NORML is in full swing for the 2005-2006 school year. We had a very successful Fall recruitment campaign, RUSH POT. Thank you to all those who worked hard to make it happen. Welcome to all the new members, are you ready to have some fun?

The 2nd Annual Joint Rolling Contest is just around the corner. To volunteer for the contest come to our next weekly meeting on Wed at 7:30 in South Hall 1431. Make sure to check out the contest info page, you can even register to be a contestant online.

See you at the contest Saturday, January 28th, from 1-4pm at Anisq'oyo park in Isla Vista!

Well, that about does it for NORML@UCSB's efforts this school year. Stay tuned for information on our summer events as well as our plans for next Fall.

Congratulations to Brendan, Ethan , Jake and George, our new members of the NORML board! Also, congratulations to the new tabling directors, Brad and Dan K, and to the publicity directors (or the Weed ambassadors) Chris and Amanda. You all deserve the recognition, and our future is now yours!

Good luck on finals, and have a great summer break!

NORML has compiled an excellent report about the government's current crackdown on "drugged drivers," and it is very much worth the read. From the horse's mouth:

"We all support the goal of keeping impaired drivers off the road, regardless of whether the driver is impaired from alcohol, cannabis, or other drugs. However, these zero tolerance laws are neither a safe nor sensible way to identify impaired drivers; they are a cynical attempt to misuse the traffic safety laws in order to identify and prosecute cannabis consumers per se.

It is fundamentally wrong and bad public policy making for the government to attempt to get around the numerous progressive advancements made in cannabis law reform, i.e., medical marijuana and decriminalization laws, by enforcing per se and unscientific standards to harass and convict citizens of driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC)." -Allen St. Pierre, Director of NORML

This report can be viewed directly by downloading the pdf, or by visiting the national group's website.

Welcome back for Spring quarter! As you have probably heard, NORML@UCSB is sponsoring a week of cannabis-related events and activities, and we'd love your support. Visit the Cannabis Awareness Week page for full information.

Hope to see you there!

The Joint Rolling Contest was a huge success! We made over $200 for our organization, and it was great to see all the support we had throughout the day... thank you to everybody who came out!

If you missed the contest, or *achem* don't remember [parts of] it, please check out our new slide show (requires Quicktime). Also, be sure to check out the article written in the Daily Nexus ("Winners Smoke Rival Rollers").

Next to come: Cannabis Awareness Week in April! Be sure to check back frequently for updates on that...

Thanks to everyone who entered or attended the contest! It was a great success, and full results and photos will be posted soon. In the meantime, be sure to check out our meetings every Wednesday night at 7:30 in Girv 1116!

For historical purposes, the old Joint Rolling Contest information is still available.

If you haven't been following the Daily Nexus, our Joint Rolling Contest has sparked debate through the opinion column. Here's what has happened so far:

It all started when AS called the event "morally questionable," and the Nexus followed by reporting it as such (see "A.S. Allocates Bulk of Quarter Funds"). Brendan Hamme, one of our active members, replied with an editorial (see "Dude, Herb Is Totally Chill"). This was countered with a [presumably] satirical reply by Nathaniel Page (see "Don't Let Those Reefers Misguide You"), which angered, offended, and confused many people. The Nexus received so many rebuttals to his rebuttal of our rebuttal, that they printed a montage of the five best articles they received (see "So You Don't Like The Sticky Icky?").

Thanks to Brendan Hamme, Ed Lopez, Sean Fannan, Colin, Brian Brenholt, the Pot Smoker Who Chose To Remain Anonymous, and everybody else who wrote submissions. This has been great publicity for our organization, and we hope you keep the articles coming!

See you on Sunday!