hearing on this bill is now scheduled for August 14.
Download a flyer on SB648 with key assembly district contact info

Cal NORML Release July 16, 2013

SACRAMENTO – The California legislature is considering a bill that would ban the use of e-cigarettes and similar smokeless vaporizers in areas where tobacco smoking is banned (SB 648 – Sen.…

Cal NORML Joins EFF Lawsuit Against NSA Surveillance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: California NORML 415-563-5858

July 16 – California NORML has joined as a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed today on behalf of 19 different groups by the Electronic Frontier Foundation against NSA’s phone surveillance program. California NORML members complain that the surveillance could have a “chilling effect” on their ability to continue working with us.

“Because we are devoted to marijuana reform, many of our members have knowledge of activities that are illegal under federal law,” explains California NORML Director Dale Gieringer.…

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Former Mexican President Fox Urges Marijuana Legalization At San Francisco Meeting

July 8 – At a meeting with drug reform advocates in San Francisco, former Mexican President Vicente Fox expressed support for California’s efforts to legally regulate marijuana, medical and otherwise.

Fox said that California has a strong cultural influence on Mexico, and that progress here would help efforts there.

Other speakers included Steve DeAngelo from Harborside Health Center, attorney Henry Wykowski, former Microsoft executive Jamen Shively, Dale Sky Jones for CCPR, Nate Bradley for LEAP and Dale Gieringer for California NORML.…

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Cal NORML Survey of US Court Records Shows Federal War On Medical Marijuana Rages Unabated; Over 480 Years in Prison Time for M

Jun 13, 2013 – In spite of growing public support for medical marijuana, concern about overreach by the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies, and cutbacks in federal spending, the U.S. government’s war on medical marijuana is raging unabated according to a survey of court records by Cal NORML.

On Tuesday, Michigan medical marijuana grower Jerry Duval, a kidney and pancreas transplant patient with severe medical problems, began serving a ten-year sentence in the same prison as the Boston bomber.…

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