Legal Commentary

Off to Aspen for NORML Drug Law Seminar

By Jeralyn

It's that time of year again. I'm off to Aspen for the NORML Aspen Legal Seminar. My topic this year: Crackadoodledoo! A New Dawn in Crack Cocaine Sentencing. (I only wish it were true.) Here's the full schedule.

Like last year, I'll be staying in Woody Creek at Hunter Thompson's Owl Farm, with his wife Anita and his longtime Washington editor, Shelby Sadler. And of course, the peacocks.[More...]

From his famous kitchen where he greeted his guests fueled by his favorite substances and talked on the phone at all hours of the night, to his books, photographs and hundreds of posters and objects that grace the walls and furniture, to the bedroom known as “Johnny’s room” because it’s where Johnny Depp always slept when visiting Hunter, it’s like stepping into a moment frozen in time. The house and land remain a testament to Hunter, and if Anita has her way, they always will.

Here's Hunter's Nixon mask. And a rather odd note that hangs on in the kitchen.

On Saturday afternoon, Owl Farm will be the site of the NORML barbecue and party. Here's my video from our 2006 Owl Farm party and me interviewing Tommy Chong at Owl Farm in 2007.

Anita, as you can see from her Owl Farm Blog, is another huge Hillary supporter. Shelby is too. We'll probably be the only Hillary supporters at the NORML party tonight, since Obama has somehow convinced the marijuana law reformers he's on their side. We'll see what happens if he's elected, but I fully expect next June, I'll be telling them "told you so." (This is not to imply Hillary would be better on the issue, only more honest.)

While I won't be live-blogging Hillary's Saturday concession speech, either Big Tent Democrat will or there will be some open threads up for you to discuss it in comments.

I am hoping I at least get to watch it. Last year, the Sopranos' final episode aired during my Owl Farm stay. Anita, who doesn't watch tv, ordered HBO just so I could watch it. When a rather rude commenter on TalkLeft suggested I was a terrible houseguest for letting her do so, she came to my defense.

Saturday will be a sad day for many of the 18 million people who voted for Hillary, particularly her female supporters. Other than the readers here at TalkLeft, I can't think of any better company to spend it with than Anita, Shelby and 100 fellow fighters against the War on Drugs.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 06, 2008 (boomark / email).