Open Letter to Bill Maher: The High Heckler
Chris Goldstein 7-15-09

INTERVIEWER: Are you still on the board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)?

BILL MAHER: You know, that's a good question. I haven't had much contact with them in recent years. I was a little disillusioned. I've always said, one of the reasons there's been so little progress on the marijuana front is that what the movement needs more than anything is some kick-ass, take-no-prisoners, Karl Rove-type lobbyist, you know? And that just never happens, because it's all a bunch of stoners. You got to get up for that 8 a.m. breakfast meeting with the congressman on Capitol Hill
SOURCE:   http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A58204

Dear Bill,

As a NORML activist who spends 30 hours or more of volunteer time per week educating legislators and the public in Pennsylvania and New Jersey I need to say this:  Fuck You.

I still like your show, but those comments were deeply incongruous with my own NORML experience.  We can put you into contact with dozens of hard working activists and advocates who are out there fighting the good fight every single day in state houses from Oregon to Florida and on Capitol Hill.

True Story: When I read your blasé remarks on July 7th I was actually in Harrisburg Pennsylvania interacting with legislators and members of the public about marijuana law reform. We have a medical marijuana bill active in PA HB1393 that was introduced this April. I woke up at 5:30AM in New Jersey, picked up my fellow PhillyNORML/PA4MMJ coordinator Derek in Philadelphia and we drove many hundreds of miles past many hundreds of cows to Harrisburg for the 8:30 breakfast meeting. 

Here are a few pictures. 

Next are some more photos of New Jersey advocates in and around the Trenton state house.

That last shot is of Jim Miller as he remembers his wife Cheryl on the anniversary of her death from MS complications, before she could legally use marijuana. They have both been very active in their direct contact with elected officials.

The problem with cannabis reform is certainly not stoners, but stoners like you Bill: Stoners who bitch instead of act. Stoners who spend little of their professional time or financial resources on reform at all:  High-End Stoners who watch as college kids, criminal defense attorneys and working class activists create the reforms that you then enjoy.

Where exactly is the Bill Maher $1 Million Dollar Annual Grant Fund to End Marijuana Prohibition? Where is the regular, serious and focused spot on Real Time about cannabis reform?

Personally Bill, my disillusionment is in all the celebrity stoners who don’t do jack for the reform effort. Celebrities who will talk about pot, regale with stories about smoking pot, cash in on pot jokes, pot songs, pot themes and potheads but who never seem to have time to take things to the next level with their own involvement in actual hardcore reform. 

If every person in the film, tv and music entertainment industry who consumed cannabis or made money from American Cannabis Culture would lend a hand, this whole effort would be far closer to a done deal.

There are some rather notable active celebs like your fellow NORML Advisory Board Members Rick Steves, Tommy Chong and Willie Nelson who regularly make time for the NORML Foundation.  These and other celebrity NORML folks along with the thousands of non-celeb volunteers understand the that true spirit of grassroots activism is to be consistently involved and that volunteering takes self-motivation. 

It is volunteers (many involved with NORML chapters), not paid lobbyists, who have brought you medical marijuana access, state and municipal decriminalization, lowest law enforcement priority initiatives along with dozens of victorious court cases and administrative rulings.

Also, over the last four decades tens of thousands of Americans have vounteered for NORML as their own first step towards ending cannabis prohibition.  There are even those who have volunteered or worked for NORML who have gone on to create more organizations. Some founded newer groups like MPP or SSDP and others have staffed ASA, the ACLU, DPA and others.

Collectively the NORML network represents one of the most active and successful non-profit political efforts this country has ever seen.
 So let me take a moment to say THANK YOU to the stoners and non-stoners who have contributed to NORML and have made concrete changes happen! Those  advocates have brought us into the current era of mainstream marijuana prohibition reform.

 But if more of the high-profile (pun intended) stoners like you Bill would directly contact their state legislators, congressman, senators or other officials every month then this issue could be solved.  We do not need Karl Rove (I would wonder if Karl has a single cannabinoid receptor in his body). We need Malcolm X, Harvey Milk or Martin Luther King Jr.. Cannabis reform is the most important social justice issue in modern America and celebrity stoners like you Bill are missing out on the momentum of reform in 2009.

We need more massively attended public demonstrations like the long running Seattle HempFest and Boston Freedom Rally (both events pulled off annually by NORML volunteers). We need more working relationships with influential and active elected officials like NORML already has with Congressman Ron Paul and Congressman Barney Frank.

Bill, I also have to wonder about your jab at stoners in general…because if it weren’t for stoners in America you would might well be out of a job. It is not the Beer Drinking crowd that stays up late for your brand of political commentary; it is stoners who are elbow deep in a bag of chips and whose minds are open to some progressive politics.

Were you elected a top winehead by CelebDrinker.com?

No Bill, according to the readers of CelebStoner.com you are one of the Top Stoners in the world!  You're a stoner, a NORML one at that, so own it with pride.

 I’ll admit that I too dream at night of NORML having a team of sharkskin suit lobbyists, a fat PAC, daily national advertising and a monthly syndicated NORML newspaper column ... maybe regular,  generous cash grants for local chapters and seasonal college campus NORML Tours. We’ll need your help to make that happen.

So Bill why don’t you too re-join the ranks of the active NORML stoners in America? You could personally interact with elected officials in state houses or Washington DC in favor of prohibition reform. We could put you on campus tours or hold a benefit events. Why don’t you join us for the 2009 Conference in San Francisco to learn more about this momentous year of cannabis progress?
 
We need you and all of the millions of Americans who believe in ending prohibition to stand up right now and get involved. Here in New Jersey, a medical marijuana bill has seen over 4 years of debate and committee hearings. The legislation is gearing up for a final Assembly floor vote this fall. Come on down to Trenton.

Bill, I think that if you are looking for an effective, take-charge, high profile lobbyist for pot you might  stop bitching and take a look in the mirror. The NORML volunteers along with the 1 million Americans who will be arrested in 2009 for a marijuana violation are waiting for your help, not your heckling.

Sincerely,
Chris Goldstein
NORML-NJ Executive Director
PhillyNORML Media Coordinator

Please join me at NORML¹s 38th annual national conference
Yes We Cannabis!
September 24-26, 2009
Grand Hyatt at Union Square, San Francisco
Details at http://www.norml.org/
888-67-NORML

Bill at the 2002 NORML Conference