Craig Capitas had one of the most colorful beats in journalism. He wrote about the illegal drug

trade for High Times magazine. Dealers would search me out asking me to go to Latin America

to write adventure stories about them. One guy once opened up a Halliburton, a little small

Halliburton suitcase, he had 1.5 million cash in the damn thing. But Jesus, what are you doing with that?

That was in December 1977 in Washington, DC. It was a big weekend for drugs in the nation's

capital. Everyone was coming to Washington, smugglers, adventurers, scientists, musicians,

lawyers, farmers, dealers, global leaders, and all of them were coming with some of the most

written, tutin, scientifically produced, cavalcade of recreational drugs you could imagine,

and they were bringing it down in bulk. The occasion was a weekend conference, put on by the

national organization for the reform of marijuana laws, more commonly known as normal.

For normal and its allies, 1977 was an amazing year. Mississippi, New York, and North Carolina

all passed decriminalization laws, and the new man in the White House was pushing Congress to do

the same thing. President Carter today came out for an end to all federal criminal penalties for

the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. Growing smoking and possessing marijuana were still

illegal pretty much everywhere in the United States, but by 1977 more than half of Americans

under 30 had tried pot. Normals liberal drug agenda was winning, and now it was time to revel in all

that success. The weekend's most extravagant event was the normal Christmas party in a townhouse

near Dupont Circle. There was a rock band, strobe lights, and a juggler. Silver trays got passed

from guests to guests, some loaded down with caviar, and others with joints packed with hand-cultivated

marijuana. There was a blue haze of marijuana smoke wafting through the house. Part of the thrill

of being there was it was so goddamn out in the open. That's Normals founder Keith Straub.

The Christmas party was his big showcase. We knew that what we were doing was way, way out of the

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