Marijuana Policy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                     

March 3, 2010

Hawaii Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Three Bills to Improve Marijuana Laws

Measures would expand state’s medical marijuana law and reduce the penalty for possession of one ounce to a civil fine

CONTACT: Kurt A. Gardinier, MPP director of communications …… 202-905-0738 or [email protected]

HONOLULU, HAWAII — Yesterday, the Hawaii Senate passed by overwhelming, veto-proof margins three measures that will greatly improve marijuana laws in the state:

SB 2213 passed 20-4, with one excused. This bill would allow counties to license medical marijuana dispensaries.

SB 2141 passed 24-1. This bill would increase the ratio of plants, ounces and caregivers allowed for each medical marijuana patient.

SB 2450 passed 22-3. This bill would remove criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and replace them with a civil fine of up to $300 for a first offense and $500 for a subsequent offense.

         The bills now go to the state House.

         “These votes show that Hawaii’s Senate supports sensible marijuana policies that will serve the best interests of state citizens,” said Eric M. McDaniel, a legislative analyst with the Marijuana Policy Project. “Hawaii’s most vulnerable citizens deserve safe and reliable access to their medicine, and no Hawaiian deserves to go to jail simply for using a substance that is safer than alcohol. If House members agree, I would strongly encourage them to pass these measures as well.”

         The Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, headed by Pamela Lichty and Jeanne Ohta, and the Peaceful Sky Alliance, headed by Matt Rifkin, played crucial roles in getting these measures through the Senate.

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters 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 www.mpp.org.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

MARCH 3, 2010

Harvard Economist: Decriminalizing Marijuana Could Save Rhode Island $11 Million Annually

Taxing and Regulating Marijuana Could Provide State With Up to $48 Million Per Year, According to Testimony Expected Thursday

CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP assistant director of communications …… 202-905-2030 or [email protected]

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Tomorrow, Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron will testify before the state’s Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission and explain how changing the state’s current marijuana policies could save tens of millions of dollars annually, and even possibly generate additional tax revenue.

         According to Miron’s estimates, reducing the penalty for the possession of small amounts of marijuana to a civil fine would save Rhode Island roughly $11.1 million per year in reduced expenditures on police. Miron also estimates that taxing and regulating marijuana would save the state roughly $40.5 million per year in reduced expenditures on police, prosecutors, judges and prisons. Taxing and regulating marijuana could also generate roughly $7.6 million per year in new tax revenue, according to Miron.

         “Professor Miron’s estimates illustrate just one of the many reasons why Rhode Island lawmakers should consider changing the state’s disastrous prohibition on the nation’s largest cash crop,” said Robert Capecchi, a legislative analyst with the Marijuana Policy Project. “As lawmakers examine the economically unsound and wasteful policies that unnecessarily arrest, prosecute and incarcerate thousands of individuals simply for using a substance that is safer than alcohol, I hope they pay particular attention to Professor Miron’s findings, especially in these tough economic times.”

         WHAT: Meeting of Rhode Island’s Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission

         WHO: Prof. Jeffrey Miron, Department of Economics at Harvard University

         WHEN: Thursday, March 4, at 5 p.m.

         WHERE: Room 212 in the State House

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters 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 www.mpp.org.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                     

March 2, 2010

Regulation, Not Prohibition is Key to Reducing Teen Marijuana Use

Unlike drug dealers, licensed merchants in a regulated market would be prohibited from selling to underage customers, be required to check IDs

CONTACT: Kurt A. Gardinier, MPP director of communications …… 202-905-0738 or [email protected]

WASHINGTON, DC — An annual survey released today by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America shows that the number of American teenagers who use marijuana has increased for the first time in 10 years, with 25 percent of teens in grades 9 through 12 saying they’ve used marijuana in the past month, up from 19 percent the previous year.

         “These latest numbers show that our current marijuana policies—which keep marijuana unregulated and in the hands of drug dealers—are clearly not working to help reduce teen use,” said Kurt A. Gardinier, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project. “But if marijuana were taxed and regulated, and sold only by licensed merchants who would be required to check IDs, we could much better control marijuana and help to keep it out of the hands of teenagers. That’s why cigarette smoking among teens has continued to drop since the early ‘90’s, while teen marijuana use has not. Drug dealers do not check IDs.”  

         In the Netherlands, for example, marijuana is sold in regulated establishments to adults who must show proof of age. As a result, according to a 2008 World Health Organization survey, the overall rate of marijuana use in the Netherlands is less than half what it is in the United States. Additionally, only 7% of Dutch teens have tried marijuana by age 15. In the U.S., as many as 20.2% of teens have tried marijuana by age 15, according to government estimates.

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters 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 www.mpp.org.

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Dear friends:

When it comes to changing bad marijuana laws, I don’t want to let anything stand in the Marijuana Policy Project’s (MPP’s) way.  Especially not money!  Donate Now, and your gift will be doubled.

In our short 15-year history, the number of medical marijuana states has increased from zero to 14, we’ve helped lay the groundwork for a change in federal law, and set the stage for the first state to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol, because of your generous support.

As we move closer to achieving our goal — no more marijuana arrests — our budget is straining to keep up with our needs.

Won’t you help us meet our goal of raising $13,000 by Friday, so we can keep all of our projects on target, and so we can take advantage of a wealthy philanthropist’s promise to match the first $2.4 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2010?

This means that your donation today will be doubled.  It also means full steam ahead for our projects.  Here's where and how we are spending your donations:

California  Your donations have made a huge impact here, where MPP worked closely with California NORML, DPA, and other advocates to ensure successful hearings and advocacy for A.B. 390, which would legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana. MPP will be working hard to build upon the success of A.B. 390 and to gain further support for taxing and regulating marijuana in the state as citizens prepare to vote on the “Tax Cannabis” initiative.  Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Arizona   MPP, with your support, is about to successfully finish our signature drive to place a medical marijuana initiative on the November 2010 ballot, which would make the signature drive one of the earliest to be completed in the history of the state.   Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Nevada  With your support, MPP submitted finalized initiative language to the Secretary of State. Three weeks later, we emerged from the 15-day challenge period unchallenged.  This is an indication that opposition to the initiative is not strong within the political establishment.  Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

South Dakota  Donations from you and other supporters allowed MPP to help draft a medical marijuana initiative for the November 2010 ballot and has been providing guidance to activists on the ground throughout their just-completed signature drive.  Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Illinois  MPP donors' support helped get Illinois' medical marijuana bill on the House floor, but we have a lot more work to get the 60 votes it needs. The Senate already passed the bill last year, so this could be the year it heads to the governor, who has publicly said he's open to signing it.  Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

New York  After seven years of lobbying, and thanks to our donors who have stood by us all these years, this may finally be the year that medical marijuana becomes law. Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Colorado  MPP put your donations to good use by drafting a constitutional amendment ballot initiative on behalf of local stakeholders, which would guarantee Coloradans the right to cultivate marijuana for patients and to distribute it at dispensaries. Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

New Hampshire  Your support helped a bipartisan, MPP-drafted bill to tax and regulate marijuana come very close to passing committee last month -- 8-10, with a ninth supporter not in the room.  Rather than killing the bill, the full House approved the committee's plan to study it, 272-76. Working closely with local partners and other supporters, MPP has led the advocacy both for that bill and for a bill to decriminalize possession of up to one quarter ounce of marijuana, which passed committee 16-2 on February 11.   Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Iowa  As a result of a lawsuit filed by an Iowa advocate, the state Board of Pharmacy held a series of hearings on whether to reschedule marijuana’s legal classification. With your support, MPP helped mobilize patients, physicians, researchers, and local advocates to speak out, and just last week the board recommended rescheduling marijuana and setting up a task force to recommend a medical marijuana access program. Help us keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Massachusetts  Our team used your donations wisely to build support for medical marijuana legislation in the health and medical community, securing support from four sheriffs, and building support among key legislators. MPP is working closely with patients, physicians, and local advocates to show legislators how strong support is for the issue.  Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Rhode Island  MPP has invested your donations wisely to educate a study commission on marijuana prohibition about what a miserable failure prohibition has been. MPP and local allies are hopeful about the prospects of a bill to decriminalize up to an ounce of marijuana. Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Washington, D.C.  Whatever happens in the nation’s capital is highly visible across the nation and to our lawmakers, so any donations we invest in our work here is reflected across the nation. MPP has been working with other allied organizations and the D.C. City Council to make sure D.C.'s medical marijuana law is implemented responsibly and in a manner that is true to voters' intent. Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Delaware  Now that the legislature has reconvened, MPP's medical marijuana bill, which includes nonprofit dispensaries, will pick up where we left off in June -- on the Senate floor after having passed committee in a 4-0 vote. We've also picked up a new Republican cosponsor.  Your support made this possible.  Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Maryland  Your donations are financing our efforts, combined with MD Safe Access, and other allies, at encouraging the legislature to improve Maryland's medical marijuana law, which currently only reduces the penalty for possession to a $100 fine in case of medical necessity, and does not protect from arrest or criminal conviction, or provide for access. Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Vermont  MPP's lobbyist and organizer are using your support to build support for twin decriminalization bills that carried over from 2009. MPP’s team qualified a non-binding referendum on decriminalization for the March 2 town meeting day in Montpelier, the state capital. At the same time, our team is working with patients, physicians, and pharmacists to enact a bill adding dispensaries to the state’s medical marijuana law.  Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Minnesota  After a lobbying effort backed by your support helped MPP guide a medical marijuana bill through the legislature last year, it was vetoed by Gov. Pawlenty. MPP is now launching a campaign to make sure the next governor signs a bill.  Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Pennsylvania  Thanks to your generous support, MPP was able to travel to Harrisburg to testify, along with a strong lineup of witnesses, on the first medical marijuana bill to be introduced there in recent memory. Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Federal  Because your support finances lobbying, the best way to change laws, our lobbying team can focus on building a coalition of participants from across the political spectrum who will urge Congress to end marijuana prohibition.  We're also working to follow up on our victory with the Justice Department guidelines by pushing for legislation that would protect patients in all 50 states.  Keep up the momentum.  Donate Now.

Getting the best results from every dollar — that’s how we treat your donations.

Won’t you please help us raise $13,000 by Friday by donating now?  Your donation will keep our projects on track and bring us closer to the day we can proclaim, No More Marijuana Arrests.  And, your donation will be matched by a wealthy philanthropist who promised to match the first $2.4 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2010. 

Sincerely,

Dear friends:

Hi there. My name is Teresa Skipper, and I use marijuana to stay alive. I wrote to you last week — but maybe my message slipped your attention — to ask you to support MPP with a contribution. For those of us who, for whatever reason, believe that bad marijuana laws need to be changed, MPP is our best hope. Here is why I support MPP.

When I found out in 1995 that I had HIV, my doctors gave me many different medications, and I'm grateful for them because they have kept me alive!

But the side effects are awful. One of my meds comes with a warning that it's sometimes fatal. My stomach feels like a raw egg most days, which is strange because I can't eat most foods. I have no appetite, and it's hard to keep my weight up.

But I've been lucky enough to find something that makes me feel better, restores my appetite, and is the reason I still have good days. That something is marijuana.

Unfortunately, my marijuana also makes me a criminal, because medical marijuana is illegal where I live. In fact, only 14 states allow medical marijuana. MPP is working hard to increase the number of medical marijuana states by changing laws all across the U.S.

MPP is successful because of its strategic approach and its top-notch lobbyists. MPP has a strong track record of actually changing laws, but that work is expensive and MPP is financed by donations from individuals like you and like me. That's why I’m telling you my story and asking you, from the bottom of my heart, to help MPP fight marijuana prohibition, because marijuana use should not make criminals of sick people.

Like many other marijuana users, I have a husband, two children, and one beautiful grandson. I have a bachelor's degree in financial management. I just want to go to work and have a normal life.

But my marijuana use makes me a criminal, and who wants to hire a criminal? If I give up using marijuana, my health deteriorates to the point that I can't work anyway.

MPP is fighting to change marijuana laws so that sick people won’t become criminals when they use marijuana to get relief from pain and suffering. If you share my vision for the future, where medical marijuana will be available in every state, please help MPP today with a donation.

Thank you for letting me tell you my story.

Best wishes,

Teresa Skipper

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

Campaign to Tax and Regulate Marijuana Urges Gov. Gibbons to Put that Option on the Table

Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws points to tens of millions of dollars in potential revenues and thousands of new jobs

CONTACT: Dave Schwartz, NSML campaign manager ………………………. 702-727-1080

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — Tonight, Gov. Jim Gibbons will deliver his State of the State address, in which he will discuss the serious financial crisis facing Nevada. The state reportedly needs to cut nearly $900 million in spending in order to bring its budget into balance. According to some reports, Gov. Gibbons is seeking new ways to close the budget gap and is willing to put all options on the table. With this financial crisis looming, and Gov. Gibbons’ speech coming up in just hours, Dave Schwartz, campaign manager for Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws, released the following statement:

            “As a longtime resident of Nevada, I am seriously concerned about the state’s financial situation. The down economy has caused devastating job losses and dramatically diminished revenues. In order to get the state back on sound financial footing, the governor must consider not only cuts in spending, but also new sources of tax revenue. There is no greater opportunity than regulating and taxing the sale of marijuana to adults.

            “A legal marijuana market would likely generate tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue for the state, just based on excise and sales taxes. It would also create thousands of new tax-paying employees in the state, as well as new businesses in areas revitalized by the existence of marijuana retail stores.

            “One important piece of information to keep in mind is that marijuana is far less harmful than a substance already widely available to Nevadans—alcohol. By giving adults in the state the legal option of using marijuana instead of alcohol, we could make our communities healthier and safer while generating new revenues that can be used to improve our roads and our schools. This is a no-lose opportunity, and we sincerely hope the governor will seriously consider it.”

            Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws is a ballot advocacy group formed in Nevada to support a 2012 ballot initiative to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol in the state.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                              

February 3, 2010

Rhode Island House Members Introduce Bill to Decriminalize Marijuana

Bill would decriminalize the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana and substitute a civil penalty of $150

CONTACT: Kurt A. Gardinier, MPP director of communications …… 202-905-0738 or [email protected]

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND —A bill to decriminalize the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana and substitute a civil penalty of $150 was introduced in the Rhode Island House of Representatives yesterday. H 7317, a bipartisan bill was co-sponsored by 35 House members and has been referred to the House Judiciary committee. The Rhode Island State Senate is likely to introduce their version of the bill later this week. If the bill becomes law, Rhode Island would join their neighboring state to the north, Massachusetts, and become the 14^th state to pass a law to decriminalize marijuana. In 2008, Massachusetts voters passed a similar decriminalization law with 65% of the vote.

         “Rhode Island lawmakers should be applauded for their support of this bill that will save the state much needed money and resources by not arresting, prosecuting, sentencing and incarcerating marijuana users,” said Karen O’Keefe, MPP director of state policies. “We look forward to the day when the citizens of this state no longer have to fear being handcuffed and thrown in jail for using a substance far safer than alcohol.”

         The entire text of the bill can be read at:

www.rilin.state.ri.us/billtext10/housetext10/h7317.pdf

         With more than 29,000 members and 100,000 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 www.mpp.org.

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Dear friends:

A couple of weeks ago, we told you about a district attorney in Nevada who obnoxiously said that making marijuana legal in Nevada would turn the state into Sodom and Gomorra. When we said the MPP-supported campaign in the state, Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws, wasn't going to let that attack go unanswered, we weren't kidding.

Yesterday, in the lobby of the building where district attorney Richard Gammick has his office, MPP's Dave Schwartz, who serves as NSML's campaign manager, unveiled a TV ad attacking Gammick for his irrational stance. We really love the ad and wanted to share it with you. Take a look:

 This is just an opening salvo in what will be an ongoing campaign to highlight the hypocrisy of law enforcement officials who know that alcohol causes more societal problems than marijuana, yet advocate for the continued persecution of anyone who chooses to use marijuana instead of alcohol.

We're mad as hell, and we're not going to take it any more. If you feel the same and want to see more ads like this — in Nevada or in other parts of the country — would you please make a contribution today? We're 100% dependant on contributions from people like you, and we really need your help today.

Sincerely,


Steve Fox
Director of State Campaigns
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.