NORMLIZER - APRIL 2007

Over the years, NORML has led the fight to stop the government from poisoning the pot supply and drug testing everyone in America, while simultaneously providing cannabis consumers with the most up-to-date information on medical marijuana. NORML has even led the way in researching and publishing scientific information popularizing the health benefits of vaporizing rather than smoking cannabis.

In keeping with NORML's longstanding tradition of representing the stakeholders in cannabis-law reform (notably the nearly 30 million citizens who consume cannabis annually), we broke new ground recently by marketing life-insurance policies to citizens who choose to burn one every so often.

For years, responsible cannabis users haven't had access to affordable life-insurance products without lying on applications, foregoing the health benefits of responsible cannabis use or purchasing life-insurance products that didn't require an application or a physical. If they were honest about their use of pot, they were flat-out declined or rated so high that they couldn't afford coverage. No longer!

Recently, one of our members contacted NORML with a problem. He was expanding his business, and the bank required additional life insurance. His local insurance agent told him he had to quit smoking cannabis to get the coverage the bank was requiring, but he didn't want to quit. NORML contacted our insurance agent on his behalf, who was then able to persuade a carrier to underwrite our member without the usual negative implications of cannabis use. Our member not only received the additional coverage he needed, but he was also able to save money on the coverage he already had in place.

As a result of this success, NORML has now decided to make traditional insurance products available to responsible cannabis smokers without the usual negative implications. Two carriers have agreed to offer all of their traditional life-insurance products at all levels without excluding individuals who smoke marijuana responsibly. NORML is hopeful that this program can ultimately be expanded to disability and health-insurance products.

One more example of, "If it's important to cannabis consumers, it's important to NORML"!

Allen St. Pierre is the executive director of NORML. To find out more about pot-smokerís insurance, visit norml.org or call 888-67-NORML.