What does the Playboy Mansion have to do with cannabis reform today? Nothing. Combining the lewdness that the world thinks of when we think of the Playboy Mansion with the cannabis movement? It just makes perfect sense how much of a failure that is, and how much it hurts our cause.

Sorry, but activists can canoodle with celebrities at a more neutral venue. You big activist guys don't need to get a hard-on every time you join together for a cause do you? I sure hope not.

There's a certain irony in having a celebrity site object to the use of Playboy's celebrity status and clout to benefit MPP's reform efforts. If you don't want to support MPP and/or Kampia, that's certainly your right, but it seems that decision should be made based on facts more substantive than presented here. Are your bikini-clad celebs any less objectified than the airbrushed hotties in Playboy? Methinks thou dost protest too much.

I support the MPP (financially and otherwise), but I think having the fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion was always a ridiculous idea. What the hell have they been thinking? It makes MPP look like a joke. As far as Kampia's "sex scandal" is concerned, I'm not going to rush to judge someone without having all the facts.

It gets the word out in a better way than the Beverly Hills Hilton, that's for sure.

Thanks for the clarification, Mason, re: SAFER and my characterization of "alcohol sucks." Sorry to have misinterpreted the mission... and I do appreciate all the great work SAFER has done, of course. Let it be known: NORML & SAFER are both pro-marijuana!

As for those who bray about passing decrim in Massachusetts or any of the other initiatives and bills MPP has been a part of, well, those are great accomplishments, but they don't happen in a vacuum. LEAP members spoke in those states to many undecided voters. NORML members collected many of the signatures and did public outreach. DPA contributed research that helped convince people. SAFER helped illustrate that we accept a much more dangerous substance's legality. ASA helped convince people of the urgency of passing medical use laws. SSDP mobilized college students in the battles.

When the team moves the ball down to the 1 yard line and the highly-paid star running back scores the TD, don't forget all those unsung offensive lineman who helped move the ball the previous 99 yards and the coaches and assistant coaches that taught them how to block.

There are plenty of real enemies to reform wearing badges, holding gavels, and running for re-election. Let's stop the circular firing squad, appreciate what's good about all our organizations, and work together to secure freedom for all of us (even the healthy atheists among us).

As a previous commenter said, check the 990's.

As for NORML having more Facebook friends and name recognition, so what? MPP and DPA actually pass laws, which is sort of the point of this movement and which NORML hasn't done in going on 30 years. You can have your Facebook friends. I'll take laws like the one MPP paid for and passed in Massachusetts that keeps me out of jail.

Can't stand ya'll

I will concur that Paul Armentano is an MVP All-Star in marijuana law reform. You cannot find a person better educated on the science of marijuana.

But to conclude Paul is the "only good thing NORML has going" is to disparage the incredible work being done by hundreds of grassroots activists working in the NORML chapter network. To wit:

Chris Goldstein, Anne Davis, & NORML NJ - instrumental in negotiations with New Jersey lawmakers to bring about Gov. Corzine's signature on the law making it the nation's 15th medical marijuana state.

Derek Rosenzweig & PhillyNORML - uncovered and published research on Philadelphia's racial bias in marijuana enforcement leading to a change in policy to end arrests of low level marijuana consumers in the city.

Michigan NORML and MassCann/NORML laid the groundwork for 2008's medical marijuana and decriminalization, respectively, in Michigan and Massachusetts by passing numerous municipal measures in support of marijuana.

Madeline Martinez and Oregon NORML led negotiations with lawmakers to set medical marijuana limits to 24 ounces and 24 plants, the highest statewide statutory limits in the nation (along with Washington State).

Dale Gieringer, Bill Panzer, and California NORML helped co-author Prop 215 in California, worked for the clarifications found in SB420, worked with Assem. Ammiano to produce the first legalization bill in decades, helped shepherd the latest California decrim measure to Schwarzenegger's desk, and are organizing with Prop 19's leaders for a new legalization initiative in 2012.

Kandice Hawes and Orange County NORML held the nation's first medical marijuana conference specifically for seniors... across the street from Disneyland!

Mary McKenzie Crow, AZ4NORML, and Phoenix NORML were the foot soldiers gathering the signatures that got MPP's Arizona Prop 203 on the ballot.

Kelly Maddy, Joplin NORML, Dan Viets, Missouri NORML, all worked in Missouri to pass lowest-law-enforcement and other municipal initiatives.

Ben Masel, Gary Storck, Madison NORML all have lobbied intensively for the Jackie Rickert Medical Marijuana Act, moving it farther along in the legislative process every year.

Colorado NORML, Mile High NORML, have worked with SAFER on their initiatives, gathering signatures that lead to Denver's legalization and other low-priority initiatives.

Isaias Valdez and Idaho NORML are beginning the grassroots education and activism in one of the most anti-marijuana states in the nation; the state currently has a medical marijuana bill in the legislature and the group is following up with a citizen's initiative.

John & Heather Masterson in Montana NORML, battling to mitigate the perception of abuse of medical marijuana created by unethical "ganjapreneurs" and most recenlty providing live coverage of the DEA raids in Montana.

Then there are the hundreds of attorneys who make up the NORML Legal Committee, who have donated thousands of hours of pro bono time helping average cannabis consumers avoid jail and retain voting rights, also working on new laws. For example:

Jeff Blackburn, who kept an AIDS patient out of a Texas prison with an affirmative defense that a jury agreed with in only 11 minutes of deliberation. The patients' original public defender only offered a plea deal that would have meant six months of drug testing that would've left the patient without his medicine, wasting away.

Doug Hiatt, who fought for the life of Hep C patient Tim Garon, denied a liver transplant because his legal medical marijuana use in Washington State made him a "drug addict" in the eyes of the hospital. Hiatt is now behind the Sensible Washington effort to fully legalize by citizen initiative.

Let's not forget the national staff (like me) who constantly educate, advocate, interview, debate, advertise, litigate, lobby, and keep the conversation on marijuana legalization moving forward.

I've already written way too much for a comment and that is just reviewing my own memory of NORML Activism within the four years I've worked for NORML. And remember, aside from the lawyers (sometimes), NONE of these activists made a single dime for performing these heroic acts.

As far as I'm concerned, all of the groups involved in marijuana law reform have an important role to play. It's like the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard - we have different jobs and different specializations in service of the same goal. Sure, we have internecine grudges and rivalries. Just as jarheads goad sailors, just as grunts tease flyboys, drug war reform groups may also grouse about each other, but when the rubber hits the road, we're all fighting for the good ol' U S of A.

For me personally, there are some important differences. DPA is about drug policy - they think drug prohibition sucks. MPP is about marijuana policy - they think marijuana prohibition sucks. SAFER is about offering choice - they think alcohol sucks compared to marijuana. ASA is about medical marijuana - they are silent on healthy people's use. LEAP is about cops' expression of drug war failure - they think drug prohibition sucks.

NORML, of all the groups, is the one that doesn't just think marijuana prohibition sucks, but that cannabis use is a positive. We're not just anti-prohibition, we're pro-cannabis!

Finally, to the disparagement of the counter-culture you believe NORML represents: in actuality, most of our NORML Affiliate and Chapter leaders are far from what anyone would consider "hippie". Anne Davis, head of NORML NJ, is a successful attorney and mother of two. Tonya Davis, head of Central Ohio NORML, is a disabled patient in a wheelchair. Clif Deuvall, head of NORML of Waco Texas, is a disabled veteran. Isaias Valdez, head of Idaho NORML, is a clean-cut college student. I can't speak to what you may have seen from NORML in the 1980's or 90's, but I know since my involvement I have never met a better representative group of average cannabis consumers. In my tenure, we have instituted sixty new state, local, and college affiliates, so it seems to me plenty of people are eager to organize under the NORML banner.

There is a drug reform group for everyone. I don't care what acronym you want to associate with so long as you're on this side of the battle over prohibition. But to dismiss and disparage NORML's role in the war is to vilify the most committed activists in the battle - the ones not doing it for some billionaire's largess. If you think someone might not support ending prohibition because someone in a NORML T-shirt might have long hair, piercings, or tattoos, then you aren't very good at illustrating the need to end the drug war.

Russ Belville
NORML Outreach Coordinator

P.S. If you really want to know what is going on in grassroots reform, check out the podcasts from all around the nation and even England at The NORML Network

MPP has about 30,000 donors. There's no single person that gives the organization more than 1% of their total receipts.

Sure, NORML put the "grass" in grassroots (that quote is a great example of why 'normal' people don't associate with NORML), then they ruined any chance of legalizing marijuana when Stroup fucked over Peter Bourne, and haven't done a damn thing in the last 30 years. Thank goodness MPP, DPA, SAFER, and a few other actually competent organizations are out there doing good work. Paul A is the only good thing NORML has going; aside from him, this movement wouldn't even notice if NORML ceased existing.

Ah, thanks to all for labors granted - stroke for good-mental masturbation is still a release...

Zack: If you're a responsible marijuana smoker and an activist I hope you can represent YOURSELF better than this. I'm not taking a shot at you but slamming every comment on here regarding NORML isn't going to influence anybody either way. From the sidelines it looks like MPP and NORML will never team up again.

Also, thanks Russ Beville - you're one of the wisest voices in Marijuana Nation.

And thanks to Todd McCormick for the history lesson. I didn't want to have to post all that :)

For the record: I have never been paid to help with the parties. I donate my time to the organization because I feel that helping builds the relationships in Hollywood into our movement. It's an important element in getting our message out.

I understand the need to court celebrities, have high-profile supporters, and rake in big money donations. In and of itself, the Playboy Mansion is not a terrible place to achieve those goals. Some may not appreciate the juxtaposition of soft-core porn and cannabis activism, but those are both the purview of responsible mature adults, and as Todd has noted, Hugh Hefner's support of cannabis re-legalization was vital in getting the whole movement off the ground.

That said, there is a context involved with booking this event that makes holding it a bit like an alcoholic celebrating his one-year sobriety chip with a kegger. When your organization has suffered a mighty public relations and financing blow related to sexual impropriety, and your organization has just last year acknowledged the insensitivity of holding an event at the Playboy Mansion in that context, and when legalization support among women trails men 10% in the latest Gallup polls, I question the wisdom of re-booking the Mansion Party and how it could be interpreted as mocking the seriousness of the sexual harassment issue.

Are there no other enticing venues available for the rich in Hollywood to be courted? Is the lure of bikini-clad twenty-something women the only method for opening the wallets of celebrities? Sure, it may be a very effective fundraising tool, but if the pitch for supporting reform can't be made without sex, then the reformer isn't much of a salesman. Plus, nobody can calculate how many wallets stay closed and how many viable supporters (especially women) remain on the sidelines because of the perceived sexism.

I'm not one for circular firing squads; we've got enough enemies on the other side of the drug war without hating on our allies. However, in the interest of seeing our allies be as effective (as the organization has undoubtedly been) and as progressive in advancing the end of marijuana prohibition as possible, I ask the organization to reconsider its fundraising venue for next year.

HISTORY LESSON PEOPLE: Hugh Hefner gave NORML the money to get started back in 1970 and was one of their biggest supporters in the '70s and I am sure that if NORML had their shit together at age 40, they would be the ones hosting the NORML Playboy Party (as they did in the '70s), but they don't have good leadership, only frail egos at the helm and that's why MPP has the opportunity to party at Hef’s and NORML doesn't, as NORML can’t even afford the deposit on the place (go read their 990s).

These parties provide our movement a chance to network with some very influential Hollywood celebrities, people who, like Bill Maher, take our message to a much larger audience than say “Miss High Times," which is all the more sexist and arguably so much more utterly useless to the movement than MPP courting celebrities and raising money for the cause at a famous location that, and let me say it again, has a long history of being on our side.

These parties should be happening and should have been happening for years under NORML as our movement needs the celebrities as much as it needs the anonymous activists, and the Playboy Mansion is a very safe and comfortable place for our movement to host these people.

In addition, what many of you don’t seem to realize, it’s not just the party that is the point, it’s in the production of the party that we can call on the celebrities and explain our efforts and recruit them into the cause. It is not now and has never been about Rob Kampia, it’s about networking and raising money, and in that regard, the Playboy Mansion is ideal. With the 2012 election coming, we NEED ALL THE HELP WE CAN GET FROM HOLLYWOOD!

So here we have a website based on CELEBRITY INFLUENCE in our culture, yet the hottest place that celebrities party is somehow not "acceptable"?

Like it or not, Playboy is an American institution and I for one am glad Hef has helped this movement. What NORML did in the '70s was an important step to where we are now. Thank you, Hugh Hefner for believing in Keith Stroup and NORML and thank you for letting us network in your backyard once again!

Holy shit, you sound like a hippie feminist douchebag. So he fucked a chick? He didn't rape her. Obviously you are butt hurt that people sometimes get MPP people for TV interviews rather than NORML people. Pussies like you are why marijuana smokers are not taken seriously.