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Marijuana Policy

Marijuana Policy Subtopics:
Hemp
Medical Marijuana
Marijuana Industry

Marijuana Policy Project Blog Debuts

[Courtesy of MPP] Dear friends, With the world desperately short of blogs and clamoring for more, the Marijuana Policy Project has come to the rescue with our very own blog, at http://blog.mpp.org/. Seriously, we expect to post news and analysis you're unlikely to see anywhere else, including little-reported events and research studies that deserve notice but escape the attention of the mass media. Please check it out, sign up for a feed if you're so inclined, and let me know what you think. Regards, -- Bruce Mirken, Director of Communications -- Marijuana Policy Project -- P.O. Box 77492 -- Capitol Hill -- Washington, D.C. 20013

Job openings at the Marijuana Policy Project

The Marijuana Policy Project has four job openings in our headquarters in Washington, D.C.:

  • Office administrator/bookkeeper

The office administrator/bookkeeper manages MPP's main office, does all bookkeeping, and assists the executive director. This position is an excellent opportunity to gain exposure to all aspects of operating a fast-paced grassroots lobbying organization. The successful candidate will be a highly organized self-starter with excellent written and verbal communication skills, meticulous attention to detail, and a professional demeanor and appearance. Experience with accounting, bookkeeping, or QuickBooks is strongly preferred.

  • Director of State Policies

The director of State Policies manages MPP's grassroots and direct lobbying efforts in all state legislatures, as well as managing MPP's State Policies Department staff. The overarching goal of the position is to pass medical marijuana legislation and/or marijuana regulation legislation in state legislatures while preventing bad bills from being enacted. The position requires strong political instincts, solid political or government relations experience, and exceptional management skills.

  • Membership & Events fellowship:

The membership & events fellow assists MPP's Membership and Grants & VIP Outreach departments. The Grants & VIP Outreach Department coordinates MPP's special events and manages MPP's grants program, which dispenses $1.5 million annually in support of efforts that foster measurable changes in marijuana policy. The Membership Department coordinates MPP's fundraising, conducts donor research, oversees communications with members, maintains MPP's member database, processes donations, and submits grant applications. The fellowship begins in late August or early September, pays $9 per hour, and requires a minimum four-month commitment.

  • State Policies internship:

The State Policies intern works in MPP's State Policies Department, which is dedicated to reforming marijuana laws on the state level through direct lobbying and by inspiring lobbying at the grassroots level by individuals and allied organizations. This is an unpaid, part-time internship with class credit available. Interns work 16-20 hours per week and have the chance to play a responsible role in a successful nonprofit organization.

For all positions, please visit http://www.mpp.org/jobs for full job descriptions, salary information, and instructions on how to apply.

Thank you for your interest!

Sincerely,

Alison Green
Chief of Staff
Marijuana Policy Project

Campaign Against Marijuana Planting: Another Record Failure in 2008?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
JULY 9, 2008

Campaign Against Marijuana Planting: Another Record Failure in 2008?

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

SAN FRANCISCO -- With both the state and federal budgets awash in debt, reform advocates are urging California to rethink its annual Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) as the annual CAMP season prepares to launch.

    "Record-setting busts each year have done nothing to reduce the marijuana supply or keep marijuana out of the hands of kids, but they have succeeded brilliantly in driving the growers to more dangerous locations, putting national parks and residential communities at risk," said Bruce Mirken, the Marijuana Policy Project's San Francisco-based director of communications.

    Last year, Attorney General Jerry Brown announced that CAMP -- funded by federal, state and local dollars -- had seized an all-time record 2.9 million marijuana plants, nearly tripling 2004 seizures and a 2,200 percent increase since 1997. With no apparent effect on marijuana availability, the U.S. Justice Department's National Drug Threat Assessment 2008 cited such outdoor raids as a force pushing growers into indoor sites in residential neighborhoods. The report, available at http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs25/25921/25921p.pdf, stated, "Federal, state, and local law enforcement reporting indicates that vigorous outdoor cannabis eradication efforts have caused major marijuana producers, particularly Caucasian groups, to relocate indoors, even in leading outdoor grow states such as California and Tennessee." Citing suburban homes as one type of site used for such operations, the Justice Department predicted, "DTOs [drug trafficking organizations] and criminal groups ... will adapt to the increasing law enforcement pressure and improved detection capabilities associated with outdoor grow sites and will most likely shift operations indoors ... [T]he groups will produce higher-potency marijuana year-round, allowing for an exponential increase in profits derived."

    Last year, the Marijuana Policy Project wrote to Brown asking him to supply evidence that CAMP had reduced the marijuana supply, environmental damage from illicit marijuana growing or teen access to marijuana. Brown did not reply.

    "If you want marijuana to be more potent and produced in the most dangerous way possible, CAMP is a roaring success," Mirken said. "If you want to solve these problems, it's time to put aside the fantasy of 'eradication' and regulate California's marijuana industry like we regulate our wine industry."

    With more than 25,000 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.

Marijuana decriminalization initiative qualifies for Massachusetts' ballot!

[Courtesy of Marijuana Policy Project] 

Dear friends:

The Massachusetts government has announced that it has certified a landmark marijuana decriminalization initiative for the November 4 ballot — which is the first time in history that an initiative to decriminalize marijuana possession will appear on any statewide ballot.*

When MPP polled Massachusetts voters in February 2007 on this question, we found that the initiative was supported by a 60% to 30% margin (with 10% undecided).

The initiative would reduce the penalties in Massachusetts so that the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana will be punishable only by a ticket and a $100 fine — similar to a speeding ticket — with no arrest, no jail or other penalties, no lawyer's fees, and no court appearances. Please visit http://www.sensiblemarijuanapolicy.org/ to learn more about the initiative.

MPP has been working closely with the Massachusetts campaign operation, the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy (CSMP), to ensure the initiative's placement on the ballot. CSMP turned in more than 100,000 signatures last November and another 20,000 last month to qualify the initiative for the ballot.

Your help is now needed to wage a strong campaign between now and Election Day to ensure that this groundbreaking initiative passes. Would you please visit www.SensibleMarijuanaPolicy.org/donate.html to donate $10 or more today?

CSMP — led by campaign manager and long-time Massachusetts activist Whitney A. Taylor — is well-positioned to make history this November: In addition to completing both parts of the intensive signature drive, the campaign successfully lobbied the Massachusetts Legislature not to take any action that would harm the campaign, in addition to building a statewide coalition of opinion leaders who support the initiative and volunteers who will be working to pass the initiative.

Would you please visit www.SensibleMarijuanaPolicy.org/donate.html to make your most generous donation to the campaign today? I want to thank you in advance for anything you can do to help.

Sincerely,
Kampia signature (e-mail sized)

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

* Seven out of seven statewide initiatives to end various aspects of marijuana prohibition have failed over the course of our nation's history — in California (1972), Oregon (1986), Alaska (2000 and 2004), Nevada (2002 and 2006), and Colorado (2006). At a minimum, all seven initiatives would have removed all penalties for marijuana possession.  The Massachusetts initiative is polling much better than any of these seven initiatives because it seeks a more modest change — to treat marijuana possession like a speeding ticket, rather than imposing no penalty at all.

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #372: A Marijuana Decriminalization Initiative

On November 4th Massachusetts voters will have the chance to pass a ballot initiative decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana -- removing the threat of jail time for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana for personal use. In response to the announcement that the initiative will be on the ballot a columnist for Boston's tabloid newspaper wrote the column below which was printed today. Letters to the editor of the Boston Herald need to be short and well written - under 200 words. The average printed letter is about 120 words in length. Please also support the initiative. For details visit http://sensiblemarijuanapolicy.org/ ********************************************************************** Contact: [email protected] Pubdate: Sun, 6 Jul 2008 Source: Boston Herald (MA) Copyright: 2008 The Boston Herald, Inc Author: Howie Carr SENSIBLE POT A HALF-BAKED POLICY, DUDE Marijuana makes you stupid. It's as simple as that. And now in Massachusetts, we are going to have a ballot question that asks the following: Do you really want to make it even easier than it already is to get stupid, and stay stupid? Yes, the Bong Brigade is on the march again. They want to put the high back into high school, the truckin' back in truck stops, the joint back in all those joint legislative committees. Stand by to see stoners at the Stone Zoo, potheads in Marblehead. The grass is always greener in Greenfield, dude. If you liked HempFest on the Boston Common every September, you're going to love legalized marijuana. This one's, like, totally for Jerry Garcia! This year, the front group is something called the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, and it's pushing a Sensible State Marijuana Policy. Its flacks are available for media interviews to discuss their "sensible policy." Organizers include the usual "concerned citizens," with a few token "former law enforcement professionals" thrown in. Their goal is to use the initiative to abolish criminal penalties for less than an ounce of marijuana or, to use their preferred word, hemp, as in, "Dude, did you know, like, George Washington's army used hemp when it was fighting in, uh, like, was it the Civil War, man?" The sensible group's press release sounds like it was written after watching a "Dragnet 1967" marathon on TVLand. Harmless people, we are told, "are arrested, booked, entered into the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) system, resulting in a possible sentence of up to six months in jail and a $500 fine." Key word: possible. Do you know how difficult it is to actually be thrown in jail around here? You can lie under oath and obstruct justice, and you don't have to do a day in the can - am I right Tom Finneran? Pot charges are usually meaningless add-ons, like piling a driving-to-endanger on top on an OUI, or like Neil Entwistle being charged with possession of an unregistered handgun. The potheads say 7,500 marijuana citations make it onto the CORI system every year. But how many of those Class B controlled-substance convictions are added to someone's CORI record along with more serious raps like, say, for possession of Class D controlled substances (cocaine) with intent to distribute? The ganja-guys then cite the alleged "collateral damage" of this CORI indignity: "inability to find employment, obtain housing and receive a college loan." Please. The reason stoners can't find employment is because they're too wasted. They forgot to turn on the alarm clock. They went out for a smoke break and never returned. They missed the bus, man. They can't "obtain housing" because they can't get it together to ever leave mom's rent-free basement. Unless you're in the cop's face when you light up - like they do at HempFest - you face almost zero chance of getting arrested. Decriminalizing pot doesn't seem like a big deal, I'll grant you. After the courts decreed Adam and Eve are going to be Adam and Steve, bringing Cheech & Chong along for the ride amounts to little more than a footnote. But the problem with this ballot question is, it will lead to more pot smoking, which this society needs like . . . like, fill in the blank, dude. How can the same health pests who loathe tobacco not care a whit about a different debilitating drug that you have to ingest into your lungs in the form of smoke? The fact is, once you make something legal, even if it's just de facto, it's easier to get. Pot does fry your brain. On my radio show, I can tell a stoner within 10 seconds. They . . . talk . . . slow. They mention "hemp." They talk about "thousands" of political prisoners locked up for pot. And since their vocabulary is so stunted, because their memories are shot, they keep repeating the same words over and over again. Sensible . . . sensible . . . sensible. ********************************************************************** Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center: http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides Or contact MAP's Media Activism Facilitator for tips on how to write LTEs that are printed. [email protected] ********************************************************************** PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others may learn from your efforts. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing efforts.

2008 NORML Conference Announced - Call for Speakers and Panel Suggestions

Hello all, First, please save the dates of October 17-19, 2008 and make plans to join us for NORML's 37th annual national conference in Berkeley, California. This year's theme is "It's Not Your Parents' Prohibition!" Below is the basic information to make your discounted room reservation. Second, please forward any speaker or panel topic suggestions for this year's conference to '[email protected]'. The NORML conference planning committee is seeking activists' and stakeholders' input on potential speakers and topics to help round out the current schedule. This year's conference program is shaping up similar to last year's format in Los Angeles: Ten or so plenary sessions, two or three featured speakers, three breakout sessions and an entire day focusing on medical marijuana and ever-evolving medical marijuana industry (Sunday, October 19). Please make your room reservations and travel arrangements ASAP to assure that you're in attendance at America's most popular pro-cannabis reform conference. Conference registration information and a listing of social events will be posted shortly. Thanks for your attention, help and support, -Allen St. Pierre Executive Director NORML/NORML Foundation Member, Board of Directors NORML/NORML Foundation 1600 K St., NW Suite 501 Washington, D.C. 20006 ***** Who: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) What: NORML's 37th National Conference Conference Theme: "It's Not Your Parents' Prohibition!" When: October 17-19, 2008 Where: Doubletree Berkeley Marina, Berkeley, CA Discounted room rates available ($159/night), call now as NORML's rooms always sell out! How: Reservation Line is 510-548-7920, use the code 'NOR' for the discount. Reserve online at: http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/personalized/JBKCADT-NOR-20081010/index.jhtml (use the code 'NOR' for the discount)

Order MPP's "newspaper" for your event

Dear David Guard:

Is there an event coming up in your community where you'd like to distribute literature about the need to reform our nation's disastrous marijuana laws?

MPP's "Marijuana Policy Monitor" makes for a great giveaway at conferences, concerts, festivals, and other events.

newspaper

This four-page newspaper, printed on newsprint, contains a comprehensive overview of marijuana prohibition — and why it should be brought to an end. It includes information on the victims of the government's war on marijuana users, taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol, and safe access to medical marijuana for patients. You can find more information and view a copy here.

To place an order, contact MPP's Membership Department at [email protected] or (202) 462-5747, ext. 2015. Payment by credit card (American Express, Discover, MasterCard, or Visa) is preferred, but we can also accept checks or money orders through the mail. Copies are 3 cents each, and a minimum order of 1,000 copies (or $30) is required. The price includes shipping and handling.

Orders are shipped one a week from our fulfillment center in Maryland, so please allow time for delivery.

I hope you'll consider distributing MPP's newspaper at your next event and spread the word about the urgent need to reform our nation's marijuana laws.

Thank you, as always, for your support ...

Sincerely,
Kampia signature (e-mail sized)

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 $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2008. This means that your donation today will be doubled.

The European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies: Trekt Uw Plant Acquitted

Dear friends, Good news from Antwerp: Today, Thursday June 26th, 2008, the Belgian Cannabis Social Club Trekt Uw Plant and 5 of its members have been acquitted for the establishment of a cannabis plantation. On July 27th 2006 in the Botanic Gardens of Antwerp, with the permission of the local authorities and the police, we planted a cannabis seed that would become the first mother plant of our club. On December 12th 2006, again in the Botanic Gardens and again with the permission of the local authorities and the police, 6 members of Trekt Uw Plant each cut a clone of this motherplant. The 6 plants formed the first collective cannabis plantation of the association, on the basis of the principle 1 plant for each adult member. The aim of Trekt Uw Plant was to make concrete use of the possibility created by the Belgian legislation to grow cannabis for personal use. In January 2005 a ministerial guideline has been established according to which the possession of max. 3 grammes and 1 cannabisplant is no longer prosecuted. In the establishment of the plantation, Trekt Uw Plant has strictly implemented the rules of the ministerial guideline. In spite of that, the legal authorities decided to prosecute. In the end of October 2006, a member of Trekt Uw Plant was approached by a representative of the Antwerp District Attorney, who warned him for the fact that the planned activities of Trekt Uw Plant could lead to a prison term of max. 5 years. During the courtcase for the local court of Antwerp, on 27 March 2008, District Attorney Lins demanded max. 80 hours of community work for the members of Trekt Uw Plant, as well as the dissolution of the club, which he considered to be a criminal organisation. The Antwerp court finally judged that Trekt Uw Plant is not a criminal organisation, and condemned the members for nothing else than the possession of cannabis. On June 12th 2008, during the courtcase for the court of appeal, the District Attorney announced, in an unexpected move that surprised everyone who followed the case, that he would drop the charges against Trekt Uw Plant because the possession of cannabis is not a crime but an an offense, and too much time has passed since the offense was committed. This sentence has been provoked by the District Attorney himself, when during the first session of the court of appeal on January 24th 2008, when there was still time to condemn the offense, he asked for a delay of 5 months to deal with the case. It has been a trick of the District Attorney in order to cover up his defeat in this case. The charges have been dropped but a debate on the core question - can cultivating cannabis for personal use be prosecuted or not - has been avoided. This sentence implies an acquittance. The District Attorney stops the persecution it has started against us. This is a political message that the ministerial cannabis guideline of 2005, according to which the possession of max. 3 grammes and 1 cannabis plant for personal use is not persecuted, is still valed and can be applied. From this sentence, we conclude that the actions of Trekt Uw Plant fit completely within the ministerial guideline and these actions can be permitted in the future. We now consider the next steps that Trekt Uw Plant will take. New actions will follow in the autumn. Joep Oomen / Philippe De Craene TREKT UW PLANT (vzw ) Lange Lozanastraat 14 2018 Antwerpen Tel. +32 3 293 0886 GSM: +32 495-122644 / +32 494 - 807350 E-mail:[email protected] Website: www.trektuwplant.be

Press Release: Mendo Measure B Squeaks By

[Courtesy California NORML] June 20, 2008 In final election returns, Mendocino's anti-marijuana Measure B eked out a narrow 52-48% victory. The final margin was the same as the one announced after election day, before 11,000 absentee ballots were counted. California NORML, which supported the No on B campaign, regards the result as a moral victory, given that Measure B had been widely expected to win by a lopsided margin. Pre-election polls had suggested a victory margin of 60 - 65% , leading Measure B proponents to express disappointment at the narrowness of their win. The final margin was so close that opponents would have won in a general election, where turnout is larger, younger, and more liberally inclined. Marijuana proponents intend to return to the county with more workable proposals for legally regulating the county's marijuana industry. The No on B campaign succeeded in raising substantial doubts about Measure B, arguing that it in no way addressed the underlying problems of large-scale growers. http://nomeasureb.org. Measure B repeals Mendocino's Personal Use of Marijuana Initiative, Measure G, passed by an overwhelming 58% of the vote in 2000, but otherwise leaves the county's marijuana policy in doubt, since it seeks to establish the same state limits for marijuana growing that were recently declared unconstitutional in the California appeals court Kelly ruling. Measure B's validity will be subject to two immediate court challenges. The No on B campaign thanks supporters and volunteers for helping wage a strong mail, media, and get-out-the-vote campaign. "Everything was stacked against us from the beginning," said No on B campaign director Laura Hamburg. Measure B was placed on the ballot by the Board of Supervisors, with support from the city councils of Willits and Ukiah, the district attorney, the county's leading newspaper and major media, and local development interests upset by the difficulty of paying wages competitive with the marijuana industry. California NORML is proud to have played a leading role in supporting the No on B campaign, along with a devoted core of Mendocino activists, the Mendocino Marijuana Patients Union, and the Mendocino Green Party. Thanks too to the Drug Policy Alliance for their financial support.

Press Release - New Report Co-Authored by SUNY Albany Researcher: Teen Marijuana Use Down in States With Medical Marijuana Laws

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 16, 2008

New Report Co-Authored by SUNY Albany Researcher: Teen Marijuana Use Down in States With Medical Marijuana Laws

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

ALBANY -- A newly updated analysis released today, co-authored by Dr. Mitch Earleywine, associate professor of psychology at the Albany campus of the State University of New York, shows that state medical marijuana laws have not increased teen marijuana use, despite fears that have been raised when such measures are considered. Teen marijuana use has consistently declined in states with medical marijuana laws, and generally more markedly than national averages.

The report, based entirely on data from federal and state government-funded drug use surveys, is available at http://www.mpp.org/teens.

In New York, medical marijuana legislation passed the state Assembly last year, and the issue awaits Senate action.

"Opponents of medical use of marijuana regularly argue that such laws 'send the wrong message to children,' but there is just no sign of that effect in the data," said Dr. Earleywine, a substance abuse researcher and author of the acclaimed book, "Understanding Marijuana" (Oxford University Press, 2002). "In every state for which there's data, teen marijuana use has gone down since the medical marijuana law was passed, often a much larger decline than nationally."

In California, which passed the first effective medical marijuana law in 1996, marijuana use has declined sharply among all age groups. Among ninth-graders, marijuana use in the past 30 days ("current use" as defined in the surveys) declined by 47 percent from 1995-96 to 2005-06, the latest survey results available.

A similar pattern is emerging in the states with newer medical marijuana laws. Vermont and Montana, whose medical marijuana laws were enacted in 2004, have seen declines in current marijuana use of 15 percent and 9 percent, respectively. In Rhode Island, whose medical marijuana law took effect in January 2006, current use declined 7 percent from 2005 to 2007. There are no before-and-after data available yet from New Mexico, whose medical marijuana law was passed last year. Overall, declines in teen marijuana use in the 11 medical marijuana states for which data are available have slightly exceeded the national trends.

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.

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