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Very Important Montel Speech on Allowing Americans to use Pot instead of Pills Very Important URGENT: Congress to vote on medical marijuana this Tuesday Dear Supporter of Legalization According to our records, you have not yet e-mailed your Congressperson to ask him or her to vote for the medical marijuana amendment that the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on this Tuesday, June 14.
If you were to send only one e-mail this year to stop the government's war on medical marijuana users, now is the time. Would you please take one minute to visit the Marijuana Policy Project's easy online system to e-mail your Congressperson today? In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's historic ruling four days ago, it's more important than ever that we push Congress to protect patients from arrest and jail. URGENT: TAKE ACTION NOW!
FDA to Review Report of Brain Disease Linked With Tysabri If she was allowed to smoke Pot for MS, she would not have suffered those side affects. URGENT: Congress to vote on medical marijuana this Tuesday The 14th of 2005 Dear Supporter of Legalization If you were to send only one e-mail this year to stop the government's war on medical marijuana users, now is the time. Would you please take one minute to visit the Marijuana Policy Project's easy online system to e-mail your Congressperson today? In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's historic ruling four days ago, it's more important than ever that we push Congress to protect patients from arrest and jail. URGENT: TAKE ACTION NOW!
Today, June 15, the U.S. House of Representatives defeated by a vote of 161-264 an amendment that would have prevented the DEA and the U.S. Department of Justice from spending taxpayer money to raid and prosecute medical marijuana patients and providers. Although we lost, we can be proud that today's vote was a much stronger showing than political observers had predicted, in large part because of the nearly 10,000 letters that MPP members and allies sent to their U.S. representatives in the last week. Fully 72% of House Democrats voted for our amendment, and 15 House Republicans bucked their hostile congressional leaders and the White House to vote "yes."
URGENT: Congress to vote on medical marijuana this Tuesday Dear Supporter of Legalization According to our records, you have not yet e-mailed your Congressperson to ask him or her to vote for the medical marijuana amendment that the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on this Tuesday, June 14.
If you were to send only one e-mail this year to stop the government's war on medical marijuana users, now is the time. Would you please take one minute to visit the Marijuana Policy Project's easy online system to e-mail your Congressperson today? In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's historic ruling four days ago, it's more important than ever that we push Congress to protect patients from arrest and jail. URGENT: TAKE ACTION NOW!
Please click here to send a free fax or e-mail asking your Congressperson to vote "yes" on the medical marijuana amendment scheduled to come to the House floor for a vote four days from now. It will take only a minute, but it could have a huge impact on medical marijuana policy nationwide. The amendment, introduced by U.S. Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), would bar the U.S. Justice Department — which includes the DEA — from raiding, arresting, and prosecuting medical marijuana patients who are complying with state laws.
THE COUNTRY IS DEMANDING CHANGE — PLEASE ADD YOUR VOICE.
Since Monday's Supreme Court ruling, a growing public outcry is arising against the federal government's war on medical marijuana patients. Today, the Chicago Tribune joined a growing list of leading newspapers' editorial pages that are calling for Congress to take action, writing: "One president after another, and one drug czar after another, has insisted on treating pot as intolerable for any reason. The policy is an embarrassment based on misinformation and blind ideology. It's time Congress demanded a change." The editorial endorses the Hinchey amendment, accuses Drug Czar John Walters of misrepresenting the research, and cites MPP's work on the issue. Read more here.
And with the Supreme Court stressing that change should come from Congress, not the courts, some legislators are taking that to heart: One day after the Court's ruling, the Rhode Island Senate passed MPP's medical marijuana bill by a crushing 34-2 vote ... Then last night, it went on to pass a resolution calling upon Congress to pass the Hinchey amendment and directing the Rhode Island secretary of state to deliver the resolution to the Rhode Island delegation to Congress. And on Wednesday, activists demonstrated outside congressional offices around the country, calling for Congress to pass the amendment and protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail. Would you please add your voice to theirs by taking action now?
As of noon today, 4,358 subscribers on this e-mail list had sent letters to their Congresspersons. MPP's goal is to send 10,000 letters to Congress by the time of the vote, but we won't be able to achieve that goal without your help. You must let your U.S. representative know that this vote is important to you.
PLEASE HELP TODAY.
If you've read this far and still haven't clicked on the link, please click it now . Medical marijuana patients are counting on you.
Thank you,
Rob Kampia P.S. Click here to send an alert to your friends.
Sponsor a patient to use marijuana Thank you for your past use of the Marijuana
Policy Project's free Legislative Action Center to ask your
congressional representatives for more sensible marijuana policies.
Act now to block increased marijuana penalties in California
The California Senate recently approved S.B. 797, a bill that would more than double the fine for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, from $100 to $250. The bill, which has just arrived in the California Assembly and will soon be assigned to a committee, would also allow prosecutors to downgrade a first offense from a misdemeanor to a criminal infraction. The bill has picked up momentum in passing through the Senate, but it can still be stopped. Please write to your Assembly member and tell him or her to oppose S.B. 797. In just a few clicks, you can send a pre-written letter or e-mail to your legislator. While increasing fines is obviously alarming — as it can mean jail time for defendants who cannot afford to pay them — you may wonder why the Marijuana Policy Project also opposes allowing prosecutors to downgrade a first offense to a criminal infraction. Well, a complete downgrade could be beneficial, but this bill would make marijuana possession a "wobblet," meaning prosecutors could choose to charge offenders either with criminal infractions or with misdemeanors. If a prosecutor chooses to charge a defendant with a misdemeanor, the defendant will still maintain the right to a public defender and a trial by jury. Conversely, when charged with a criminal infraction, a defendant loses these rights. When charged with criminal infractions, many low-income offenders — who cannot afford legal representation — may be unjustly found guilty. In short, this could mean higher conviction rates throughout the state. Please take action to oppose S.B. 797. After you've written your Assembly member, please follow up with a call. Click here to find your legislator's contact information. It takes only a few moments to call and politely say the following: "I recently wrote to you expressing my opposition to S.B. 797. I hope that you will oppose S.B. 797 too. Thank you for your time." Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) — S.B. 797's sponsor — may have good intentions behind this bill, but increased fines and conviction rates will only harm Californians. In just a few minutes, you can make a tremendous difference in protecting responsible adults from this harsh legislation. In other news, three California counties — Amador, Del Norte, and Mendocino — have begun issuing identification cards for medical marijuana patients and caregivers, in a pilot program under the California Department of Health's supervision. Trinity County will begin its program in a few weeks, and the state is expected to expand the program to other counties by the end of the year.
MPP favors the voluntary medical marijuana ID card program. Registry ID cards make it easy for law enforcement to quickly determine that a patient has his or her doctor's recommendation. This helps prevent the detention and arrest of legitimate patients. Please visit http://mpp.org/CA/news.html, for more information.
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please forward this message to friends and family around the state. With your help, we can further marijuana policy reform in California.
Sponsor a patient to use marijuana Dear Friends of Prohibitions reform The Marijuana Policy Project's patient sponsorship program in Montana has been so successful that now we have a problem ... We cannot afford to help the rush of patients who are contacting our office because they want to use and grow medical marijuana legally in Montana — but cannot pay the $200 fee that would enable them to do so. Would you please keep a patient out of jail in Montana — or in Vermont — by making a tax-deductible donation today? Last year, Vermont and Montana became the ninth and tenth states to make medical marijuana legal, thanks to MPP's intensive lobbying and public education campaigns (and despite heavy opposition from the White House). Four months ago, MPP launched a landmark program to help low-income patients in both states to obtain government-issued registry cards that allow patients to use and grow marijuana legally under state law. (Please click here and here for some of the news coverage of this.) Since the launch of our program, we've provided financial assistance to 24 patients in Montana and seven patients and one caregiver in Vermont. Adding to these the patients who had enough money to pay their own fees, there are now a total of 114 legal patients in Montana and 11 in Vermont. The Montana number is rising so rapidly that there could be 300 legal patients there by the end of this year; in Vermont, the number is rising slowly because Vermont's law is more restrictive, and we haven't had the resources to publicize the program properly. We estimate there are more than 1,000 patients who need to use medical marijuana in each state. But, unfortunately, there is no money left in MPP's sponsorship fund, to which the subscribers on this e-mail list generously donated $2,915 a couple of months ago. If you haven't yet donated to MPP this year, would you please click here to sponsor a low-income medical marijuana patient, so that no patient will risk arrest because he or she cannot afford the fee? Patients are eligible for assistance through MPP's program if they qualify for their state's registry program and their household income is no more than 150% above the federal poverty level. Please help ensure
that no patient will risk arrest because of his or her income level. Thank
you for any assistance you can lend! Rob Kampia |
All written word is "The Opinion" of Thomas A. unless otherwise noted...
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