By: Allen St. Pierre What could be more Washington than having non-governmental organizations hanging around long after their raison d’etre has ended, often through the very act of…succeeding? Such will be the case in part with the complex of cannabis law reform organizations that have sprung up since 1970, starting with the granddaddy of them all: NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). While still having plenty of reform work at the local, state and federal level ahead of it in the next 4-8 years (currently, the US map only shows 4 states in the ‘legalized’ column…46 more to go!) NORML has been slowly pivoting since 2010 towards genuine consumer advocacy (as compared to ‘criminal’ or ‘outlaw’ advocacy) when the legislators of first New Mexico, then, more consequentially, Colorado, passed tax-n-regulate laws for medical cannabis. As each ensuing state has passed outright cannabis legalization (CO and WA; AK and OR), the voice and obvious relevancy of the consumer is coming to bear. Instead of singularly lobbying policymakers to end the long failed public policy of pot prohibition, stop arresting adult consumers and tax-n-regulate production and retail sales, NORML now concurrently works to advance needed post-prohibition reforms to establish parity with alcohol such as allowing cannabis use in licensed establishments, permitting longer hours of retail operation, allowing home cultivation for personal amounts, advocating for proper labeling and dosage and discouraging businesses from using drug tests that target off-the-job cannabis consuming employees. There are approximately 100,000 cannabis-only related prisoners in the United States whose sentences can’t stand in a post-prohibition America (Free the Pot Prisoners Now!). Even the overly precious Second Amendment is still being negatively impaired by pot prohibition perversions in that all cannabis consumers are in violation of federal Firearms Identification card (FID) regulations relating to the use of drugs that are listed as Schedule I on the Controlled Substances Act (bizarrely and hotly contested for decades, cannabis is a listed Schedule I drug…in other words, no legal gun or ammo purchases for Johnny or Janey cannabis consumer or cannabusiness owner). So much work lay ahead for a non-profit organization like NORML entering into the post Prohibition epoch, the plate over flows with needs and opportunities. The dozens of other cannabis law reform groups—which breakdown into three basic categories of medical cannabis, industrial hemp and legalization—could find it a challenge to continue absent a wide base of public support and diverse financial resources. In many cases, some of the smaller groups who’ve relied for years on small grants to help get the word out about the need to change cannabis laws are going to need to merge with other organizations or wind down operations in the face of no longer being needed anymore. Logically added to the post pot prohibition mix is the need for state and federal trade groups and associations representing the interests of wholesalers and retailers in the still nascent cannabis industry—groups currently like the National Cannabis Industries Association (NCIA) or the CO-based Marijuana Industry Group (MIG). When cannabis is legal across America, save for the far and few in between ‘dry counties’, one organization will have only achieved a crucial, but only partial success in its important mission. The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) has served as an umbrella group of sorts for cannabis law reform since the mid 1990s as part of its larger public advocacy efforts to end the war on drugs, and replace with ‘harm reduction’ public health model instead.  The DPA has a biannual conference that serves as the intellectual and scientific hub for drug law reformers and it has the largest staff and office space around the country working full time to implement more effective and humane drug policy reform policies. DPA will likely continue to be very busy and thusly in need of support for possibly 20 or more years (to achieve the types of societal and political changes cannabis law reformers sought). At its peak in 2005, there were probably 25-30 chartered cannabis law and/or drug policy reform non-profit organizations, policy reform successes and consolidation have winnowed the field some, however, with plenty–o-niche groups around like student drug reform organizations, safe club drug use advocacy groups or women cannabusiness clubs, there should plenty of community for like-minded cannabis consumers or business owners in near future. Allen St. Pierre is the executive director of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) in Washington, D.C., norml.org