Trying to start a Northwest Arkansas NORML Chapter

Discussion in 'Marijuana Legalization' started by qbradq, Aug 24, 2017.

  1. Does anyone happen to live in Northwest Arkansas and is interested in forming a NORML chapter with me? Or does anyone have advice on finding initial members? I am a working, non-smoking family man. I don't even know anyone that smokes. So I am not exactly plugged into the culture.

    I want to do something to eliminate cannabis prohibition in our state and federally as it impacts our family directly. Arkansas's recent medical cannabis amendment has our family considering this as a treatment option for two family members. But there are a lot of complications due to overly restrictive language in the amendment and overly broad powers given to employers to take action against participants.

    I have always disagreed with cannabis prohibition. I have also read the NORML mission statement and bylaws and agree with them. The direct impact to my family was the call to action.

    Thank you for any interest or advice!
     
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  2. Not sure how I'd be of any help but I qualify and live in NWA. So if you ever get anything off the ground I'd love to be apart of it.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
     
  3. Thank you for your interest! Anyone can help really. It's all about being active in your community to change opinions, collect poll signatures, distribute informational pamphlets, etc.

    After reviewing many other national organizations I think the best thing to do is to form an independent organization that is affiliated with several national organizations.

    I will get together a draft charter this weekend.
     
  4. I have decided that I am going to focus on local activism. If you happen to live in Benton county let me know :)
     
  5. Hey man that's incredible selfless of you that you would do something for the movement while not using the product yourself.

    Definitely start a chapter. It will be an uphill battle but you need to start the dialogue that jailing any adult for cannabis is police state behavior. If republicans in Arkansas really believe in "America the free" they need to support ending cannabis prohibition.

    I know they passed medical cannabis there. Is the law highly restrictive? (no plant form marijuana, only oils and pills?) because that means the treatment will be expensive for your family members. Lobbying for easier regulations in current law is a good start
     
  6. First, thank you for your kind words. Second let me make it painfully clear that I am not selfless, I just suck at doing illegal things. If cannabis were legal, or if I could get away with it, I would use it as my recreational drug of choice. Instead I drink Alcohol.

    The current law in Arkansas does allow for usable cannabis flowers. There are no "smoking bans" like some stats have. Like how in the hell are you going to ban smoking cannabis? That's like saying, "You can have alcohol, but you have to ingest it rectally". The dispensaries will not be allowed to sell any smoking paraphernalia and will be required to make available literature on the dangers of smoked cannabis. Dispensaries will be able to sell edibles with a THC content not to exceed 10mg per dose as well as vaporization paraphernalia. Patients will be allowed to smoke cannabis while adhering to the state's already restrictive tobacco smoking laws - E.G, not within a school zone, on public property, within 50 feet of the entrance of any publicly-accessible building - as well as adhere to existing intoxication laws - E.G. not within view of the public - as well as being required to not medicate within view of the public or in the presence of a child 14 years of age or younger.

    Several of our law makers have attempted to introduce inane language like banning the smoking of cannabis and possession of smoking paraphernalia, thankfully without success. They have also attempted to knee-cap the law by removing a litany of qualifying conditions, requiring all bud tenders to be pharmacists (which would require the price to be insane), etc. Fortunately none of those stuck either.

    What has stuck is that employers in the state are now allowed to make employment decisions based on, "any fact" that may "reasonably lead the employer to believe the employee" is intoxicated at work. This type of language was intentionally left out of the original law because you can't go up to a medical cannabis patient, say, "pee in a cup" and expect a THC panel to come back clean. Now they don't even need the damn THC panel and the employee in question doesn't have to be a medical cannabis patient. Under the current version of the Arkansas Constitution amendment 98 my employer could, for instance, say, "You smell like pot. You're fired." (this could happen if my wife were medicating in the morning before I left for work, etc.) I get no appeal, no due process, no unemployment benefits. And worse yet I can't put that employer on my resume anymore because under federal law an employer can - if asked for referral - state the reason for termination.

    Thank you to anyone who read through that rant. This is what bugs the living hell out of me in Arkansas. If anyone out there is in Benton County and wants change, find me on facebook at Norman Lancaster . I'll have a website for the group soon.
     
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  7. I'm in California and can't hardly stand it anymore. Soon as my ssa starts coming in, I'll be looking to relocate, but haven't figured out where to go yet. I have a brother who lives in Mountain Home, AR. I'm strongly considering that area for the cost of living. But no matter where I go, I'll have to find a way to grow at least enough for my wife and I, and maybe share with a few friends if possible. The only way I can afford to medicate with cannabis is if I grow it myself. Not a problem here, but I suppose I'll have to get stealthy about it anywhere else.
     

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  8. Look up eureka springs. It's close and has no local police. Only highway patrol go through from what I've seen. not saying there's other law enforcement, because there definitely is. Just low traffic for cops. A lot of growers live out there. It's where I got my current genetics from. It's a very big cannabis friendly community.
     
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  9. Thanx. I'll check it out.
     
  10. So funny thing... it came to the point that I had to move to find better work. So I chose to move to Colorado. One thing I did find out while trying to be a reformer in NWA - the police are not your friends. Telling them you are doing research for political advocacy is as good as telling them, "Hi! I'm a criminal mans. Please to be harassing me!" Good times. The moto of these folks should be, "We fear change. Change is bad."
     
  11. The bella vista police were harassing you for researching? I've butted heads with them a few times but they're usually very fair and genuinely helpful. Some of them are just straight retarded though. I've been caught with bud and paraphernalia twice there, been pulled over with a runaway and some chick he was with and I didn't have a license and he was drunk off his ass (he was 17 and I was 18 at the time so don't think any weird shit). Haven't been sent to county or ticketed by them, not even once. They're pretty nice depending on which one you get. On the other hand it is the bella vista police that think kratom is "synthetic marijuana"
     
  12. In re reading that post, "harass" was definitely the wrong word. I feel like I have been treated as a suspect of a crime since filling a FOI.request with them and stating that it was for marijuana reform research. And by "them" I am not referring to the entire department, just a few. Thank you for calling me out. This is an emotional time for my family and I vomited words a bit.
     
  13. Oh man I wasn't trying to call you out at all sorry if it came off that way. I was saying that it was shity that you had to deal with the dicks of the department. What did they do exactly?
     
  14. It was the way they were responding to the request for information and follow-ups. It was very adversarial. More like, "why would you want this type of information?" rather than partnering with me as a member of the community. And when I answered the questions about what I intended to do with the information - engage the community in a dialog about marijuana reform - the response I got back was, "why would you do that?"

    I don't know. Maybe I was just paranoid. I've just never been asked so many questions when submitting an FOI request before. It's usually a short conversation about what must be redacted and that's that.

    Perhaps I should clarify that I really am not trying to throw shade on the BVPD. I've never had a problem with them before. It's just this particular interaction with them left a sour taste in my mouth. And again this may just be me taking things the wrong way. I was salty when I left that other post about some unrelated stuff.
     

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