Posted
August 25, 2003

(MarijuanaNews note: There are
actually two NORML organizations. The original NORML is a membership based
group, of which I was National Director from 1992 to 1995. It is now a
“lobby.” Contributions to it are not tax deductible.

And
then there is the NORML Foundation, an educational organization, contributions
to which are tax deductible. For the last several years I have been on the
Foundation board, but not the board of the NORML “lobby.” Keith Stroup, the
founder of NORML, is the National Director of the “lobby.”

This
a common arrangement in Washington. They share offices and some expenses, but
keep separate books, etc.)

August
25, 2003

To Allen St. Pierre, national Director NORML Foundation:

Dear
Allen,

It is with the greatest regret that I have concluded that I must resign from the
Board of Directors of the NORML Foundation, effective immediately.

I
have become aware that Rob Kampia has stated the Marijuana Policy Project will
not support any project with which NORML is associated, so long as I continue to
tell the truth about him and MPP on MarijuanaNews.com.

Under
the circumstances, I could either censor myself or resign, or let important
projects go unfunded. As much as I am honored to sit on the NORML Foundation
Board of Directors, it was an obvious decision.

Hence
my resignation.

It is always a great pleasure to work with you and Keith and the NORML staff,
knowing that you always give the highest priority to compassion for medical
cannabis patients and freedom for all marijuana users.

I
realize that there is no guarantee that Kampia will rise above his pettiness and
stop treating the movement as his personal ego trip, but I cannot and will not
be used as an excuse for his abuse of the trust of the movement.

Of
course, I will continue to support NORML in every way that I can, and I wish you
and everyone there all the best.

With
warmest personal regards,

Dick

(MarijuanaNews
note: Recently, Peter Lewis, the controlling share holder in Progressive
Insurance, resigned from the board of the anti-prohibitionist group which
supports the Drug Policy Alliance (the result of the merger of the Lindesmith
Center and the old Drug Policy Foundation). He has apparently given control over
all of his contributions to the marijuana reform movement to Rob Kampia and his
MPP.

See
NORML
and A Strategy for the Legalization of Cannabis. Crunch Time for Freedom. That
Applies to MarijuanaNews.

Even if Kampia did not have a disastrous track record
in Nevada and elsewhere, and even if he had not narked NORML after I fired him
with cause when I was National Director of NORML, the fact is that he simply
lacks the maturity, integrity and experience to have the power that Peter
Lewis’ money gives him in a movement that is as starved for funding as the
marijuana reform movement is today.

See
Their Liars Beat Our Liars.
Freedom Has Nothing to Fear from the Truth, But Much To Fear From Those Who
Think That the End Justifies The Means. Analysis By Richard Cowan

Now
I know that many of my friends will say that there should be no infighting in
the movement, because we have too many problems with our “real enemies.”

First,
let me assure you that I am pulling my punches and saying far less than I
could… for the sake of the movement.

Second,
as Patrick Henry said, “Men may cry, ‘Peace, Peace’ – but there is no
peace.”

For
quite sometime it has been clear that Rob has been waging war on NORML – first
with the approval of his original funders at Lindesmith and elsewhere, and now
with Lewis’s approval.

See
2002 NORML Conference
Biggest and Best Ever. Reaching “Critical Mass”? And Time for the Movement
to Take a Critical Look at Itself.

Lewis
is an enormously successful businessman, a major philanthropist and great patron
of the arts, but if he ran Progressive Insurance the way he is attempting to run
the marijuana reform movement, his competitor Geico would be a much bigger
company.

Although
I am of the opinion that how Lewis spends his money is his own business, I
recall that George Soros once said that he realized that some of his
philanthropies had done more harm than good. Obviously, Soros had only the best
of intentions, but he took responsibility for the consequences of his mistakes.

Moreover,
if I were alone in my opinion of Kampia, I would have just resigned quietly and
let it go at that. But most of the leaders of the anti-prohibitionist movement
share my view that Peter Lewis is making an enormous mistake. Unfortunately,
many of them are dependent on Kampia’s grace and favor for the survival of
their organizations, or hope to be, and so they cannot speak out.

Let
me make very clear that I do not fault them for that. They have fiduciary
responsibilities to their organizations. (Been there; done that. In fact, I
think that I have a fiduciary responsibility to resign from the NORML Foundation
board.)

They
have to make payroll, and that is very difficult these days. I don’t blame
anyone who takes money from Kampia, and I stand ready to help in any projects
funded by MPP, anonymously and pro bono, of course, so Kampia cannot
object and cut off the funding.

However,
I hope that Peter Lewis will contact these good people – including MPP
staffers – directly and confidentially, so that he can understand what is
going on.

Finally,
although I have had my own “differences” with Lewis, at least he is doing
something. There are so many other very rich marijuana smokers out there who are
doing little or nothing to help.

The
real reason that Lewis is doing so much damage to the marijuana reform movement
is because no one else of any real wealth is doing anything to help it.

As
Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for enough good
men to do nothing.”

Of
course, it may be better to do nothing than to do the wrong thing for the right
reason, but that still does not excuse those who simply do nothing.

But
all that I can do is tell the truth… and some people just can’t stand that.)

See
My version of “Because I
got high….” By Richard Cowan

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