Marijuana Policy

 

Dear Friends:

A record 7.3 million people — or one in every 31 American adults — were behind bars, on probation, or on parole at the start of last year, according to a new report from the Pew Center on the States' Public Safety Performance Project.

Of these 7.3 million people, an astounding 2.3 million are actually in prison or jail. That's 1 in every 99 adults.

The report also highlights how the U.S. criminal justice system inordinately penalizes people who are not white. Black adults are four times as likely as whites and nearly 2.5 times as likely as Hispanics to be under correctional control. While one in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, the figure is one in nine for black males in that age group.

Who are our nation's drug laws helping by locking up so many young black men — or by forcing so many people into the criminal justice system? True drug addicts? Nonviolent drug offenders? Their families?

If you're as outraged by these statistics as I am, please turn your anger into action by helping MPP restore some sense to our nation's laws by ending marijuana prohibition. With the help of our 26,000 dues-paying members, MPP has already achieved or funded significant progress — see www.mpp.org/history for some of our victories — but we need your help to continue making progress.

And if you have a few minutes, please watch this MPP documentary about the human costs of this war, told by those who have been caught in the crossfire. In just the time it takes you to watch the video, 28 more Americans will be arrested for marijuana.

Will you please join with MPP in working to end the persecution and destruction of people just like you? We can end our government's cruel war on its own citizens — but we must stand and fight.

Thank you,

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.

Dear Friends:

If you've ever wanted to go to the Playboy Mansion, here's what could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

MPP will be holding a star-studded party at the Playboy Mansion in L.A. on June 4 — and we're offering you a final chance to buy discounted tickets at an early-bird rate of $700. That rate is only good for a few more ticket purchases — because once we've sold 100 tickets, the price for the next 100 tickets will increase to $800, and all tickets remaining after that will cost $900. So reserve now to lock in the lowest rate.

As a guest at the party, you'll be able to explore the Playboy Mansion's famous grounds. Playmates will give personal tours as you mingle with VIPs and enjoy fire performers by the pool area, waterfalls, and the legendary grotto.

You can see photos and video from last year's party here and here.

Be a part of MPP's biggest charity event and help us raise much-needed funds for our work: Please reserve your tickets today.

Thank you,

Dear Friends:

MPP's communications staffers have been busier than ever in the last few months, as media interest in marijuana policy continues to rise, and I want to tell you about a few upcoming and recent TV appearances that might interest you.

• On Sunday night, I'll be appearing on an Al Roker special on marijuana, airing on MSNBC at 10 p.m. EST.
• Medical marijuana will be part of the focus of John Stossel's ABC special that airs tonight. He'll be examining the case of Charles Lynch, the former operator of a medical marijuana dispensary — operating legally under California state law — who was raided by federal law enforcement officials and convicted on federal drug charges. A respected member of the community who operated with the support of local officials and the chamber of commerce, Lynch was known to refuse payment from patients who could not afford it. MPP provided research assistance for the show, which airs tonight on ABC at 10 p.m. EST.
• On Wednesday night, MPP's Bruce Mirken appeared on "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC. You can watch his interview here.
• And last, Bruce will also appearing later this month on D.L. Hughley's show on CNN (tentatively scheduled for March 28).

Meanwhile, thanks to the generous support of our 26,000 dues-paying members, MPP is moving a slate of bills forward in states across the country:

• Minnesota's medical marijuana bill has a strong chance of passing into law this year. The Senate bill has already passed three committees, and the House bill now heads to what is expected to be its most difficult committee. We're in the final push now and hope to have exciting news to report from Minnesota within weeks.
• In Illinois last week, for the first time ever, a House committee approved an effective medical marijuana bill, and the bill is now on the House floor, where the next step is a vote by the full chamber.
• In Iowa, more than a dozen seriously ill patients and advocates and a doctor testified at a subcommittee hearing in favor of a medical marijuana bill, generating extensive news coverage. Although it is too late for the bill to receive a full committee vote, we'll continue to build support and momentum for next year.
• In New Hampshire on Monday, a neurosurgeon, seven patients, MPP's grassroots organizer, and MPP's lobbyist testified in favor of a medical marijuana bill. The House health committee is scheduled to vote on the bill next Wednesday.
• Rhode Island legislators, who in 2006 enacted MPP's model medical marijuana bill over the governor's veto, seem poised to improve access to medical marijuana. On March 4, doctors, patients, and representatives from the state medical society and nurses association testified in favor of allowing organized distribution through compassion centers. Not a single witness opposed the bills. Last year, the Senate passed a similar bill 30-6, and this year, 50 of the 75 House members are co-sponsoring the bill.
• MPP has been featured in local, statewide, national, and even international news discussing the bill to tax and regulate marijuana in California. Whatever the bill's fate is this year, it has started a long overdue conversation about the wisdom of marijuana prohibition.

If you support what we're doing and want to see more of it, please help fund our efforts by making a donation to our work today.
 
Thank you,

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.

Dear friends:

After MPP passed the medical marijuana ballot initiative in Michigan and the marijuana decriminalization ballot initiative in Massachusetts — both on November 4 — I thought the MPP staff might get a little downtime to regroup for the 2009-2010 election cycle. Not so.

In the last four months, the MPP staff and our allies have been working almost nonstop to respond to — and take advantage of — the many opportunities that have been presenting themselves across the country. I've never seen so much evidence of positive change in such a short amount of time ...

1.  MARIJUANA THE BIGGEST ISSUE:  Two huge surveys of citizen activists across the country — one on Change.gov on December 12, and one on Change.org on January 15 — showed that the number-one issue on people's minds is ending the government's war on marijuana users.

2.  BONG HIT SEEN AROUND THE WORLD:  On February 1, the world learned that Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps had used marijuana a few months before, demonstrating yet again that using marijuana is compatible with being wildly successful in our society. When Kellogg's dropped its endorsement contract with Phelps — and MPP and other organizations responded by calling for a boycott of Kellogg's — the public's perception of Kellogg's took a nose dive.

3.  EL PASO RESPONDS TO MEXICAN VIOLENCE:  Responding to the prohibition-caused violence just over the border in Mexico, on January 6 the El Paso City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for "an honest, open national debate on ending the prohibition of narcotics," which drew the ire of some Texas politicians but also sparked a great deal of positive media coverage nationwide.

4.  NATIONAL POLLING HIGHEST EVER:  Between January 11 and February 14, three different national polls indicated that either 40%, 41%, or 44% of the American people now support ending marijuana prohibition.  This is the highest level of support since marijuana was first prohibited in 1937, with support having risen by 1% a year since 1995.

5.  REVOLT IN LATIN AMERICA:  On February 12, a commission led by three former presidents from Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico released a long-awaited report that blasted the U.S. drug war and called for the decriminalization of marijuana.

6.  ENDING THE DEA's RAIDS IN CALIFORNIA:  On February 25, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the DEA would no longer be raiding medical marijuana clinics in California and the 12 other states where medical marijuana is legal.

7.  MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILLS MOVING:  MPP's medical marijuana bills are moving through the Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and New York Legislatures, and the Drug Policy Alliance's similar legislation is moving in New Jersey. We have a real chance of making medical marijuana legal in four of these six states this year and — in the meantime — it's very possible that Montana and Rhode Island will expand their existing medical marijuana laws, too.

8.  BROADER MARIJUANA BILLS MOVING:  California shook the nation when a bill to tax and regulate marijuana was introduced on February 23. And even before that happened, the Hawaii, Montana, Vermont, and Washington Legislatures had already begun considering bills to decriminalize marijuana.

9.  MPP DOMINATING ON YOUTUBE:  As of today, MPP's channel on YouTube.com is the 10th most subscribed of all nonprofit channels, and MPP's videos are consistently in the top 10 most-viewed of all nonprofit videos in any given week. (And our 65,000 friends on MySpace.com places MPP among the top 10 most popular nonprofit organizations there, too.)

10.  ONGOING MEDIA EXPLOSION:  According to the weekly reports we get from Google, MPP has been getting its message into the news in the last month at 10 times the volume of previous months. And four different national TV specials are tentatively scheduled to look at marijuana over just a two-month span: CNBC looked at the marijuana industry in northern California on January 22, NBC's "Dateline" covered the Rachel Hoffman tragedy in Florida on January 23, ABC's "20/20" with John Stossel will be looking at medical marijuana on March 13, and MSNBC with Al Roker will be looking at the multi-billion-dollar marijuana industry on March 15.

Thank you for anything and everything you've done to help bring all this attention and success to our movement. If you'd like to help even more, please make a donation today so that we may continue with the onslaught of work that continues to pile up on our plates.

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.

Dear friends:

On Monday, a California state legislator introduced historic legislation that would end marijuana prohibition in California. The bill — authored by Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) — would eliminate criminal penalties for responsible marijuana use and set up a system to regulate and tax marijuana sales similarly to alcohol.

Last night, I appeared on "Glenn Beck" on the Fox News Channel to discuss the legislation. You can watch the segment here:

As the nation's largest state, California's serious consideration of ending marijuana prohibition is making huge waves. Within hours of the bill's introduction, it made national headlines and has since generated media coverage across the country, including the Associated Press, USA Today, Washington Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, MSNBC, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, and much more. MPP has already been featured in at least 20 TV, radio, and print stories about the bill. For instance, one of California's most respected political columnists, Dan Walters, opined in support of the bill in his Tuesday column, quoting MPP's Aaron Smith.

While the legislation isn't likely to become law this year, it's a strong signal that we're making tremendous strides. And California has a reputation for leading the way for other states. When I co-founded MPP in 1995, most people thought medical marijuana wasn't going to become legal anytime soon, but a year later California approved the nation's first medical marijuana law, and since then a dozen other states have followed suit.

MPP is the leading organization working on this and other efforts to end the government's war on marijuana users. Would you please consider investing in this important work by making a contribution today so that we can continue changing laws across the nation?

Thank you in advance for anything you're inspired to give.

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.