Dear friends:
Ready for some great news?
The Obama administration is directing federal prosecutors not to arrest medical marijuana patients and caregivers who are complying with state laws.
On Monday, federal prosecutors, as well as top officials at the FBI and DEA, will reportedly be told that it isn’t a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana, if they are complying with state law.
This is the most significant, positive policy development on the federal level for medical marijuana since 1978.
Under the Bush administration, the feds had continued to raid, arrest, and otherwise terrorize medical marijuana and their caregivers in the 13 states that have passed medical marijuana laws. This new policy is a major change.
MPP was instrumental in obtaining a promise from President Obama during the presidential campaign that, if elected, he would halt these arrests. MPP was the only reform organization to testify on Capitol Hill urging the issuance of the guidelines and, later, was the only group to work with leaders in Congress to get a House committee to urge the administration to adopt the written guidelines. Our lobbyists have also been in contact with top officials at the Justice Department about the guidelines.
We're thrilled to see this promise come to fruition, and I hope you’ll join me in celebrating this news -- some of the best we’ve had for medical marijuana patients in years.
Thank you for helping to make this momentous change happen. And if you’d like to help keep pushing, please:
1. Use MPP's easy online action center to tell your members of Congress that you support this new policy.
2. Donate to MPP’s federal lobbying work here.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $2.35 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2009. This means that your donation today will be doubled.
