Marijuana and marijuana policy reform was mentioned in more media coverage surrounding this year's Democratic National Convention than during any convention in history. 

This was largely thanks to the Denver Marijuana Policy Review Panel -- established following the successful SAFER initiative in Denver in 2007 -- calling for no marijuana arrests or citations during the 2008 DNC. This was the first time that a political convention's host city explicitly called on police to let adults use marijuana during the convention. 

Stories about the historic recommendation appeared in/on national outlets like Fox News Channel, CNN, and the Washington Times, as well as in Colorado outlets like the Denver Post and the local Fox, ABC, and CBS affiliates. 

In fact, Newsweek magazine touted the recommendation in the "Conventional Wisdom" section of its special DNC issue, giving an "up" arrow to the City of Denver and noting:

Mile-high city will let locals toke. Take the Pineapple Express to Invesco.

SAFER had a highly visible booth in a number of Denver parks throughout the week-long event, and hundreds of informational folders were hand-delivered to various members of the local and national media, as well as various bloggers and new media members from around the country. 

SAFER Executive Director Mason Tvert was a featured speaker during the Downtown Festival of Democracy in Civic Center Park, as well as at the Slang Lounge hosted by SlangTV.com.

MSNBC.com celebrated National Aviation Day with another round of Dotty Awards, and SAFER took one home! The original MSNBC Dotty Awards were unveiled on April 1, "a date that celebrates both general buffoonery and the official debut of the U.S. Department of Transportation, aka DOT."

The Seth Rogen Award for, like, ummm, what was I saying?

Sorry, the judges got a little dizzy there. They were considering candidates when they came across two who were totally awesome. On the one hand, we have Mason Tvert of Denver, an advocate for legalizing marijuana, who suggests that letting passengers torch one before boarding would cut down on incidents of air rage. On the other, we have the enthusiastic Customs official at Tokyo’s Narita Airport who slipped five ounces of weed into a random passenger’s bag as part of a drill — and then proceeded to forget which bag it was in.

In the end, after much discussion and a box of Thin Mints, the judges agreed that Tvert should receive the award for his efforts to make flying a mellower, more pleasant experience for everyone. Whenever you’re ready, Mason, you can pick up your Dotty at the Japanese Customs Office at Narita. Just make sure you check the pockets.

A prototype of the new SAFER Podcast is now available, so...

Former Colorado State Representative Gary Lindstrom, a former law enforcement officer and coroner who SAFER and ally organization Sensible Colorado recently honored for his public advocacy of marijuana policy reform

Former Lafayette Municipal Judge Leonard Frieling, a Colorado NORML Legal Committee member who resigned in protest when the City of Lafayette proposed drastically increasing the penalties for simple marijuana possession. SAFER worked with Leonard and ultimately killed that proposal, and SAFER and Sensible Colorado recently honored him for standing up and speaking out against that bad law. 

SAFER Executive Director Mason Tvert, who discusses the recent kick-off of a coordinated effort with Sensible Colorado to take marijuana policy reform in Colorado to the next level, among other SAFER news.

A huge thanks goes out to John Doe at JohnDoeRadio for producing the podcast, and to Stoner Forums for hosting it on on-line as we get things rolling.