NORML FOUNDER BELIEVES HEADWAY HAS BEEN MADE IN LEGALIZATION EFFORT

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws was started
in 1970 by Keith Stroup.

"We did it as an attempt to create a marijuana smoker's lobby in
America," Stroup said.

He ran the organization throughout the '70s, and returned as its
executive director in 1994. He was replaced as executive director by
Allen St. Pierre in January of this year.

Stroup said the idea to start NORML came to him after he graduated
from law school and worked on a Ralph Nader project.

"I was impressed by the political power he developed by arguing on
behalf of consumers," Stroup said. "After doing that for a couple
years, it seemed to me that we needed to take a similar approach to
ending marijuana prohibition. To get the smokers themselves involved
in the debate over marijuana policy."

Stroup said other people, who probably never smoked marijuana, were
making decisions that affected pot smokers.

When he first started, Stroup said he believed marijuana would be
legal by 1978.

"I sometimes tell people 'That's my story and I'm sticking with it'"
Stroup said. "It's obviously proven to be a much more difficult job
than we initially thought."

NORML was all by itself on the forefront of the marijuana legalization
in the '70s.

"In the '90s we had a proliferation of front-line reform groups,"
Stroup said.

"And a lot of them do really good work."

Some of those groups were started by people who worked at NORML,
Stroup said.

"There's a lot of different groups contributing the reform effort,"
Stroup said.

"That's healthy, I mean there's no doubt about it."

The state and local initiatives are rungs on NORML's ladder to
legalization.

In the 1970s, a majority of the voting public appeared to be in
NORML's corner.

"By the end of the '70s the concern of the public seemed to have
focused more on the kids," Stroup said. "The other side had us on the
run. We didn't win a thing."

In the mid-1990s, the tide seemed to turn in NORML's favor.

"We currently enjoy the strongest level of public support," Stroup
said. "Our challenge, what we're still having trouble with, is how do
we convert that public support into public policy. There's a disconnect, our
elected officials are still scared of the issue. We've won the hearts and
minds of the American public, now we have to figure out how to turn that
into public policy."

There is still the awareness of the pendulum possibly swinging the
other way again.

"When you're on the front lines, you might not notice at first,"
Stroup said.

"You think you're making progress, but it's not until you take a step
back you notice."

NORML is the epicenter for efforts throughout the nation on legalizing
and decriminalizing marijuana, medicinal or otherwise.

Stroup referred to recent defeats and victories.

"It was a wonderful one in Oakland," Stroup said. "That's actually
urging that they go forward with legalization, some sort of
regulation."

According to NORML statistics, in the United States, 755,000 people
were arrested on marijuana-related charges in 2003.

"Eighty-eight percent of those were for simple possession," Stroup
said. "They weren't traffickers, they weren't growers, they were
marijuana smokers, people like me."

Stroup said the mission might be accomplished when adults can legally
buy and smoke marijuana in a responsible manner.

Some opponents argue that if marijuana was legal, people would get
high and drive.

"It's never going to be legal for someone who is stoned to drive, and it
shouldn't be," Stroup said. "On the other hand, if I'm sitting at home
watching a basketball game on the weekend what business is it of the
government's if I want to smoke a joint."

After 30 years in the trenches, Stroup believes he can put a loose
time frame on full legalization.

"I think within five years we will be in a place in this country where
we will essentially stop arresting smokers," Stroup said. "That
doesn't mean that every state would officially legalize marijuana."

There are 12 states that have decriminalized marijuana.

"I think within five years we will be up to 20 states," Stroup
said.

When asked about government regulation, Stroup said a policy would
probably be based on the alcohol model.

"I would hope we might improve on the alcohol-type model a little,"
Stroup said.

"For example if we could limit advertising. Advertising doesn't play a
helpful role."

Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos recently told the
Times-Standard that marijuana should be decriminalized, stating, "If
it became legal, I certainly think it would reduce some crime."

Said Stroup: "He's recognizing that it's never been marijuana that's
dangerous, it's the criminal prohibition. People do get shot on the
black-market when you're dealing with hundreds of million dollars a year
in marijuana that consumers are buying from each other and selling from
each other."

There's no protection on the black market, Stroup said.

"You could get ripped off, you could get hurt," Stroup said.
"Prohibition increases crime, but marijuana itself is one of the
safest substances ever known to man. I think what District Attorney,
Mr. Gallegos, has recognized here is that if we decriminalize
marijuana we can get rid of a lot of crime."

Stroup recognized the importance of Gallegos being from Humboldt
County.

"There's a lot of support for legalizing marijuana in Humboldt
County," Stroup said. "I'm delighted to see the prosecutor is not fighting
that. Other than Terrance Hallinan (former San Francisco District Attorney)
here in San Francisco, I don't know if I can identify another prosecutor in
America who has spoken out more forcefully.