Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

MARCH 17, 2010

Medical Marijuana Qualifies for November Ballot in South Dakota

“Measure 13” Would Allow Seriously Ill Patients to Use Medical Marijuana With a Doctor’s Recommendation

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

Emmett Reistroffer, South Dakota Coalition for Compassion … 605-370-1108, [email protected]

         PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA — In November 2010, South Dakotans will once again have the opportunity to make the medical use of marijuana legal in the state. The South Dakota Coalition for Compassion, a nonprofit group composed of physicians, patients, law enforcement officials and private citizens, received word from the Secretary of State this week that “Measure 13” had qualified for the ballot. The campaign submitted close to 32,000 signatures last month. They needed just 16,776 valid signatures to qualify.

         South Dakotans voted on a similar initiative in 2006, with the measure narrowly failing by a 52% to 48% margin. This year’s “South Dakota Safe Access Act” is sponsored by Patrick K. Lynch, former chairman of the board for the North Central States Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and was drafted with the assistance of the Marijuana Policy Project.

         “We are excited that South Dakota voters will have another opportunity to make the medical use of marijuana legal for patients in the state,” said Steve Fox, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project. “Given the increasing level of support for medical marijuana across the country over the past few years, we are fully confident that a solid majority of voters in the state will support patients’ rights this November.”

         The initiative, if passed into law, would allow medical marijuana cardholders to possess up to one ounce of marijuana if they have been diagnosed with or are undergoing treatment for certain cancers, glaucoma, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, seizures or multiple sclerosis, along with other specifically diagnosable ailments. The initiative outlines specific disabilities that qualify patients for use, rules regarding registration cards, distribution, and rules for establishing a registry for medical marijuana users.

         The entire initiative can be read at http://www.sdcompassion.org/sdsaa.htm

         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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MEDIA ADVISORY                                                                                                                                               

MARCH 17, 2010                                                                                                                                                     

Medical Marijuana Bill to Be Debated by Senate Committee on Thursday

SB 627 Would Allow Seriously Ill Patients to Use Medical Marijuana With Doctor’s Recommendation

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

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND— Tomorrow, on Thursday, March 18, the state Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee will receive testimony on SB 627, a bill that would make Maryland the 15^th state in the nation to have an effective medical marijuana law. Sponsored by Frederick County Republican Sen. David Brinkley, the bill would allow pharmacies or other state-regulated outlets to dispense medical marijuana to patients who receive a recommendation from their doctor. The bipartisan bill is cosponsored by Senate President Mike Miller, Minority Leader Allan Kittleman, Minority Whip Nancy Jacobs, and Deputy Majority Leader Robert Garigiola, among others.

         WHAT: Hearing on SB 627, a medical marijuana bill in Maryland

         WHERE: 2 East, Miller Senate Building, 11 Bladen Street, Annapolis, MD

WHEN: Thursday, March 18, at 1 p.m. (Please note that 11 bills are scheduled for the 1:00 p.m. hearing and we don’t know what order they will be called in.)

         WHO: Patients, advocates and others will testify

         The House Judiciary and Health and Government Operations committees heard testimony Feb. 26 on HB 712, companion legislation sponsored by Del. Dan Morhaim (D-Baltimore County), an E.R. physician, and cosponsored by 47 other delegates. Several doctors, patients and advocates spoke in support of the bill during the previous hearing, and a similar turnout is expected Thursday.

         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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MEDIA ADVISORY                                                                                                                                               

MARCH 17, 2010                                                                                                                                                     

Kansas Medical Marijuana Bill to be Subject of Informational Hearing Today

Rep. Gail Finney Has Proposed a Bill that Would Allow Doctors to Recommend Medical Marijuana for Seriously Ill Patients

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

TOPEKA, KANSAS— Today, the Kansas House Health and Human Services Committee will hold an informational hearing on a medical marijuana bill proposed by Rep. Gail Finney. Under the proposal, doctors could recommend medical marijuana to patients with serious illnesses such as cancer or HIV/AIDS. Fourteen other states, including Colorado and New Mexico, have passed similar laws.

         WHAT: Informational presentation on medical marijuana

         WHERE: Docking State Office Building, Room 784, 915 SW, Harrison Street, Topeka

WHEN: Wednesday, March 17, at 1 p.m.

         WHO: Patients, medical professionals, and others will speak.  

         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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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

MARCH 16, 2010

MPP Calls for National Boycott of Wal-Mart

Corporation Fired a Michigan Patient For Using Medical Marijuana Under State Law With a Doctor’s Recommendation

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

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the nation’s largest marijuana policy reform organization called upon shoppers across the country to boycott Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in order to protest the unjust and potentially unlawful firing of Joseph Casias, a 29-year-old medical marijuana patient and sinus cancer survivor who suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. Casias’s cancer is in remission, and marijuana alleviates his pain that resulted from it. The Marijuana Policy Project is asking shoppers to demand that Wal-Mart abandon its discriminatory policy of firing employees who are legal medical marijuana patients under state law.

         After dutifully working at a Wal-Mart in Battle Creek, Michigan, for five years, Casias was suddenly terminated because he tested positive for marijuana during a drug screening administered after he sprained his knee on the job. Casias, who was named store Associate of the Year in 2008, is a registered medical marijuana patient in Michigan, where it is legal to use medical marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation.

         “It’s despicable that Wal-Mart would fire such a hardworking and seriously ill employee simply for treating his symptoms with a medicine that he is authorized to use under state law,” said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project and lead drafter of Michigan’s medical marijuana law. “Would Wal-Mart also fire someone for taking doctor-prescribed Percocet, or any of the other legal medications sold in many of Wal-Mart’s own stores?”  

         Casias’s firing violates the “Michigan Medical Marihuana Act,” which reads in part that a qualifying patient shall not be “denied any right or privilege, including but not limited to … disciplinary action by a business or occupational or professional licensing board or bureau, for the medical use of marihuana.” Under the law, the definition of “medical use” contains “internal possession”— having marijuana in one’s system. The law does not require employers to allow the “ingestion of marihuana in any workplace” or employees to work while under the influence, but there is no allegation that Casias used marijuana at work or worked while impaired.  To add further insult to injury, Wal-Mart is contesting Casias’s eligibility for unemployment.

         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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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     
Date:  March 11, 2010                                       
Contact: [email protected]              
 

BREAKING NEWS:
Senate Judiciary Votes to Reform Federal Crack Cocaine Sentencing Policies
Eliminates first mandatory minimum since Nixon Administration

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Moments ago, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed a bill that would reduce the sentencing disparity between federal crack and powder cocaine offenses. 

The bipartisan vote to approve an amended version of Senator Richard Durbin’s (D-Ill.) bill, S. 1789, acknowledged that disparate sentencing policies enacted for federal crack cocaine offenses in 1986 have had a negative impact on the nation’s criminal justice system. 

The amended bill would reduce the ratio between crack and powder cocaine from 100:1 to 20:1 and direct the U.S. Sentencing Commission to enhance penalties for aggravating factors like violence or bribery of a law enforcement officer.  Significantly, the bill also would eliminate the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack.

“This is an exciting vote, but also disappointing.  We hoped the Committee would go further in making crack penalties the same as powder.  There was no scientific basis for the 100:1 disparity between crack and powder cocaine created 24 years ago, and there is no scientific basis for today’s vote of 20:1 ,” said FAMM President Julie Stewart. “However, if this imperfect bill becomes law, it will provide some long-overdue relief to thousands of defendants sentenced each year.

With regard to the bill’s provision that would eliminate the mandatory sentence for simple possession of crack, Ms. Stewart stated, “If enacted, this legislation would repeal a mandatory minimum law for the first time since the Nixon administration.”

Under the Senate’s proposed 20:1 ratio, a conviction for 28 grams of crack cocaine will trigger a five year prison sentence and for 280 grams of crack a 10 year sentence.   The 20:1 ratio could affect an estimated 3,100 cases annually, reducing sentences by an average of about 30 months.  The bill would not, however, reduce sentences for those currently incarcerated for crack offenses.  Impact of the amendment’s other provisions has not yet been calculated. 

The House Judiciary Committee passed its own crack cocaine sentencing reform bill on July 29.  H.R. 3245, the Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act of 2009, introduced by Congressman Robert “Bobby” Scott (D-V.A.), removes references to “cocaine base” from the U.S. Code, thus treating all cocaine, including crack, the same for sentencing purposes.

Families Against Mandatory Minimums is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization supporting fair and proportionate sentencing laws that allow judicial discretion while maintaining public safety.  For more information on FAMM, visit www.famm.org or contact Monica Pratt Raffanel at [email protected]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

MARCH 10, 2010

More States Embrace Marijuana Decriminalization

Measures to impose a fine for marijuana possession make key advances this month in New Hampshire, Hawaii, and Vermont

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

WASHINGTON, DC — With numerous states facing significant budget shortages, legislators and voters across the country this month have been giving overwhelming support to measures that would reduce the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana to a civil fine.

         Yesterday in New Hampshire, the state House voted 214-137 to pass H.B. 1653, a bill that would reduce the penalty for possession of up to a quarter-ounce of marijuana with a civil fine of up to $200.

         In Hawaii, the state Senate voted 22 to 3 on March 2 to pass SB 2450, a bill that would eliminate 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.

         And in Vermont, 72% of voters in Montpelier approved a non-binding ordinance asking the state legislature “to pass a bill to replace criminal penalties with a civil fine for adults who possess a small amount of marijuana.”

         “Taken together, these developments demonstrate how an increasing number of voters and lawmakers across the country no longer support the notion that otherwise law-abiding citizens should be arrested, slapped with a criminal record and possibly thrown behind bars, simply for choosing to use a substance that is safer than alcohol,” said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. “We know from efforts in other states that decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana allows police to focus on more serious crimes and also produces a net financial gain through saved law-enforcement costs and the revenue generated by civil fines. Lawmakers everywhere should take heed of these examples, especially in these troubled economic times.” 

         Currently 12 states have laws that reduce the penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana to a civil fine. A decriminalization bill in Rhode Island is co-sponsored by 48% of House members.  

         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 10, 2010

New Hampshire House Passes Bill to Reduce Penalties for Marijuana Possession

Nearly 61% of House Members Vote in Favor

CONTACT: Matt Simon, NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy…………………(603) 391-7450

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE – The New Hampshire House of Representatives today voted, as it did in 2008, to reduce the penalty for possessing one-quarter ounce or less of marijuana. House Bill 1653 passed by a 214-137 vote. Previously, the bill had been recommended “out to pass” in a 16-2 vote by the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee February 11.

            “This makes three years in a row that the House has passed a bill attempting to reform New Hampshire’s archaic marijuana policies,” said Matt Simon, executive director for the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy. “Unfortunately, Gov. Lynch has continued to show little interest in learning what the House has learned about these issues.

            In 2008, a measure similar to HB 1653 passed the House in a 193-141 vote, and last year a bill allowing marijuana for seriously ill patients passed the House and Senate before being vetoed by Gov. Lynch.

            Advocates stressed that the proposed policy would continue to discourage marijuana use, especially by those under 18, who would be required to complete a drug awareness program and community service if caught with less than one-quarter ounce of marijuana.

            “This bill doesn’t make marijuana legal for anybody,” Simon said. “It just reduces the penalty and ends the wasteful practice of clogging up our criminal justice system with people whose only ‘crime’ is possessing small amounts of marijuana.”

            Rep. Joel Winters (D-Manchester) supported the bill in the floor debate. “Passage of this bill will simply mean we’ve gotten smarter—that police can now waste less time dealing with marijuana users and have more time and resources freed up for dealing with serious crimes,” he told his colleagues.

            Since 1973, 12 states have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, including neighbor states Maine and Massachusetts, as well as North Carolina, Ohio, Nebraska and Mississippi.

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MEDIA ADVISORY           

MARCH 10, 2010

Medical Marijuana Patients Will Ask Legislators to Support Safe Access at Thursday Press Conference

Proposed legislation would make Massachusetts 15^th state to have effective medical marijuana law

[email protected]

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS — Tomorrow, Thursday, at 1:30 p.m. at the Grand Staircase at the State House, a group of medical marijuana patients and advocates will hold a press conference to ask state lawmakers to support a medical marijuana law in Massachusetts.

            The state legislature’s Joint Committee on Pubic Health is currently considering bill that would make Massachusetts the 15^th state in the nation to give seriously ill patients safe and legal access to medical marijuana.

            WHAT: Press conference to ask state lawmakers to support proposed medical marijuana bill

            WHEN: Thursday, March 11, at 1:30 p.m.     

            WHERE: Grand Staircase, in the State House, Boston, MA.

           

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                     

MARCH 9, 2010

Group Cries Foul Over U.N. Anti-Drug Agency Meddling with State Laws in the U.S.

International Narcotic Control Board says it is “deeply concerned” that states’ medical marijuana laws send “wrong message to other countries”

CONTACT: Aaron Houston, MPP director of government relations …… 202-905-2009 or [email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Marijuana Policy Project today denounced efforts by the United Nations’ International Narcotic Control Board (INCB) — currently meeting in Vienna, Austria — to meddle in marijuana reform in the United States. In a recent report, the INCB said they were “deeply concerned” that the country’s 14 state medical marijuana laws are sending the “wrong message to other countries.”

         Additionally, the INCB is “concerned over the ongoing discussion in several states on legalizing and taxing the ‘recreational’ use of cannabis, which would be a serious contravention of the 1961 convention.” However, the Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs treaty explicitly grants exception for any country to make laws that agree with its constitutional and legal requirements; therefore, the U.S. is complying with the treaty.

         “The last thing the INCB should be doing is meddling in our states’ affairs,” stated Aaron Houston, MPP director of government relations. “We are a federalist society and our states are granted the right to decide their own policy—not the federal government, and certainly not the United Nations. Who is the U.N. to tell Texas, Mississippi, Ohio or any other state what to do?”

         The INCB has also criticized several Latin American countries (Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina) for decriminalizing possession of some narcotics, including marijuana.

         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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DRUG POLICY ALLIANCE

www.drugpolicy.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE          Contact: Margaret Dooley-Sammuli (213) 291-4190
March 8, 2010                                                       or Tommy McDonald (510)229-5215

$90 Million in Federal Funds Going to California Counties
for Drug Treatment & Probation

Advocates Applaud Investment in Crime Prevention

Top-Receiving Counties are Los Angeles, San Diego & Orange

SACRAMENTO – California’s 58 counties are in line to receive almost $90 million in federal funds for community-based drug treatment and probation supervision. Local advocates applauded the investment in crime prevention, which is expected to reduce recidivism and associated criminal justice costs, and called on the Legislature to repeat the investment in next year’s budget.

In 2010, Los Angeles County, the state’s largest county, will receive $10.6 million for community treatment and $11.2 million for probation supervision, according to the California Emergency Management Agency, which administers the distribution of these annual federal funds. The State Legislature has yet to determine how to spend the next batch of these federal resources.

“Investing in the front-end of California’s public safety continuum is good for public safety and the budget. Alcohol and drug treatment reduces problematic drug use and prevents crime, which means fewer crime victims and lower costs throughout the criminal justice system – from policing and courts to incarceration and re-entry,” says Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance in Southern California.

As drug treatment funding is slashed and probation departments struggle to provide adequate supervision, advocates are concerned that the county-level crime prevention network is breaking down. Individuals on felony probation who do not succeed – many of them with untreated drug problems – are sent to prison at a cost to taxpayers of $49,000 per person per year. In contrast, drug treatment and probation cost a fraction of that amount.

“It’s essential that California maintain community services like drug treatment in order to prevent crime and cut costs. More federal dollars are coming to California. The question for the Legislature is simple: do we want to spend $5,000 for drug treatment and probation or $50,000 for a year in prison? Drug treatment can make the difference between success and failure for many people. Let’s keep investing in success,” Dooley-Sammuli continued.

The federal funds came to California through the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. In the next few months, California will receive another $35 million in federal JAG funds and the Legislature will determine how to spend it. Advocates are urging the Legislature to direct these new monies to treatment and probation systems in order to prevent crime and cut costs. According to UCLA researchers, each $1 invested in California’s ten-year-old, voter-approved treatment-instead-of-incarceration law, Proposition 36, cuts state costs by $2-$4.

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