Since 1972, Cal NORML has advocated for the rights of cannabis users in California, using sound science, public education, grass roots organizing and effective lobbying to pass better laws and fight against bad ones. Along with putting out election guides, newsletters, state and local legislative action alerts, and other information for cannabis consumers, as well as planning Lobby Days and educational events. Below are high-lights of our accomplishments over the decades.
Join us as we march forward to greater awareness and sensible reforms that benefit both consumers and the legal cannabis industry.
Cal NORML successfully sponsored and lobbied for AB 564, to bring the cannabis excise tax from 19% back to 15%.
Cal NORML sponsored and lobbied for AB 1775, which allows cannabis consumption lounges to prepare and serve food and drinks.
Cal NORML successfully sponsored AB 2188, to disallow employment discrimination based on urine or hair testing for cannabis for most workers.
Cal NORML championed AB 1954, a bill to protect patients against discrimination by doctors. We also supported bills to protect the medical rights of terminally ill patients and seniors in hospice and hospital settings.
Cal NORML has organized local activists and experts to fight off apartment smoking bans in West Hollywood, San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland.
Cal NORML helped pass SB 34, a bill to give tax relief to compassion programs that give away cannabis to needy patients. We also worked toward the passage of AB2555 in 2024, to extend SB 34 programs.
Cal NORML sought to improve upon the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (Prop 64), the legalization measure approved by the voters in 2016. Cal NORML initially supported an alternative initiative, from ReformCA, with more liberal allowances for personal use, protections for small growers, and broader rights and lower taxes for medical users. We persuaded Prop 64 sponsors to make a few improvements in AUMA, such as protecting parental rights for medical users. We ultimately supported Prop 64 because we felt it would greatly reduce the number of felony arrests and imprisonments of marijuana offenders, as proved to be the case.
Cal NORML supported lawsuits and/or worked with local activists to protect medical marijuana cultivators’ rights in Clearlake, Tehama County, El Dorado County, Mendocino County, Garden Grove and elsewhere over the years before and since Prop. 215 passed. We opposed a cultivation tax hike in 2021 and supported eliminating the cultivation tax in 2023.
California NORML was a founding member of Project CBD in 2009. The project helped discover and disseminate CBD-rich strains of medical cannabis.
Cal NORML co-sponsored the first studies showing that vaporizers reduce toxins in marijuana smoke, starting in 1996. We also regularly disseminate health information for cannabis consumers, such as during the EVALI crisis involving unlicensed vape pens.
Cal NORML co-sponsored the Compassionate Use Act, Proposition 215, the nation’s first medical marijuana law. We have worked to implement it ever since.
Cal NORML led the opposition to
“Smoke a Joint, Lose Your License” laws, which would have imposed a six-month driver’s license suspension for pot possession. Since then, we have derailed zero-tolerance DUI laws and participated in a CHP task force that concluded per se measurements were unscientific.
Cal NORML attorneys successfully sued to force CAMP (Campaign Against Marijuana Planting) helicopters to respect a 500’ flying ceiling over gardens in the Emerald Triangle.
Cal NORML sponsored the Moscone Act, which decriminalized marijuana possession from a felony to a misdemeanor, with a maximum $100 fine for one ounce or less. We successfully opposed recriminalization legislation in the legislature in the following years.
Cal NORML is founded from Amorphia, which organized the 1972 CA Marijuana Initiative, whereby 33.5% of Californians voted to legalize marijuana.
California NORML is a non-profit organization that is solely financed through donations from individuals and businesses who understand the direct value of investing in the rights of California cannabis consumers.
Supporting Cal NORML Supports You and Your Business!
Consumers, Patients and Supporters: Join Cal NORML here.
Industry Members: Show your customers you’re dedicated to improving the cannabis community in our state. Business and Legal Committee Members receive a listing and guest blog post on the high-authority CaNORML.org, alongside other promotional benefits. A great value for $500/year or $50/monthly. Learn more about Growing Your Business with the Cal NORML network here.
