Minneapolis Convention Center
1301 2nd Ave S - Rm. 103
Minneapolis, MN 55403
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Mill City Nights
115 5th St N
Minneapolis, MN 55403
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Legalize It, Minnesota!
Political Action Conference
MN NORML presents a conference featuring nationally reowned experts addressing the many benefits and the few harms of cannabis use, and also address the destructive, costly, and innefective results of Minnesota's cannabis prohibition laws. Minnesota ranks amongst the highest in the nation for racial disparity of marijuana related arrests. The ACLU report, The War On Marijuana In Black And White, depicts in MN blacks are arrested at a rate of 7.8x more than whites for marijuana possession. It is time to push for full legalization of cannabis in Minnesota!
You may have seen our guest speakers via TV or internet, but this is a rare opportunity to meet them in person. You won't want to miss this conference. It's time for a new, more sensible approach to cannabis in MN. Attendance is limited, so please register now!
Keith Stroup is a Washington, DC public-interest attorney who founded NORML in 1970. Stroup obtained his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Illinois in 1965, and in 1968 he graduated from Georgetown Law School in Washington, DC. Following two years as staff counsel for the National Commission on Product Safety, Mr. Stroup founded NORML and ran the organization through 1979, during which 11 states decriminalized minor marijuana offenses. Stroup has also practiced criminal law, lobbied on Capitol Hill for family farmers and artists, and for several years served as executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL).
In 1992 Stroup was the recipient of the Richard J. Dennis Drug Peace Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Drug Policy Reform presented by the Drug Policy Foundation, Washington, DC. In 1994 Stroup resumed his work with NORML, rejoining the board of directors and serving again as Executive Director through 2004. He is currently serving as Legal Counsel with NORML. Mr. Stroup has appeared on numerous television shows such as The O'Reilly Factor, Crossfire, Buchanan and Press, and Hannity and Colmes. Also, check out his new book "It's NORML to Smoke Pot"
Dr. David Bearman is a leader in the field of cannabinoid medicine, a co-founder of the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine, on the board of Americans for Safe Access and the Advisory Board for Patients Out of Time. Dr. Bearman has a long career in the field of drug abuse treatment and prevention. He was prominent in the community clinic movement, having started the third Free Clinic in the country in Seattle, then directing the Haight Ashbury Drug Treatment Program, and founded the Isla Vista Medical Clinic.He has served at all levels of government including the U.S. Public Health Service, Director of Health Services at San Diego State University, Health Officer and Director Sutter County Health Department and Medical Director of Medical Services for the Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority (now CenCal). He was Medical Director of Santa Barbara County Methadone Maintenance Clinic,Ventura County Opiate Detox Program, and Zona Seca, an outpatient drug treatment program. (Read more here.) Also check out Dr. Bearman's new book, "Drugs are Not the Devil's Tools; How Discrimination and Greed Created a Dysfunctional Drug Policy and How it Can Be Fixed"
"Prohibition is unwise fiscal policy. Education and treatment would be far more effective." With more than 20 years in law enforcement, Diane Goldstein has made numerous arrests as a longtime foot soldier of the war on drugs. After joining the Redondo Beach Police Department in 1983, she rose from a Patrol Officer and School Resource Officer to Sergeant in the Special Investigations Unit, finally retiring as a Lieutenant Commander in 2004. During her time on the frontlines, her perspective on the war on drugs shifted gradually to strong opposition. It was a change forged not only through her professional experience, but by the wrenching personal impact of having a vulnerable family member become a casualty of this war. (Read more here.)