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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 23, 2008

Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced in Ohio
Bill Is Similar to Michigan Initiative Expected to Pass Handily

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications ............... 415-668-6403 or 202-215-4205

COLUMBUS, OHIO -- Sen. Tom Roberts (D-Trotwood) introduced legislation today that would make Ohio the 13th state to permit medical use of marijuana by seriously ill patients without fear of arrest. The measure, S.B. 343, comes in the wake of growing support for medical marijuana nationwide and is similar to a Michigan ballot initiative that is heavily favored to pass in November.

Twelve states -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington -- currently have medical marijuana laws. Similar measures are under consideration in several other states, including Illinois and New York.

"This bill is strikingly similar to the Michigan medical marijuana initiative, which polling shows to be leading by a wide margin," said Ray Warren, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. "We're seeing a real groundswell of support for medical marijuana legislation in the Midwest, both among the public and within the medical community. There's no longer any doubt that marijuana can help some patients who suffer terribly, and voters in places like Michigan, Ohio and Illinois don't want their tax dollars spent arresting seriously ill patients who are simply trying to get some relief."

In Michigan, the only independent poll published so far -- conducted in mid-March by the Marketing Resource Group for Inside Michigan Politics -- showed the measure leading by a 67 percent to 28 percent margin, with only 5 percent undecided or declining to answer. In Illinois, where a medical marijuana bill is now moving through the legislature, a Mason-Dixon poll showed 68 percent in favor and 27 percent opposed.

Like the Michigan proposal, Sen. Roberts' bill would protect patients from arrest and jail if they have been diagnosed with one of a defined list of medical conditions and their doctor has recommended the use of marijuana. Patients would have to register with the state and receive an ID card, and would be limited in the amount of marijuana they could legally possess.

The last year has seen a series of statements in support of medical marijuana from a variety of medical organizations, including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the 124,000-member American College of Physicians, which in February declared, "ACP strongly urges protection from criminal or civil penalties for patients who use medical marijuana as permitted under state laws."

With more than 23,000 members and 180,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 22, 2008

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications ............... 415-668-6403 or 202-215-4205

SACRAMENTO -- In what advocates hailed as an important step toward protecting California law, the Assembly Appropriations Committee passed AB 2743 by a vote of 9-7 today. The measure, authored by Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego), would protect the integrity of California's medical marijuana law by making it the policy of state and local law enforcement agencies not to cooperate with the Drug Enforcement Administration or other federal agencies in raids on state-legal medical marijuana patients and caregivers.

DEA raids on medical marijuana patients and providers who are allowed to cultivate and possess marijuana under California law have been assisted - and in some cases requested - by local law enforcement agencies in communities around the state, including Los Angeles, Bakersfield, San Mateo, San Diego and many others.

Jon Palmer, who uses medical marijuana to ease the agony caused by a rare blood disorder, lost his safe source of medicine when Kern County sheriff's deputies assisted the DEA in arresting the operators of Nature's Medicinal in Bakersfield. "Faced with the prospect of having to immediately double my morphine dosage and take to the streets to find my medicine, I was devastated," Palmer said. "The most outrageous part of the ordeal is that local officials used state and local tax dollars to arrest these individuals who were in full compliance with state and local laws."

"This bill is about maintaining the integrity of California law," said Aaron Smith, California state organizer for the Marijuana Policy Project. "Our medical marijuana law enjoys the support of three out of four Californians, yet in too many cases federal officials have intruded into our state affairs and raided patients and caregivers. Due to these federal prosecutions, sick, elderly and disabled Californians who almost certainly would have been found innocent in a state court are in federal prison right now. At a time when state and local governments are in fiscal crisis, California tax dollars shouldn't be used to undermine our own laws."

With more than 23,000 members and 180,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.