Loretta Nall is the founder of the U.S. Marijuana Party, which calls for the legalization of cannabis. She was a write-in candidate for

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

in 2006.

History

Nall founded the USMjParty in 2002. In 2005, she co-founded Alabamians for Caring Use, a

medical marijuana Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to Cannabis (drug), cannabis products and cannabinoid, cannabinoid molecules that are prescription drug, prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabi ...

advocacy/lobbying group. Before his 2005 arrest in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, the so-called "Prince of Pot,"

Marc Emery Marc Scott Emery (born February 13, 1958) is a Canadian cannabis rights Legality of cannabis, activist, entrepreneur and politician. Often described as the "Prince of Pot", Emery has been a notable advocate of international Cannabis (drug), cann ...

, employed Nall under the auspices of '' Cannabis Culture'' magazine. Nall herself was booked and jailed for less than one day on September 17, 2002, for possession of

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

and

drug paraphernalia The term drug paraphernalia refers to any equipment that is used to produce, conceal, and consume illicit drugs. It includes but is not limited to items such as bongs, roach clips, miniature spoons, and various types of pipes. Product types I ...

after police made a search of her home. Besides advocating the legalization of cannabis in the United States, Nall is also an outspoken critic of the worldwide war on drugs. After a 2004 visit to

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, she has spoken and written against the United States and Colombian militaries' aerial destruction of Colombian

coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. Coca leaves contain cocaine which acts as a mild stimulant when chewed or ...

fields with

herbicide Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weed killers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page f ...

s, citing dangers to local human populations and the environment. Nall also calls for

tax credit A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit they have accrued from the total they owe the state. It may also be a credit granted in recognition of taxes already paid or a form of state "dis ...

s for homeschoolers, American withdrawal from the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, and an end to the war on drugs. She opposes the

No Child Left Behind The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a 2002 United States Act of Congress promoted by the presidential administration of George W. Bush. It reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and included Title I provision ...

, USA PATRIOT, and REAL ID acts. Nall is a contributor to LewRockwell.com.

2006 Alabama gubernatorial campaign

Nall secured the Libertarian Party of Alabama's

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

nomination for governor of

at the party's 8 April 2006 convention in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

. Since Nall's campaign failed to collect the 40,000+ signatures required to achieve statewide ballot access in Alabama, she ran as a write-in candidate against Republican incumbent

Bob Riley Robert Renfroe Riley (born October 3, 1944) is an American retired politician and businessman who served as the 52nd governor of Alabama from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was the U.S. Hous ...

and Democratic challenger Lucy Baxley. Nall's campaign was covered by national media after pictures of the candidate that revealed her buxom appearance drew comments from local political commentator Bob Ingram. Ingram concluded a 7 March 2006 op-ed in the ''Montgomery Independent'' with the following comment: The election was won by Riley, with Nall receiving only 235 votes, or 0.02%, but she says that she will continue to run for Alabama office in the future.

Sex toy drive

In November 2007, to protest the Anti-Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1998, Nall encouraged people to mail

sex toy A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate sexual pleasure, such as a dildo, artificial vagina or vibrator. Many popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals, and may be vibrating or non-vibrating. The ...

s to Alabama Attorney General

Troy King Troy Robin King (born August 22, 1968) is the former attorney general of the state of Alabama. He previously served as an assistant attorney general and a legal adviser to both Republican governors Bob Riley and Fob James. King was appointed by ...

, who sought to prosecute shops that sell the devices.

Notes

External links

U.S. Marijuana Party

Alabamians for Caring Use

Pot TV
(Nall has been a reporter for this subsidiary of

Cannabis Culture Magazine ''Cannabis Culture'' is a Canadian online magazine and former print magazine devoted to cannabis and the worldwide cannabis culture. ''Cannabis Culture'' publishes stories about the struggle to Legalization of marijuana, legalize marijuana, profi ...

)
MSNBC mention
of Nall's gubernatorial campaign (

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

video)
Downloadable audio interview
with Free Talk Live {{DEFAULTSORT:Nall, Loretta Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Activists from Alabama Alabama Libertarians American anti–Iraq War activists American cannabis activists American political writers American political party founders Women in Alabama politics American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians