Before some of us were born, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws NORML advocated for legalization of cannabis.
Keith Stroup founded NORML in 1970, using $5,000 in seed money from the Playboy Foundation. Stroup, an attorney, and his colleagues kept up the work for nearly four decades thanks to a monthly stipend from an earlier version of High Times Magazine. Today, NORML has a large grassroots network with 135 chapters, over 550 lawyers, and is still growing.
NORML didn't blink or stagger at the government's attempts to intimidate during the War on Drugs and the worst days of cannabis prohibition during these often tumultuous years.
This is NORML's response to President Biden's Thursday announcement to pardon all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession.
Many of the efforts taken by the President today are long overdue. For nearly two years, NORML has called on the Administration to fulfill the President's campaign promise to provide relief to those stigmatized with a low-level cannabis conviction. We are pleased that President Biden is following through on this pledge and that he is encouraging governors to take similar steps to make sure that tens of millions of Americans with state-level convictions for past marijuana crimes can move forward with their lives. Since 1965, nearly 29 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana-related violations — activities that the majority of voters don't believe should be a crime.
The Administration must work together with Congressional leadership to repeal America's failed marijuana criminalization laws. Nearly half of voters now agree that legalizing marijuana should be a priority of Congress, and this action can only be taken by descheduling cannabis and repealing it from the US Controlled Substances Act, which regulates it in a similar way to alcohol. Congress should be inspired by the Administration s actions today to act quickly and send legislation to the President's desk that would help close this dark chapter of our history.