What do Playboy and the Legalization of Marijuana have in Common?

The Playboy Company established the Playboy Foundation in 1965. Their mission was to give grants to groups supporting first amendment rights. The main agenda was fighting censorship and exploring human sexuality.

In 1970, NORML was founded by Keith Stroup from the Playboy Foundation. NORML stands for National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. NORML became a non-profit organization that based itself in Washington D.C.

Since the 70's, NORML has been at the forefront in changing the public opinion for legalizing marijuana. Stroup stated:

“It is truly the beginning of the end, and I am thrilled to have lived long enough to experience this. We now have members of Congress who formerly would not even take our phone calls now calling our office to ask for our help drafting marijuana bills, and the positive reaction on the state level is even more pronounced. What seemed politically impossible to elected officials only a few months ago now seems quite achievable.”

The connection to Playboy continued with the establishment of High Times Magazine. In 1974, Tom Forcade thought his magazine "High Times" would be a one-time publication. His goal was to create a parody of Playboy by showing naked marijuana leaves. The first publication sold 550,000 copies becoming a hit. High Times has become one of the most popular marijuana magazines and promotes the legalization of cannabis.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Organization_for_the_Reform_of_Marijuana_Laws

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/new-norml-looking-back-40-year-crusade-end-marijuana-prohibition

The Benefits of the Terpene Delta 3 Carene

Delta 3 Carene gives a calming feeling to aid in well being. This pine scented terpene can be found in rosemary as well as cannabis. Delta 3 Carene is so prevalent in marijuana that it is found in most strains.

Carene has been used as an antihistamine to help with reducing fluid. Some patients use strains high in Carene to help reduce perspiration or menstrual flow. Many patients can describe certain cannabis strains with a side effect of causing dry mouth or eyes. The terpene Delta 3 Carene is a major culprit to this effect.

Medically Carene can treat symptoms of many diseases. Anti-inflammatory properties have been found with this essential oil to treat joint pain and multiple sclerosis.(Source) Delta 3 Carene has shown to be a sedative by acting as a central nervous system depressant. (Source) This ability to slow down the brain function can help in treating anxiety and insomnia.(Source)

Source:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=275717

http://terpenes.weebly.com/

http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/2772005

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carene

http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/prescription-drugs/cns-depressants/what-are-cns-depressants

Francis L.Young, DEA Administrative Law Judge

In 1970 marijuana became labeled as a Schedule 1 drug.(Source) In 1988 Francis L Young was the first judge to rule that marijuana should not have this classification. His ruling is consistent to the same effort in 2015 to reform marijuana laws.

In 1972 NORML petitioned the DEA on the ruling of marijuana as a schedule 1 drug. They requested it be reclassified as a schedule 2 drug. Their goal was to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana for therapeutic purposes. The Drug Enforcement Agency then began to stall for fourteen years before reluctantly holding public hearings.

Francis L. Young was one of the two DEA administrative judges chosen to rule on the public hearings. Young was hand picked as a judge for his conservative viewpoint. The judgment was based on 15 days of reviewing hundreds of documents from the DEA/NIDA against the benefits of marijuana. His conclusions came from the research found in the medical community using marijuana for treatments. He stated:

"Marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man...Marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record... The Administrator transfer marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II, to make it available as a legal medicine."

This monumental ruling was quickly squashed by DEA Director Judge Lawn. The Court of Appeals let Lawns ruling stand to keep cannabis a schedule 1 drug. Each succeeding director has held up this viewpoint for marijuana to be labeled a narcotic with no medicinal value. Judge Francis Young goes down as one of the first government official to acknowledge the beneficial use of medical marijuana.

Source:

http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/YOUNG/index.html

http://norml.org/marijuana/medical/item/introduction-7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_history_of_cannabis_in_the_United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_Substances_Act

Americans for Safe Access

Americans for Safe Access

In 2002 Americans for Safe Access (ASA) was founded to promote the opportunity to use cannabis for research and therapeutic uses. Their focus is on the patients who rely on cannabis as a medication. They advocate for patients civil liberties.

In 2002 the ASA started in California. They joined the AIDS\HIV organizations to help medical cannabis providers protect themselves from federal raids. ASA was an integral part to implementing Proposition 215 in California that gave safe access to medical cannabis. The efforts in California continued to expand to other states and capital hill.

The ASA is a grassroots organization of 50,000 members. Their efforts focus on marijuana regulation as an herbal medicine. Membership allows free legal support from the ASA and discounts from supporting affiliates.

Source:

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/about_asa

Who is NORML?

NORML

Did you know there is a NORML chapter near you? In 1970 National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law (NORML) established as a non-profit organization in Washington DC. They are an advocacy group that supports the legalization of marijuana. They aid people that have been arrested for possession.

NORML has been effective in reducing penalties for marijuana offenses. Currently they are helping legislatures write bills to give public access to cannabis. Through education, lobbying, and grass-root activists they help to make marijuana accepted by the public. Working on close to a million dollar annual budget they have 135 chapters nationwide. Other countries have started their own NORML organizations for the acceptance of cannabis as well.

NORML has formed a Political Action Committee (PAC) to help change national laws for legalization. They started a new mission in 2014 to set standards in quality business practices in the marijuana industry. They offer a “NORML Preferred Business Partner” badge that dispensaries can display for meeting guidelines to a safe and quality driven establishment.

For many patients the access to quality medical marijuana is crucial for their treatment. NORML allows patients to make a positive contribution to cannabis reform. You can represent NORML and find a chapter by you to volunteer, go to meetings and donate to their cause.

Source:

http://norml.org/about/intro

http://www.cnbc.com/id/36179727

http://norml.org/business

How Marijuana Policy Project Has Helped Legalize Marijuana

Marijuana Policy Project (MMP) is the largest policy reform group in the United States. Co-founders Chuck Thomas, Mike Krishner and Rob Kampia broke off from NORML in 1995 to create MMP. Currently they have 32,000 dues-paying members and a budget of over five million annually. The goal of MMP is to lobby for state/federal laws, decriminalize marijuana and education.

Marijuana Policy Project has been successful on legislation at the state and federal level. They employ two lobbyists in Washington D.C as well as other lobbyists at the state level. MMP was integral in the legalization of marijuana in Colorado in 2012 and Alaska in 2014.

Becoming involved with MMP allows you to be apart of the legal process in making marijuana legal. In the United Sates currently there are more arrests for possession than all violent crimes combined. (Source)

Source:

http://www.mpp.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana_Policy_Project

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/2/billionaire-george-soros-turns-cash-into-legalized/?page=all

The Drug Policy Alliance

The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is a non-profit organization based in New York City. Their goal is to end the American “War on Drugs” campaign. The goal of the organization is to insure people will be treated with compassion and maintain human rights. They offer education on the misuse of drugs.

Well known journalist Walter Cronkite was a spokesman for the Drug Policy Alliance. He endorsed them through advertisements, publications, and fund raising efforts. Cronkite believed the “War on Drugs” was a financial disaster that led to many ruined lives.

The mission statement for the DPA states:

“The Drug Policy Alliance envisions a just society in which the use and regulation of drugs are grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights, in which people are no longer punished for what they put into their own bodies but only for crimes committed against others, and in which the fears, prejudices and punitive prohibitions of today are no more.

Our mission is to advance those policies and attitudes that best reduce the harms of both drug misuse and drug prohibition, and to promote the sovereignty of individuals over their minds and bodies."

One unique aspect of the DPA is how it has an extensive library in New York called The Lindesmith Library. The Lindesmith Center in 1994 formed to conduct research on drug reform. They conducted NIDA studies on harm reduction and has served as a resource for drug education. In 2000 they merged with the Drug Policy Foundation to become the Drug Policy Alliance.

The DPA help write policies on decriminalizing drug use. The Opioid Overdose Reduction Act of 2014 was supported by the DPA. This Act would allow people to aid in opioid overdose drugs without civil liability. You can donate to the Drug Policy Alliance and help their cause to reform drug legislation in America.

Source:
http://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Opiod_ReductionAct_Summary.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Policy_Alliance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindesmith_Center