May 19, 2020 
As NORML kicks off its 50 year anniversary celebration, I’m taking time to look back at some of the more significant and formative events in the organization’s history through a series of personalized blog posts. Entitled ‘A Founder Looks at 50,’ you can read my reflections every Friday on the NORML Blog.
My initial two posts explore NORML’s founding and the release of the Shafer Commission’s groundbreaking decriminalization report.
Admittedly, some of these reflections are “war stories” being retold again by an old political activist. But in order to better understand the NORML story, I think it is important to look back at the times and culture that spawned it.
My latest post reflects upon my lifelong friendship with the legendary Hunter S. Thompson.
"Hunter attended several of the early NORML conferences in the 1970s in Washington, DC, where he was a celebrity speaker whose name on the program assured a surge in attendance, and where he regularly invited most of the attendees up to his private room to get high, a thrill that made it all worthwhile. I was sometimes left with having to pay the hotel damages for what Hunter had done to the room when he got a bit carried away and slammed room service carts into the wall, but that was just the price of including Thompson, and it was a price I was quite willing to pay."
Continue reading
I hope that you will join me each Friday as I reflect upon some of the times and events that brought us to where we are today.
Stay high,
Keith
During NORML's 50 years, our efforts have largely been supported by our amazing members whose contributions have ensured we've had the resources to endure the long fight. Now more than ever, your support for NORML is critical. If you can, please consider a $50 for 50 donation today.
