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Join NY NORML on Facebook!
Contact your representatives to help pass the current medical cannabis bills in the NY Assembly and NY Senate
CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE NOW!
Marijuana will soon be legal and NY NORML is going to help make sure this happens!
Come be a part of the change you want to see.
"If
people let government decide what foods they eat
and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a
state as are the souls of those who live
under tyranny."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"Our
lives begin to end the day we become silent about
things
that matter"
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
Help Legalize Medical Cannabis.
Please support Assembly Bill A09016 and S. 4041-B
Over 70% of New Yorkers Favor Medical Marijuana
Over 50% of republicans favor Medical Marijuana
Help Legalize Medical Marijuana (Now is the perfect time).
Contact your legislators and ask them to co-sponsor this legislation.
Make sure they know how important the grow provision is, and that it should NOT be a small, limited amount, due in particular to the new information that has been coming out regarding tinctures and oil concentrates that require many pounds of high-quality bud in order to make effective medicine, including to cure cancer. But there MUST be enough quantity available to patients in order to successfully treat themselves with concentrates.
Just 2 Simple Steps:
1. Follow this link to fill out the letter on our automated website
(The address where you are registered to vote at—or should be—the post office has voter registration forms at all times. The representatives can look up to see whether you voted or not, but not who you voted for. This means they actually represent you and have a vote at stake if they are up for re-election, not to mention the possible public reaction that can happen if they don't listen to us).
2. Edit the letter to make it as personal and effective as possible. Humans will be reading these! Do you or a loved one suffer from an ailment that medical cannabis could help, or has helped already? Tell them! It really matters and makes the most impact.
Thank you for supporting this effort—our voices will be heard!
 The most effective state medical cannabis laws are those that allow growing and selling. Otherwise, patients are still exposing themselves to the risks inherint in illegal marketplaces, as are those who help them. The pot just can't magically appear! Some laws only protect patients from arrest, or allow them to use a medical defense in court. Protecting providers, caregivers, and allowing people to grow it themselves is ideal. |
YOUR VOICE IS NEEDED TO HELP REGULATE MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN NY. Another session of the legislature ended in 2008 with the Assembly passing their version of the bill, BUT it died in the Senate. We need your support to help pass medical marijuana legislation in NY in 2009! Please contact your legislators to help make the change you want to see! Check out this video featuring a NY patient in need of safe access to medical cannabis. Are you a patient? If you are a patient with a serious medical condition who could benefit from medical marijuana, or a supportive medical professional, please e-mail nynorml@aol.com to get involved. |
Why is California beating NY to the tax revenue from legalization?!?
Please contact Governor Patterson and tell him you support releasing all non-violent marijuana prisoners and legalizing marijuana. Please ask him to ask the state legislature to act promptly to pass medical marijuana legislation.
Please also contact the new NY State Senate Majority Leader, Malcolm A. Smith and tell him the same. He is new to the position and needs to hear from a lot of us so he knows how we want him to lead.
Please remember to be polite and to leave your updated voting address with whomever you speak to, or on whatever correspondence you have with their offices. Personally-written letters are always very effective.
Letters to the editor are also necessary to get a good public dialogue going. Ever get sick of not seeing enough pro-legalization articles in the media? Published letters are just that in their own way, counting as column space gained for our message which did not cost us a dime! Make sure to give an accurate phone number so that they can verify you wrote the letter (you can ask that they print anonymous, or just your initials, as the author if you choose).
CHECK OUT OUR GET ACTIVE PAGE FOR MORE THINGS TO DO
NY NORML's Mission Statement:
New
York NORML is the state chapter of NORML, the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws. NY NORML is dedicated to uniting the
millions of New York supporters of marijuana law reform. NY
NORML seeks to end the prohibition of marijuana (cannabis, hemp) through
education, public advocacy and direct government involvement.
Our short-term goals:
- A state law permitting the use of medical marijuana (we support the current legislation in the NY Assembly and Senate).
- Host meetings for interested members.
Why Support Marijuana Reform?
In short, marijuana prohibition is based upon archaic myths and untruths, and should no longer be tolerated. Modern scientific evidence reveals what many, who have tried marijuana, already realize- that marijuana is not only much safer than alcohol and tobacco, but that it possesses immense medicinal value. Despite the fact that marijuana has proven greatly beneficial in the treatment of many illnesses and conditions, the sick and dying are denied access to what, in many cases, is the best or only medicine known. Additionally, despite the stigma that marijuana use is a fringe activity, almost one out of every two Americans is estimated to have tried marijuana. Its use, therefore, is extremely normal. Due to its prevalence in American society, it is neither democratically appropriate nor equitable to continue to criminally punish marijuana usage when almost half of the population has engaged in its use. In fact, if everyone who has tried marijuana was arrested, prosecuted and jailed, pursuant to our outdated marijuana laws, over 100 million Americans would be in prison. Although the rest of the world is quickly moving towards a rational decriminalization policy on marijuana, in this country, marijuana prohibition continues to needlessly and unfairly destroy the lives and careers of countless good, hardworking, productive and responsible American citizens. More than 700,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana charges last year alone and more than 5 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana offenses in the past decade. This is a misapplication of the criminal sanction and wastes valuable law enforcement resources which should be focused on violent crime and terrorism. Marijuana use can and should be further decriminalized and regulated in the same manner as tobacco and alcohol.
What can I do to help? Simple. Join NY NORML and our message will grow. As a cohesive unit, we can ensure that our outdated marijuana laws are changed. You will get the satisfaction of knowing that you are helping to unite millions of New York residents who share your views. As a member, you can be as active as you desire; from simply enjoying our online updates, to attending our social events and fundraisers where like minded individuals gather, to lending a hand in grass roots educational efforts, to writing letters to elected officials and news papers. Join us and help to bring sense to New York's marijuana legislation.
Why
is Marijuana Illegal?
In
1937 the U.S. government outlawed a plant, Cannabis hemp (or today's more
commonly known name, marijuana). Hemp is the oldest cultivated crop known
to man. Every civilization with a written history has praised its uses.
It is arguably the earths premier renewable natural resource, with uses
as far ranging as: fuel, fiber, food, medicine, paper, construction materials,
cement, dynamite, plastics, etc (the list goes on & on). Today many
of the natural products provided by hemp have been replaced by dirty,
expensive, petrochemical based products.
The government claims this prohibition is in the name of public health
and safety; to keep U.S. citizens from using just the female flower, the
part known as marijuana. In 1937 there were 50,000 marijuana users in
America. Today, the US government's own statistics say that 20 to 50 million
Americans smoke marijuana--thus proving the ineffectiveness of their laws.
This prohibition has insured that this plant is never grown by American
farmers, except by illegal, tax free growers, and for marijuana only.
Today,
there are a growing number of concerned citizens and activists around
the country dedicated to bring forth factual education and the logical
uses of Cannabis hemp. This movement of people in their actions and their
ideals, defy the stereotypes of "reefer madness." To the contrary,
this movement is trying to bring forth a culture of self preservation,
prosperity, peace, truth and environmental sanity.
"Prohibition...goes
beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite
by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes...
A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principals upon which our
government was founded."
-Abraham Lincoln (December 1840)