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Medical Marijuana Bill Gets Hearing Today in Annapolis

MEDIA ADVISORY                                                                                                                                               

february 26, 2010

Medical Marijuana Bill Gets Hearing Today in Annapolis

HB 712 Would Allow Seriously Ill Patients to Use Medical Marijuana With Doctor’s Recommendation

CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP assistant director of communications …………… 202-905-2030

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND— Today, the Maryland House Judiciary and Health and Government Operations committees will hold a hearing to receive testimony on HB 712, a bill introduced by Del. Dan Morhaim (D-Baltimore County) that would make Maryland the 15th state in the nation to have a medical marijuana law. The bill would allow pharmacies or other state-regulated outlets to dispense medical marijuana to patients who receive a recommendation from their doctor.

         WHAT: Hearing on HB 712, a medical marijuana bill in Maryland

         WHERE: Maryland Legislative Services Building—across from the statehouse—in the hearing room

         WHEN: Friday, February 26, 1 p.m.

         WHO: House Judiciary and Health and Government Operations committees

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.

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Press Release: Medical Marijuana Bill Passes New York Senate Health Committee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

FEBRUARY 23, 2010

Medical Marijuana Bill Passes New York Senate Health Committee

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

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the New York State Senate Health Committee passed S. 4041-B, the Senate’s medical marijuana bill. This marks the second consecutive year that the bill has gotten out of the Senate Health Committee. The Assembly’s medical marijuana bill, A. 9016, passed the Health Committee last month and is now sitting in the Assembly Codes Committee.

         “We applaud the New York Senate Health Committee members for doing the right thing and taking this important step toward protecting sick and dying New Yorkers from arrest or jail,” said Noah Mamber, legislative analyst with the Marijuana Policy Project. “Let’s hope New York legislators will follow the lead of New Jersey, the state next door, which is about to become the 14th state to implement an effective medical marijuana law.”

         The New York State Assembly passed medical marijuana legislation in 2007 and 2008, but the issue has never gotten a Senate floor vote. For the first time in 2009, a Senate medical marijuana bill passed the Senate Health Committee, but progress stalled because of the Senate leadership struggle, which lasted until just before the legislature recessed.

         With more than 29,000 members and 124,000 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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Press Release: Rhode Island House Members Introduce Bill to Decriminalize Marijuana

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 14th 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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Press Release: Tues. -- NY Assembly Hearing on Rockefeller Drug Reform Implementation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 7, 2009 CONTACT: Tony Newman at (646) 335-5384 or Anthony Papa at (646) 420-7290 NY State Assembly Hearing on Tuesday to Map Out Next Steps in Implementation of Historic Rockefeller Drug Law Reform Courts, Treatment Providers and Community-Based Programs to Brief Lawmakers on Expanded Access to Drug Treatment and Alternatives to Incarceration for Most Drug Offenses The New York State Assembly on Tuesday will hold a key hearing to press forward with implementation of the Rockefeller Drug Law Reform of 2009, soliciting feedback from courts, treatment providers and community-based programs on their readiness and resource needs to carry out the groundbreaking new law. The reform, which took effect on Oct. 7, eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for most drug offenses, restored discretion to judges to sentence individuals to probation, drug treatment or other alternatives to incarceration, and allows approximately 1,000 people convicted under the old Rockefeller Drug Laws to apply for re-sentencing. “As someone who spent 12 years behind bars on Rockefeller charges and another 12 fighting the inhumane laws, I am thrilled that the law has been changed,” said Anthony Papa, author of 15 Years to Life. “But Rockefeller reform will only be real when those who are behind bars are allowed to come home and those who need help get treatment instead of a jail cell.” At Tuesday’s hearing, lawmakers will explore a wide range of issues related to the Rockefeller reform, including: What steps has the court system taken to prepare for and implement the new judicial diversion program, and to ensure that persons who are resentenced have access to community-based reentry programs? Are there sufficient community-based treatment programs available to serve individuals sentenced to treatment or probation, or those released from prison? What are the barriers faced by formerly incarcerated individuals with a history of substance abuse in obtaining public benefits, medical assistance, employment and affordable and stable housing? These reforms will allow people to reclaim their dignity as we shift from a punitive criminal justice model to a much needed holistic public health framework," said Shreya Mandal, Mitigation Specialist for the Legal Aid Society. "Now it is time to see this reform through by empowering formerly incarcerated individuals with comprehensive re-entry planning. Reform also calls for revamping outdated modes of drug treatment, both in and out of prison, and for making progressive changes in how we respond to addiction.” Under more limited reforms to the Rockefeller laws signed by Gov. George Pataki in 2004 and 2005 – which authorized resentencing and eliminated life sentences for individuals convicted of certain drug felonies – 584 individuals were released from prison, and just 9 percent of these people returned to jail, far lower than the state’s 39 percent overall recidivism rate. These results counter claims made by district attorneys and law enforcement officials that sentencing reform leads to disaster. “Opponents of reform try to scare the public with claims that the ‘sky is falling’ every time individuals with substance abuse problems are sent to treatment instead of prison,” said Glenn Martin, Vice President of Development and Public Affairs for The Fortune Society. “But by working collaboratively among treatment providers and Alternatives to Incarceration programs, stakeholders can ensure the success of New York’s movement toward a public health and safety approach to drug use.” Enacted in 1973, the Rockefeller Drug Laws were intended to target drug kingpins, but instead the laws led to the incarceration of thousands of individuals, mostly people of color, for low-level, nonviolent offenses, many with no prior criminal records. Approximately 12,000 people remain locked up for drug offenses in New York State prisons, at a cost of roughly $45,000 per year to incarcerate a single person, compared to an average cost of $15,000 per year for drug treatment, which is proven to be 15 times more effective at reducing crime and recidivism. The Drug Policy Alliance is the nation's leading organization working to end the war on drugs and promote new drug policies based on science, compassion, health and human rights. For more information, please visit: www.drugpolicy.org. What: NY State Assembly Hearing on Rockefeller Drug Law Reform When: 10:30 A.M. Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 Where: Assembly Hearing Room 250 Broadway, Room 1923, 19th Floor New York, NY

Landmark Medical Marijuana Hearings Tomorrow in Harrisburg

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana

www.pa4mmj.org 

WHO: Pennsylvania House Health and Human Services committee

WHAT: Public Hearings on HB 1393, medical marijuana in PA

WHEN: December 2, 2009 Room 140 at 11AM, Main Capitol in Harrisburg

CONTACT: Chris Goldstein cellphone 505 577 5093 or email [email protected]

**UPDATE**

A Press Conference with Rep. Cohen and PA4MMJ patients will take place at 10:00AM at the East Rotunda

 

Landmark Medical Marijuana Hearings Tomorrow in Harrisburg

December 1, 2009

Philadelphia- Advocates and patients with the group Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana (PA4MMJ) will testify tomorrow before the PA House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee during hearings on HB 1393, The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act.

 

These will be the first public hearings on medical cannabis in the history of the Commonwealth.

On April 29, 2009 Rep. Mark B. Cohen introduced the bill to legalize medical marijuana with PA4MMJ. HB1393 would allow registered patients to grow six plants or purchase cannabis through Compassion Centers. A provision in the bill allows these medical cannabis sales to be taxed.

At a press conference at the bill’s introduction Cohen said, "It's time to create a new, honest image for marijuana. One as a form of treatment that when prescribed by responsible doctors could help thousands of patients across this commonwealth."

Three newspaper Editorial Boards endorsed the bill immediately after it was introduced: The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Pocono Record and the Daily Review of Towanda.

 

Testifying in favor of the bill: Chris Goldstein and Derek Rosenzweig of PA4MMJ; Ed Pane of Serento Gardens Treatment Center; Bradley Walter who lives with HIV; Andrew Hoover of the ACLU-PA, Criminal Defense Attorney Patrick Nightengale; MS patient John Wilson of New Jersey; Brian Gralnick of JSPAN; Bob Ceppecio of The Marijuana Policy Project along with other local patients and professionals. Signed written testimony from 26 PA residents will be presented by PA4MMJ along with 19 written submissions sent anonymously. Expert written submissions and comments came from the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, the National Lawyers Guild Philadelphia Chapter, The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey and the National Organization for the reform of Marijuana Laws Deputy Director Paul Armentano.

Several groups will testify in opposition to medical cannabis including the PA Elks Association.

The December 2nd hearings are informational and will not see a vote. The twenty-six-member committee may ask questions of the presenters and PA4MMJ is expecting a lively and educational discussion. Please visit www.pa4mmj.org

MEDIA MAY CONTACT CHRIS GOLDSTEIN DIRECTLY [email protected]

Press Release: NJ Senate Comm. to Vote on Reforming Mandatory Minimum Drug Laws

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 18, 2009 CONTACT: Tony Newman at 646-335-5384 or Roseanne Scotti at 609-610-8243 NJ Senate Judiciary Committee to Vote Monday on Groundbreaking Sentencing Bill that Would Give Judges the Discretion to Waive Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Some Nonviolent Drug Offenses Advocates Commend Legislation as Common-Sense and Reasonable Reform that Would Increase Fair and Effective Sentencing and Save Taxpayer Money On Monday, November 23, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider Senate Bill 1866, which would give judges the discretion to waive mandatory minimum sentences for some nonviolent drug offenses. The Assembly passed the companion legislation, A2762, last year and Gov. Jon Corzine has said he will sign the bill when it gets to his desk. This critically important legislation would be a groundbreaking first step in reforming New Jersey’s draconian sentencing laws for nonviolent drug offenses. Roseanne Scotti, director of Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey, applauded the committee’s willingness to consider the bill and urged passage. “Twenty years ago, New Jersey began implementing harsh mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. These laws have been a spectacular failure. They have done nothing to decrease drug activity and have filled New Jersey’s prisons with nonviolent drug offenders at great cost to New Jersey taxpayers,” said Scotti. It costs New Jersey taxpayers more than $46,000 a year to incarcerate an individual and New Jersey spends about $331 million a year just to incarcerate nonviolent drug offenders. Allowing judges some discretion would guarantee that justice is done and that taxpayer dollars are not wasted. At a time when New Jersey is facing serious budget deficits and cutting spending on education, health and other critical programs, advocates say New Jersey needs to take a hard look at policies that have mandated the warehousing of large numbers of nonviolent drug offenders at enormous cost to taxpayers. S1866/A2762 is supported by a broad coalition of organizations including Volunteers of American Delaware Valley, Corporation for Supportive Housing, New Jersey Association on Correction, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, Coalition of Community Corrections Providers of New Jersey, Women Who Never Give Up, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Hispanic Directors Association and Latino Leadership Alliance. Recently, both the Newark and Camden City Councils passed resolutions supporting S1866. When New Jersey adopted the Comprehensive Drug Reform Act in 1986, the state ushered in a radical era of harsh mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. This led to unprecedented levels of incarceration and massive taxpayer expenditures. These unfair and ineffective laws have also had an egregiously disproportionate impact on communities of color. • In 1987, only 11 percent of the New Jersey prison population was incarcerated for drug offenses. Today, 29 percent of the prison population is incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses. • Twenty years ago, only 11 percent of individuals in prison were serving mandatory minimum sentences—today 69 percent are serving mandatory terms. • In the last twenty years, New Jersey’s Corrections budget has risen from $289 million to $1.3 billion. • New Jersey spends $331 million a year to incarcerate individuals for nonviolent drug offenses. • The budget for corrections has grown by a factor of 13 while the overall budget grew only by a factor of six. • In the 1980s and 1990s, the Corrections budget grew at three times the rate of the budget for education. • Although African Americans and Latinos account for just 27 percent of the population of New Jersey, they represent 81 percent of the prison population. # # #

Press Release: Montel Williams to Receive Awards for Drug Policy Work

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 5, 2009 CONTACT: Tony Newman at 646-335-5384 or Tommy McDonald at 636-335-2242 Montel Williams, Celebrated Talk Show Host and Medical Marijuana Patient/Advocate, to Receive Award at International Drug Policy Reform Conference in New Mexico Award Recognizes Williams' Pioneering Advocacy for Compassionate Drug Laws and Safe Access to Medical Marijuana Montel Williams, veteran TV talk show host and currently the host of Montel Across America, a nationally syndicated daily radio show, will receive the The Edward M. Brecher Award for Achievement in the Field of Journalism at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Nov. 13, 2009. Williams, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses medical marijuana to relieve chronic nerve pain, is being honored by the Drug Policy Alliance for his groundbreaking journalism and outspoken advocacy on behalf of medical marijuana patients and providers. Williams will accept the award during the conference awards dinner, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Albuquerque. Since going public with his personal medical marijuana use in late 2003, Williams has tirelessly campaigned for changes in state and federal laws to expand access to marijuana as a medicine. In addition to writing Climbing Higher, his 2004 autobiography that detailed his struggle with MS and the therapeutic effects of cannabis, Williams has hosted TV shows on the topic of medical marijuana, authored Op-Ed pieces in major newspapers and used his platform as a public figure to press legislators across the country to enact new drug policies based on compassion, reason and science. In particular, Williams traveled to state capitals in Albany, NY and Trenton, NJ, as well as Washington, D.C., to urge elected officials to pass medical marijuana legislation. "I utilize medical marijuana to help alleviate the extreme neuralgic pain I suffer from," said Montel Williams. "I am not alone. There are thousands of patients like me, and we should not be treated as criminals." “Montel is in a league of his own insofar as the effort to legalize medical marijuana is concerned,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “No one has used his media pulpit as effectively and passionately as he has in combating drug war intransigence.” The Drug Policy Alliance, the nation's leading organization promoting policy alternatives to the drug war, bestows the biennial Edward M. Brecher Award to media figures who show the courage and leadership to question official drug war propaganda. Previous recipients include: ABC News Anchor Hugh Downs; Cartoonist Gary Trudeau; The Economist magazine; Rolling Stone magazine; William Finnegan, staff writer for The New Yorker; and Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness, among other distinguished honorees. The International Drug Policy Reform Conference, co-hosted by the Drug Policy Alliance in Albuquerque, NM from Nov. 12-14, 2009, brings together nearly 1000 leading international experts, treatment providers, researchers, policymakers and key activists at the leading global forum on drug policy reform. For more information or to register for the conference, please visit www.reformconference.org. To purchase tickets for the awards ceremony: http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=784745.

Press Release: NY State Assemblyman Aubry to Receive Award for Drug Policy Work

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 5, 2009 CONTACT: Tony Newman at 646-335-5384 NY State Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, Chief Sponsor of Historic Rockefeller Drug Law Reform Legislation, to Receive Award at International Drug Policy Reform Conference in New Mexico Award Recognizes Aubry's Leadership and Tenacity in Successful Effort to Roll Back Draconian New York State Drug Laws New York State Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, a longtime champion of efforts to reform New York's harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws, will receive the Justice Gerald Le Dain Award for Achievement in the Field of Law at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Nov. 13, 2009. Aubry, who introduced bills to repeal New York's mandatory drug sentencing laws in every legislative session since 1997, is being honored by the Drug Policy Alliance for his unyielding commitment to reform culminating in this year's passage of sweeping changes to the Rockefeller laws. The Justice Gerald Le Dain Award for Achievement in the Field of La is bestowed on those involved in the law who work within official institutions to challenge traditional drug war orthodoxy. Previous recipients include: Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI); federal judges Robert Sweet (NY) and John Kane (Denver); former police chiefs Joseph D. McNamara ( Kansas City and San Jose) and Nicholas Pastore (New Haven, CT); Canadian Member of Parliament Libby Davies; and other distinguished attorneys, activists, judges and others. Aubry, chair of the Assembly Standing Committee on Correction, led the successful fight to repeal mandatory minimum sentences for most low-level, nonviolent drug offenses in New York and instead return discretion to judges to determine whether to divert individuals to treatment or probation instead of incarceration. The reforms, signed into law in April by New York Gov. David Paterson and enacted in October, signal a shift toward treating drug use as public health issue rather a criminal justice matter. "Thirty-five years of a drug policy focused on punishing drug users and spending billions of dollars on incarceration has failed to reduce drug use or drug-related crime," Aubry said. "Unfortunately, we have spent hundreds of millions of dollars locking up individuals, mostly African-Americans and Latinos, with drug abuse problems rather than offering them needed drug treatment. This historic reform enacts a sensible, comprehensive and cost-effective approach for dealing with nonviolent drug offenders and will ensure that drug abusers are able to access effective substance abuse treatment and counseling." Aubry has represented the 35th Assembly District in Queens since 1992. He previously served as Director of Economic Development for the Borough President's Office of Queens. For 16 years, he worked in the drug treatment program at Elmcor Youth and Adult Activities, one of the largest nonprofit social service agencies in Queens. Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said, “I don’t know of any state legislator in the country who has fought so long, so hard, and now so successfully to reform a drug war injustice as Jeff Aubry.” The International Drug Policy Reform Conference, co-hosted by the Drug Policy Alliance in Albuquerque, NM from Nov. 12-14, 2009, is the outstanding gathering in the world of people working to reform local, national and foreign drug policies. For more information or to register for the conference, please visit www.reformconference.org. To purchase tickets for the awards ceremony: http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=784745.

Medical marijuana override falls short in New Hampshire

Marijuana Policy Project

Marijuana Policy Project Alert

October 28, 2009

Drop Shadow

Dear friends:

Today, the New Hampshire legislature came just shy of voting to override Gov. John Lynch (D)'s veto of the state's proposed medical marijuana law. Two-thirds of the votes were needed. Although we cleared the House with 67.6% of the vote (240-115), it lost in the Senate, 14-10.

The bill had passed the legislature in June, by 232-108 in the House and 14-10 in the Senate. But on July 10, Gov. Lynch vetoed the bill, after refusing to meet with 15 patients and after failing to give input to the legislative conference committee, which amended the bill to address each of the eight concerns he had voiced in April.

To override the veto and pass the bill into law, we needed supportive votes from two-thirds of voting members of the House and 16 votes in the Senate.

Coming so close to victory makes losing more painful. Yet the support of MPP’s 29,000 dues-paying members allowed us to wage a fierce fight: We retained a top lobbying firm in the state and funded an outstanding organizer, Matt Simon, who leads the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy. We also ran tens of thousands of dollars of TV, radio, and print ads featuring patients who were counting on the governor and legislature to do the right thing and generated hundreds of e-mails, calls, and faxes and postcards to the governor and key legislators.

But the bill faced strong opposition from the state's attorney general and chiefs of police.

However, we’re determined to see New Hampshire medical marijuana patients protected from arrest and jail. 71% of New Hampshire voters support allowing seriously and terminally ill patients to use and grow medical marijuana for personal use if their doctors recommend it, according to a 2008 Mason-Dixon poll.

Would you help us come back even stronger? Please don’t let the New Hampshire patients who spoke out publicly in support of this bill be ignored. Donate what you can today.

Need one more reason? Do it for the memory of Scott Turner, a New Hampshire medical marijuana patient and activist who died August 4 after a long and painful battle with degenerative joint disease and degenerative disc disease.

Together, we're going to win this fight.

Thank you,

Rob Signature

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.

 

MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in our 2009 strategic plan if you and other allies are able to fund our work.

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Press Release: State Assembly to Hold Historic Hearing on Marijuana Regulation Wednesday 10/28/09

MEDIA ADVISORY                                                                                                              
OCTOBER 27, 2009

State Assembly to Hold Historic Hearing on Marijuana Regulation Wednesday 10/28
Press Conference at 9 a.m. Followed by Hearing in Public Safety Committee

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications …………… 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA — On Wednesday, the California Assembly Public Safety Committee will hold a historic hearing on the implications of taxing and regulating marijuana similarly to alcoholic beverages. The informational hearing marks the first time California’s legislature has considered ending marijuana prohibition since California first banned marijuana in 1913. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), chair of the committee, is author of AB 390, the Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act. A press conference will precede the hearing.

            WHAT: Press conference and Public Safety Committee informational hearing on taxing and regulating marijuana.

            WHO: Speaking at the press conference will be Assemblyman Tom Ammiano; Aaron Smith, Marijuana Policy Project; Stephen Gutwillig, Drug Policy Alliance; and Dale Gieringer, California NORML. Available to answer questions at the news conference and testifying at the hearing will be: Terence Hallinan, former district attorney, City and County of San Francisco; Dan Macallair, executive director, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice; Jim Gray, retired judge, Orange County Superior Court; Rev. Canon Mary Moreno-Richardson, Episcopal priest, Hispanic Ministries at St. Paul’s Cathedral, San Diego; Tamar Todd, staff attorney, Drug Policy Alliance Network; Allen Hopper, counsel, American Civil Liberties Union.

            WHERE: State Capitol, Sacramento. Press conference in Room 317, hearing in Room 126.

            WHEN: Press conference at 9 a.m., hearing at 10 a.m.

         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 http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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