At the national conference of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) here at the Governor Hotel, in Portland Oregon, our own Michael Whitney is on a panel this morning to talk about the marijuana legalization campaign.

The money from illegal drugs has been providing a large and dependable financial pipeline to violent criminal organizations including American gangs and international drug cartels. In the last several years, the drug cartels in Mexico have killed over 28,000 people. By legalizing marijuana, it would deprive these criminal enterprises of a huge source of their funding.

Great news from our friends at Law Enforcement Against Prohibition: the National Black Police Association, a 38-year-old advocacy group for African American law enforcement professionals, has endorsed Prop 19, California’s marijuana legalization initiative.

The last afternoon of panels is stacked, and three of our best have been scheduled at the same time, so FDL will attempt the unprecedented, unscripted and extremely dangerous triple liveblog!

Over on Emptywheel, Rayne will be covering Marcy as she takes on one of Obama’s signature broken promises: the failure to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. On our Elections page, Michael Whitney will liveblog a panel on marijuana policy and politics featuring Jon Walker. And at the FDL News Desk, my fingers will do their level best to keep up with David Dayen as he tackles the foreclosure crisis.

On Friday, May 14th, we sat down with Neill Franklin, Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and a 32-year law enforcement veteran, to discuss President Obama’s drug policy, the CA ballot initiative, and the general state of the war on drugs.