Pubdate: Sat, 13 Oct 2007
Source: Times-Standard (Eureka, CA)
Copyright: 2007 MediaNews Group, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.times-standard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1051
Author: Chris Durant, The Times-Standard
Cited: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws 
http://www.norml.org
Cited: http://www.nojailforpot.com/
Cited: Students for Sensible Drug Policy http://www.ssdp.org
Cited: Marsha Rosenbaum http://www.drugpolicy.org/about/keystaff/marsharosenb/

NORML HEADS WORK TO IGNITE THE TROOPS

The 2007 National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws 
conference started Friday with pep talks from some of NORML's top 
marijuana legalization advocates.

NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre thanked the crowd that 
filtered into a conference room at the Universal City Sheraton Hotel 
before trying to spark the activist inside everyone in the room.

He said marijuana advocates need to stop hiding.

"I'm work 70 hours a week at NORML because I'm an adult, I smoke 
cannabis and I don't want to be a criminal," St. Pierre said.

He said that .1 percent of marijuana smokers get involved with 
decriminalization efforts and challenged the crowd to imagine what 
would happen if a whole percent of marijuana smokers got involved.

"We need to come off that mountain top ignited for change," St. 
Pierre said. "Not united, ignited for change."

Rick Steves, PBS travel show personality and the author numerous 
travel books, was the featured speaker for the conference's first morning.

"I think it (travel) is like marijuana," Steves said. "It's 
different, it's refreshing. When you travel and get high it's like 
travel squared."

He said his travels have given him the opportunity to see the views 
on marijuana from a global perspective, including the first time he 
smoked marijuana, in Afghanistan.

"Everyone gets off the bus, sits around watching a goat get 
slaughtered and passing around a bong," Steves said.

Steves said that it's hard to understand how some of public in this 
country perceives marijuana, and that they can take a lesson from 
other cultures around the world.

"It's no big deal, it's just there," Steves said.

Steves has been able to use his travel guru status to take advantage 
of discussions with politicians from his home state of Washington.

"They want to talk travel, I want to talk to talk pot," Steves said.

A room to the side of the conference hall was full of vendors.

"I'm probably the only one here that doesn't smoke," said a woman 
going by "Philleen," with nojailforpot.com. "But I believe in the 
decriminalization of all drugs."

Jacob Roland, outreach director for Students for Sensible Drug 
Policy, said his organization is working for change in the policy on 
students losing financial aid due to a drug conviction.

"We're working on getting (a chapter at) Humboldt State," Roland said.

The afternoon panel was called "The Straight Dope: You've got 
questions, we've got answers."

"It's not so much our questions that, frankly, worry me, it's the 
questions of those out there that are misinformed about marijuana," 
said Marsha Rosenbaum, director of the San Francisco office of the 
Drug Policy Alliance.

Rosenbaum then talked about one of the more popular question topics 
she receives at the DPA: Potency.

She said reports that marijuana today is more potent or dangerous 
than marijuana in the past are exaggerated, citing a 20-year-long 
University of Mississippi study that showed modern marijuana has an 
average THC level of 8 percent.

"There's nothing remotely or uniquely dangerous to health by 
consuming weed that's 8 percent THC," Rosenbaum said.

Mitch Earleywine, an associate professor of Psychology at the State 
University of New York at Albany, spoke about the relationship 
between marijuana smoking and mental health.

"In all honesty, without marijuana I wouldn't have mental health," 
Earleywine said.

He said that some questionnaires looking into the link between 
schizophrenia and marijuana smoking are misleading, like linking 
"sometimes using strange expressions" to schizophrenia.

"What a surprise, pot smokers said yes to that one," Earleywine said. 
"One of my critics said, 'They were probably high when they took the 
questionnaire.' Good."

He also talked about the link between depression and marijuana smoking.

"The depression data is depressing," Earleywine said.

Earleywine cited data that showed people who smoke pot weekly or 
daily are less depressed than people who never use marijuana.

The conference continues today, with a critical analysis of the drug 
war from Matthew Robinson of Appalachian State University and a look 
at what marijuana-friendly initiatives are upcoming on ballots around 
the country. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake