A bombshell was dropped on the cannabis world Monday as NORML, the country’s leading cannabis lobbyist, publicly announced that Executive Director Allen St. Pierre had tendered his resignation. St. Pierre’s last day as the group’s face will be Friday, July 15.
St. Pierre had been the group’s Executive Director for more than 11 years, having taken over the position Jan. 1, 2005, from the group’s founder, Keith Stroup. St. Pierre has cited his new role as a father to a newborn baby as the reason for his departure.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” said Stroup in an interview with Cannabis Business Times. “On the other hand, Allen has been after this for a long time, he’s 50 years old, he just had a new baby and obviously he’s got interests in his life other than working all the time.”
In his 25 years of service to the group and cannabis industry, he became a major player in the fight for cannabis legalization. He was especially instrumental to the organization in the 1990s according to Stroup.
“During that decade, Allen St. Pierre — who had played a major role in keeping NORML alive as an organization during the difficult political phase when public support for legalization was sagging — served as my deputy and was an integral part of every major decision and project NORML undertook during those years,” Stroup wrote in his blog post.
Stroup remembers choosing St. Pierre as his right-hand man because of his attention to detail.
“He kept the trains running on time,” explained NORML’s founder. “He was a wonderful deputy to have because any time I assigned a project to him, … Allen was always there, and I knew I could count on him.”
“When the time came for me to step aside … at the end of 2004,” Stroup wrote in a blog post on NORML’s website, “I had no doubt that St. Pierre was the individual best equipped to take over the reins of the organization.”
St. Pierre joined NORML in 1991 as the group’s communication director. He was named deputy national director in 1993 before being named the NORML Foundation’s executive director in 1997. (The NORML Foundation is a sister organization to NORML; it works to educate the public on marijuana policy and to help victims of current marijuana laws.)
Although he shall remain as a member of the board of directors, St. Pierre’s resignation leaves an obvious hole in NORML’s administration. But according to Kevin Oliver, a member of NORML’s board of directors and executive director of NORML’s Washington chapter, St. Pierre’s decision to leave comes at an opportune time for the organization.
“I think it’s timely in the respect that … legalization is a reality now. So NORML is at a different stage as well,” he said.
Oliver said that as the legalization landscape is changing, NORML’s role is evolving with it.
“NORML is always going to be a consumer lobby to the extent that it can influence and maintain a relationship with regulatory agencies … to benefit the consumer. That’s the evolution. It’s becoming very technical.”
The group’s board of directors have established a search committee, of which St. Pierre is a member, to find a replacement. In the meantime, Randy Quast, a member of the board and treasurer for the Portland, Ore., chapter of NORML, has been appointed as interim executive director.
During his time with NORML, St. Pierre made more media appearances than any other NORML representative. He also found time to endear himself to his coworkers. Oliver fondly recalls kayak trips on the Potomac river in Washington, D.C.
“I wish we were neighbors, so we could hang out more,” said Oliver, “I consider Allen a friend.”
As much as he is viewed as a good person by his colleagues, St. Pierre is viewed as one of the major players in the road to marijuana decriminalization.
“Allen deserves and I think will receive great credit when people write the history of this movement.”
