|
Home
Up
Games and Diversions
Star Wars.com
Chritian Radio Stations
On line Radio
Art Work by Sutor T
Chronic Pain Sufferers
Sermons by Sutor
World Peace Initiative
The Homosexual Code
philosophy the love of wisdom
Jews Killing Jews
Work Comp Injury
The Scroll
Fantastic Photography
Written Word
Weekly Radio Station Spotlight
Leagalizing Marijuana
Daily Photo
Free Audio Players
African Radio Stations
Asian Radio Stations
Canada Radio Stations
Oceanic Radio Stations
European Radio Stations
Middle East
United States
South America Radio Stations
An Educated Guess
Translate Web Pages
Presidential Contenders
Google Home Page
Poetry Corner
30307 PC Repair
| | 
The Events that shaped Marijuana in 2006
Join us to explore a Massachusetts decriminalization initiative
The Marijuana Policy Project will be working with other groups in Massachusetts to explore the possibility of placing a "decriminalization" initiative on the
November 2008 ballot. To kick everything off, MPP executive director Rob Kampia will be meeting with supportive groups and individuals at a fundraising party in Boston on Thursday, February 22.
This will be an opportunity for supporters of marijuana policy reform to meet other supporters and local VIPs — as well as to make a financial donation that
would go toward polling.
What: Fundraiser to explore the possibility of a statewide decriminalization initiative
Who: MPP executive director Rob Kampia, New England Policy Advocates (NEPA), the ACLU of Massachusetts, Unitarian Universalists for Drug Policy Reform, other supporters — and you
Where: 101 Tremont Street, Fourth Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02108
When: Thursday, February 22, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Please contact NEPA’s Whitney Taylor at 617-451-1907 or at wataylor@mac.com to RSVP.
Supporters of decriminalization will also be holding a forum to discuss plans for a proposed initiative, and why such a thing should be supported, on the
Sunday after the Boston event. MPP’s Rob Kampia will be the guest speaker for this event. There will be a cash bar.
What: Forum on the decriminalization of marijuana
Who: Hosted by Joseph White of left bank consulting, Rob Cohn of Winterland Country Club, Attorney Ed Berlin, E. Joseph McCarthy, Bill Magee, and others
Where: Winterland Country Club, Hope Street (across from Armory), Greenfield, Massachusetts
When: Sunday, February 25, 12:00 p.m. (noon)
The Boston and Greenfield dates will be exploratory events to determine if activists and donors in Massachusetts are willing to invest the necessary time and
money to put a possible initiative on the November 2008 ballot. Such a measure would eliminate the threat of arrest and jail for adults in possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. Instead, this offense would be
punishable by a citation and a $100 fine.
We hope to see you all at the receptions, and please tell your family and friends about the events. Thank you for your ongoing support of the Marijuana
Policy Project and reform in Massachusetts.
New research confirms marijuana's medical benefits
Dear Tom Sutor:
On Tuesday, a research team led by Dr. Donald Abrams of the University of California at San Francisco published a landmark study showing that marijuana provides unique
medicinal benefits.
The report, which was published in the journal Neurology, found that smoking marijuana significantly reduced a specific type of pain that often afflicts patients with
HIV/AIDS. Patients suffering from peripheral neuropathy can feel as if their hands and feet are on fire, or as if they're being stabbed with a knife. Neuropathic pain — that is, pain caused by damage to the nerves —
is also common in several other illnesses, including multiple sclerosis.
In response, David Murray, the top "scientist" at the White House drug czar's office, said, "People who smoke marijuana are subject to bacterial infections in the lungs. Is
this really what a physician who is treating someone with a compromised immune system wants to prescribe?" The White House never disappoints us with its firm commitment to avoiding reality.
In any case, Dr. Abrams' study has been generating widespread media coverage. Articles appeared in the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, Miami Herald,
Seattle Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. And Bruce Mirken, MPP's communications director, was interviewed on ABC TV's Bay Area affiliate station, as well as on several radio stations
across the country, and was quoted in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, which you can read here.
Since the advent of AIDS, medical practitioners have been able to do very little to ease the suffering caused by neuropathy. Indeed, there are no FDA-approved treatments for
peripheral neuropathy in HIV patients. Even powerful, dangerous, and highly addictive narcotic painkillers are often ineffective in mitigating this pain.
Yet in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (the "gold standard" of scientific research), a majority of HIV/AIDS patients participating in the study
experienced more than 30% pain reduction after smoking marijuana. By some measures, the pain relief was even greater. Considering that the study used government-supplied marijuana of notoriously poor quality, the
benefits of medical marijuana could easily be greater than the study results indicate.
The study further underscores the need to change laws to allow for legal access to medical marijuana for seriously ill
patients. MPP is currently working to pass such laws in Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and New York, as well as pursuing legislation on the federal level to protect patients in the 11 states that have already
passed medical marijuana laws. Please visit www.mpp.org/2007plan for more information.
This study, the medical marijuana lawsuit victory that I told you about yesterday, and our progress in the states and in Congress show that the momentum is on our side for
ending the government's war on sick people. Would you please consider making a donation to MPP today, so that we can
continue pushing hard? I am grateful for anything that you can give.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
Minnesota Senate committee passes medical marijuana bill
Earlier today, the Minnesota Senate Health, Housing and Family Security Committee — in an overwhelming, bipartisan voice vote — passed S.F. 345, a medical marijuana bill sponsored by Sen. Steve Murphy (DFL-Red Wing). This compassionate legislation will protect
seriously ill patients from arrest for using marijuana with their doctors’ recommendations. This is an excellent first step toward making Minnesota the 12th state to end the cruel policy of criminalizing
the seriously ill. S.F. 345 now heads to the Judiciary Committee.
Although the momentum is clearly on our side, letters unfairly attacking Sen. Murphy for sponsoring S.F. 345 were recently published in the Winona Daily News and the
Rochester Post-Bulletin. If you live in the areas around Winona or Rochester, please write a letter to the editor of these papers thanking Sen. Murphy for sponsoring this humane and sensible bill. Even if
you don’t live in southeastern Minnesota, take a moment to write a letter to the editor of your local papers. We've provided you some basic
talking points that you can use in your letter, but a personally crafted letter is much more likely to get published. It's vital for state legislators to see examples of the widespread, statewide support this sensible
legislation enjoys.
If you have not already done so, please also write a letter to your legislators urging
them to support Sen. Murphy's medical marijuana bill. We already have several pre-written letters available for you to use, and with our automated system it will take just a couple of moments to send a letter to your
state senator and representative.
In the House, Rep. Tom Huntley (DFL-Duluth) is leading a bipartisan coalition of 18 co-sponsors — including former speaker of the House, Rep. Steve Sviggum
(R-Kenyon) — on H.F. 655, the House companion bill to S.F. 345. Hearings will be scheduled on H.F. 655 soon.
With massive public support — a statewide poll conducted by Zogby International in February 2005 showed that Minnesotans support medical marijuana by a 2-1
margin — and with reputable organizations such as the Minnesota Nurses Association endorsing S.F. 345, MPP is hopeful that this is the year that seriously ill Minnesotans will get the protection they deserve. Please
do your part to change this irrational public policy and help maintain the bill’s momentum; take action now.
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this message along to friends, family, neighbors, and e-mail lists so that others can
stand up for Minnesota's most vulnerable residents.
Medical marijuana advocates win lawsuit against DEA!
Dear Tom Sutor:
Medical marijuana advocates won a major victory against the federal government yesterday: In a
stinging 87-page opinion, the DEA’s own administrative law judge (ALJ) ruled that the DEA has been improperly blocking medical marijuana research.
The MPP grants program provided money for the lawsuit. News of the lawsuit victory was covered by more than 100 media outlets, including the Boston Globe,
Boston Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. You can read the Associated Press story here.
Right now, any researcher who wants to study the therapeutic effects of marijuana must obtain permission from the DEA and a supply of government-grown
marijuana from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). This has proven to be incredibly difficult, as NIDA’s mission is to investigate marijuana’s potential harms, not medicinal benefits, and the DEA is outright
hostile to medical marijuana research.
Professor Lyle Craker of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, working in conjunction with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies,
has been trying for years to solve this problem. Back in 2001, he applied to the DEA for permission to grow a private supply of marijuana for use in clinical research. The DEA delayed making a decision for nearly
three and a half years and then finally rejected Dr. Craker’s application, fallaciously claiming that international treaty obligations prevented it from granting permission.
But yesterday, DEA ALJ Ellen Bittner ruled that the DEA had no basis to reject Dr. Craker’s application.
Unfortunately, the decision to authorize the clinical trials needed to persuade the FDA to approve marijuana as a prescription medicine is now in the hands
of America's top drug cop, DEA chief Karen Tandy.
Unlike in other areas of U.S. jurisprudence, the DEA administrator can ignore the ruling of the DEA’s ALJ. Indeed, this happened in 1988, when the DEA’s ALJ
ruled that marijuana has medical value and should therefore be rescheduled from Schedule I to Schedule II under federal law. The DEA administrator refused to do so and, as a result, federal law still incorrectly
asserts that marijuana is as dangerous as heroin and LSD — and that cocaine and methamphetamine have more medicinal value than marijuana.
Prohibitionists have long argued that the 11 states that have legalized medical marijuana in the last 11 years should not have done so, claiming that the
decision to allow for the medical use of a drug should be determined through FDA-approved clinical trials.
If Tandy refuses to authorize clinical trials or — more likely — she delays, this will provide MPP with an additional incentive — and a strong public
justification — for spending a few million dollars to pass additional state-level medical marijuana laws through state legislatures and ballot initiatives.
To help MPP continue to fight the federal government, please consider making a financial donation today. Thank you ...
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
Act now to stop bills that would restrict South Dakota’s initiative process
Two bills are currently steamrolling through the South Dakota Legislature that would place restrictions on the signature-gathering process for ballot
initiatives. S.B. 137 and H.B. 1156 both would make it illegal to pay petitioner circulators per signature gathered. (Instead, circulators would have to be paid a fixed hourly wage or salary.) H.B. 1156 also creates
further restrictions for the people who qualify to be petition circulators.
Having to pay petitioners a fixed wage or salary, instead of per signature, removes the incentive to work hard and to collect as many signatures as possible.
If these bills become law, it will be more difficult to qualify initiatives for the ballot.
S.B. 137 has already passed the Senate State Affairs Committee, and awaits a full Senate vote. On the other hand, H.B. 1156 has already passed through the
full House. It has now been sent to the Senate, where it awaits a hearing, also in the Senate State Affairs Committee.
South Dakota was the first state to adopt the initiative and referendum process in 1898. This is a voters’ rights issue. These bills would make it more
difficult for citizens to have a voice. Please call your state senator and representative today, and urge them not to support bills that restrict South Dakota’s initiative process.
You can find out who your legislators are by visiting this page. Please take a few moments
to call them, and encourage them not to support these restrictive bills.
You may also call the Senate State Affairs Committee chairs and urge them not to hold a hearing on H.B. 1156. Encourage them not
to enact laws that restrict the initiative process:
Sen. Thomas A. Dempster — committee chair — 605-359-6387
Sen. Bob Gray — vice-chair — 605-773-3821
These two bills would make it more difficult for citizens to get initiatives on the ballot.
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please forward this message along to your concerned friends and family in South Dakota, so that they,
too, may become involved.
Hawaii medical marijuana reform bill gets hearing on Tuesday — take action today!
One of the bills introduced in the Hawaii Legislature this session to improve the state’s medical marijuana program, S.B. 905, was recently scheduled for a
public hearing. Now is the time for medical marijuana patients and supporters to take action, as this bill has a good chance of passing through committee if it has enough support.
S.B. 905 would transfer the medical marijuana program from the Narcotics Enforcement Division (NED) of the Department of Public Safety to the Department of
Health. This would be a significant change toward protecting patients. The bill would also open the door for additional medical conditions to be considered for medical marijuana use. And it proposes to make a
physician’s written certification valid for two years instead of one.
Currently, many patients with qualifying debilitating medical conditions are frightened or intimidated by the idea of dealing with the NED. Many patients are
therefore not registering as patients, and still face the threat of arrest and prison. Likewise, many physicians are reluctant to certify patients. They fear being identified and targeted under narcotics enforcement
laws. The fact that the NED currently handles the medical marijuana program has been identified as the principal obstacle for patients seeking medical certification.
You can read the full text of the bill here.
The hearing details are as follows:
What: S.B. 905, medical marijuana reform bill
Who: The bill will be heard at a joint Senate hearing consisting of the Health; Public Safety; and the Judiciary and Labor committees
When: Tuesday, February 13, at 9:00 a.m.
Where: Conference Room 229, State Capitol, 415 South Beretania St.
Please consider submitting testimony in support of S.B. 905, especially if you are a patient registered with the current program. Click here to see the official hearing notice, which explains how to submit testimony and lists the information needed.
1. Testimony must be submitted at least 24 hours prior to the hearing. 9 a.m. Monday is therefore the latest you can send testimony in … so fax or e-mail
it this weekend!
2. Testimony can be faxed to the Senate sergeant-at-arms at 808-586-6659 if you’re in Oahu, or 1-800-586-6659 if you’re in the neighboring islands.
3. Testimony can also be e-mailed to the Public Access Room at testimony@capitol.hawaii.gov.
4. The Public Access Room will make the appropriate number of copies needed, and deliver your testimony. You can reach them at 808 587-0478 or par@capitol.hawaii.gov.
Here is a summary of the information you must remember to include with your testimony:
1. Your name, position or title, organization, and contact information.
2. The bill number: S.B. 905.
3. Your position on the bill: SUPPORT.
4. The hearing date, room number, and time: Tuesday, February 13, Conference Room 229, 9 a.m.
5. The committee to which your testimony is being referred: Senate Health; Public Safety; Judiciary and Labor (HTH/PBS/JDL).
6. Please remember to also list the chairs and vice-chairs of these Senate committees. They are, respectively: David Y. Ige and Carol Fukunaga, Will Espero
and Clarence K. Nishihara, Clayton Hee and Russell S. Kokubun.
7. The number of copies needed: 35.
Please remember to follow all these guidelines when submitting your testimony. Remember also to be polite, as this is very important in getting our argument
heard.
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please forward this message along to your family and friends in Hawaii, so that they, too, may become
involved in reform.
Act now to defeat bad marijuana bills in Mississippi
On January 16, I told you about H.B. 421, the medical marijuana bill that was introduced in the Mississippi Legislature. That bill still awaits a hearing in
the House Judiciary A Committee, so please click here to urge the committee members to consider this compassionate legislation.
Today, I’m writing to tell you about a few bad bills that are being considered in the state legislature.
As you may know, Mississippi is currently a "decriminalization" state — meaning that first-offense possession of a small amount of marijuana is punishable
only by a fine, not jail time. H.B. 492 would change this sensible law. The bill would sentence people to jail for five days if convicted of first-offense possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana. H.B. 1147 would go
one step further: It proposes drastic increases in fines for marijuana possession, and even more outrageously, it would send low-level offenders to prison for six months!
These two bills have been referred to the House Judiciary A Committee, like the medical marijuana bill. Please take some time to call the committee members
and urge them to vote for sensible marijuana policy, and against these two bad bills. Remind them that police, judicial, and correctional resources are already stretched thin enough — and that they should vote against
wasting more of Mississippi’s resources. Remember to be polite, as we want to appeal to legislators, not alienate them. The committee members are:
Rep. Edward Blackmon Jr. (D-57) — committee chairman — (601) 859-1567
Rep. James C. Simpson Jr. (R-120) — vice chairman — (228) 863-6534
Rep. Mark Baker (R-74) — (601) 824-7455
Rep. Earle S. Banks (D-67) — (601) 969-2221
Rep. Gary Chism (R-37) — (662) 327-0777
Rep. Bryant W. Clark (D-47) — (662) 834-6133
Rep. Linda Coleman (D-29) — (662) 843-5253
Rep. J. P. Compretta (D-122) — (228) 467-1010
Rep. Bill Denny (R-64) — (601) 956-6807
Rep. Tyrone Ellis (D-38) — (662) 324-5433
Rep. Jamie Franks (D-19) — (662) 842-0380
Rep. Frances Fredericks (D-119) — (228) 864-9319
Rep. D. Stephen Holland (D-16) — (662) 840-5000
Rep. Robert L. Johnson III (D-94) — (601) 442-9371
Rep. John Mayo (D-25) — (662) 902-8633
Rep. Bobby Moak (D-53) — (800) 595-6244
Rep. Harvey Moss (D-2) — (662) 287-6590
Rep. Willie J. Perkins Sr. (D-32) — (662) 455-1211
Rep. John R. Reeves (R-71) — (601) 355-9600
Rep. Thomas U. Reynolds (D-33) — (662) 647-3203
Rep. Walter L. Robinson Jr. (D-63) — (601) 866-7011
Rep. Margaret Rogers (D-14) — number unlisted
Rep. Clayton Smith (R-59) — (601) 992-1635
Rep. Mary Ann Stevens (D-48) — (601) 359-9473
Rep. Percy W. Watson (D-103) — (601) 545-1051
Additionally, Judiciary A will be considering two bad bills that have been introduced in the past but never made it out of committee. H.B. 210 would make it
a felony to bring any controlled substance (including marijuana) into any state, county, or municipal building. And H.B. 486 would require a $1,000 fine and three days in jail for anyone convicted of any level of
marijuana possession within 1,500 feet of a school.
These bills have failed in the past, but we don't want them to pass this time around. So, when speaking with the committee members, remember to urge them to
vote against anything that would needlessly increase penalties and waste the state's resources. Please do put some time aside to call these legislators, as your voice will help ensure victory.
Finally, if you are a medical marijuana patient or a medical professional, and could testify in favor of the medical marijuana bill, please e-mail Anthony@mpp.org. Thank you to everyone who has already gotten in touch with us; unfortunately at this time we have not been able to translate your support into legislative results. We
are working with various people in Mississippi to bring the issue of medical marijuana forward, so stay tuned for future developments.
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please forward this message along to your family and friends in Mississippi, so that they, too, may
become involved in reform.
Save the date: February 22 in Boston
Massachusetts has too long trailed behind other New England states when it comes to marijuana policy reform. The Marijuana Policy Project is therefore
pleased to announce its intention to place a statewide "decriminalization" initiative on the November 2008 ballot. (The proposed measure would eliminate the threat of arrest and jail for the possession of up to one
ounce of marijuana, which would instead be punishable by a citation and a $100 fine.)
To kick things off, MPP will be holding a fundraising reception in Boston on the evening of February 22 ... and you’re invited. Please expect to see another
email alert when the logistics are finalized. In the meantime, please save the date on your calendar.
The reception will be an opportunity for supporters of marijuana policy reform to meet other supporters and local VIPs -- as well as to make a financial
donation to the ballot drive.
Please tell your family and friends about the February 22 reception, as well. Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project.
Calling on all medical marijuana advocates in Texas: Attend a lobby day on February 21
Although 11 states currently protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and prison, Texas still treats these patients like criminals
– but that could change this year, with your help. A medical marijuana bill is soon to be filed in the Texas Legislature. Now is the time for supporters to
voice their support for this compassionate legislation.
Texans for Medical Marijuana (TMM) – an
MPP grant recipient – is currently organizing a "lobby day" for February 21. This will be a great opportunity for medical marijuana patients and advocates to
speak with their legislators and urge them to support this critical issue.
All those interested in participating in the lobby day must register with TMM beforehand. TMM will be holding
regional meetings to discuss plans and bring everyone up to speed before February 21, and you’re invited to attend:
Austin Meeting
When: Thursday, January 18, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Where: ACLU of Texas, 1210 Rosewood Ave.
Dallas Meeting
When: Tuesday, January 23, 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Where: Lakewood Branch Library, 6121 Worth St. 75214
San Antonio Meeting
When: Thursday, January 25, 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Where: Landa Branch Library, 233 Bushnell Ave
The discussion will revolve around the events planned for the lobby day and effective ways that people can lobby for the passage of a medical marijuana bill
in Texas. If you are unable to attend one of the regional meetings, but would like to attend the lobby day, please contact TMM’s public relations director Karen Heikkala at Karen@texansformedicalmarijuana.org, and she will send you the relevant information.
Please do all that you can to participate! Medical marijuana will move forward this year if we demonstrate to legislators that this issue is vital to Texas’
residents. Legislators truly do listen to their constituents, so be sure not to miss this great opportunity.
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project and Texans for Medical Marijuana. Please pass this alert on to your family and friends in Texas, so
that they, too, may become involved in reform.
1 in 32 American adults caught in criminal justice system
Dear Tom Sutor:
Last Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department released a report showing that a record seven million people — or one in every 32 American adults — were behind
bars, on probation, or on parole at the end of last year.
Of those, an astounding 2.2 million people were actually in prison or jail, which is an increase of 2.7% over the previous year, according to the Justice
Department’s annual Bureau of Justice Statistics report.
What’s more, the report found that from 1995 to 2003, inmates in federal prison for drug offenses have accounted for 49% of the growth in the total
federal prison population.
This is madness. Our nation imposes harsher sentences for nonviolent drug offenses than for many violent crimes, creating a steady, unconscionable increase
in the prison population. Please visit www.mpp.org/victims to read some of the stories of nonviolent marijuana prisoners.
The Justice Department's report also highlights how the U.S. criminal justice system inordinately penalizes people who are not white. In the 25-29 age group,
8.1% of black men — about one in 13 — are incarcerated (and even more are on probation or parole), compared with 2.6% of Hispanic men and 1.1% of white men.
The overall incarceration rate for black men — 3.1% — is triple that of white men. And it's not much different among women: By the end of 2005, black women
were more than twice as likely as Hispanic women and over three times as likely as white women to be in prison.
Who are our nation’s drug laws helping by locking up so many young black men — or by forcing so many people into the criminal justice system? True drug
addicts? Nonviolent drug offenders? Their families?
If you're as outraged by these statistics as I am, please turn
your anger into action by helping MPP restore some sense to our nation's laws by ending marijuana prohibition.
Would you please support our work today? With the help
of our 21,000 dues-paying members, MPP has already achieved or funded significant progress — see
www.mpp.org/history for some of our victories — but we need your help to continue making progress.
Thank you for standing with us in this important fight.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.5 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the
planet in 2006. This means that your donation today will be doubled.
Man to serve 55 years in prison for marijuana
Dear Tom Sutor:
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand the mandatory 55-year prison sentence that a lower court imposed on a man who was convicted of carrying a handgun
during three marijuana deals in Utah.
By refusing to hear the case, the U.S. Supreme Court ensured that 27-year-old Weldon Angelos will spend just about the rest of his life behind bars for
selling three eight-ounce bags of marijuana to an undercover informant.
As his attorneys noted, the sentence he will serve is harsher than the sentence for raping a child — or the sentence for detonating a bomb aboard an aircraft.
Even the federal judge who was required to issue the mandatory minimum sentence called it “unjust, cruel, and even irrational.” Yet, the U.S. Supreme Court
let the sentence stand without comment. You can read more about this abrogation of justice here.
If this outrages you like it does me, do something about it. Please help the Marijuana Policy Project continue lobbying Congress to change these cruel and
unjust laws by making a financial contribution to our work. We cannot keep up the fight without funding from people like
you.
If you haven't yet decided whether to support MPP financially, here are 10 reasons you should donate $10 or more to MPP by the end of the year.
1. Mitchell Lawrence: This 17-year-old high school student with no prior record received a two-year prison
sentence for selling $20 worth of marijuana to a Massachusetts undercover police officer.
2. Unnamed Florida college student: The 19-year-old was
raped by his cellmate — a violent sexual offender — as he served the first of four weekend sentences for delivering marijuana, a felony offense.
3. Ryan Wilson: The 22-year-old died after being shot with a Taser stun gun by Colorado police, who were investigating whether Wilson was cultivating marijuana plants.
4. Anthony Diotaiuto: The 23-year-old was shot 10 times in the head, chest,
and limbs by a Florida SWAT team that later found a little over an ounce of marijuana in his home.
5. Clayton Helriggle: The 23-year-old died in the arms of his roommate
after being shot in a “no knock” raid by Ohio police, who later found a small amount of marijuana in his house.
6. Jonathan Magbie: The 27-year-old quadriplegic died in a Washington,
D.C., jail while serving a 10-day sentence for marijuana possession because the facility could not provide the medical care he needed.
7. Tyrone Brown: The 33-year-old received a life sentence from a Texas
judge for testing positive for marijuana while on probation for a $2 stickup committed when he was 17.
8. Lester Siler: The 44-year-old was brutalized by five rogue Tennessee
police officers who suspected him of selling drugs. Siler was beaten and held at gunpoint, had his head held underwater in a toilet, and was threatened with shooting and electrocution.
9. Accelyne Williams: The 75-year-old retired minister died from a heart attack that was induced by the stress of a Massachusetts SWAT team entering his apartment during a “no knock”
raid. No drugs were found.
10. Kathryn Johnston: The 88-year-old was shot and killed in a “no knock”
raid by Georgia police, who allegedly later attempted to pay an informant to lie about the circumstances of the drug raid.
And these individuals are not rare examples. Rather, they are simply 11 examples of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who are detained, beaten,
harassed, tortured, arrested, prosecuted, jailed, imprisoned, and/or killed each year by the government in the name of marijuana prohibition.
Would you please stand with me in MPP’s fight to end the
government’s war on (actual and imagined) marijuana users?
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.5 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the
planet in 2006. This means that your donation today will be doubled.
15 ways you can help end marijuana prohibition
Many of MPP's e-mail alerts include requests for donations, because MPP is 100% dependent on the generosity of our dues-paying members to continue with our work.
But there are many other ways you can help to end marijuana prohibition. Here are 15 of them:
1. Tell your friends to sign up for MPP's free e-mail alerts. Send them to
www.mpp.org/subscribe today.
2. Send letters to your three members of Congress using MPP's free and easy
automated system.
3. Spread the word. Volunteer to circulate sign-up sheets to subscribe others to MPP's free e-mail list. E-mail membership@mpp.org for
more information on how to get started.
4. Get published. Write letters to the editor of your local newspaper about the need for marijuana policy reform. Feel free to use any of the information in MPP's e-mail
alerts and on our Web site in your letters.
5. Ask your local radio stations to run MPP's radio ads as public service announcements.
6. Download MPP's printer-friendly handouts and brochures and distribute our literature in your community.
7. If you listen to talk radio, call in and express your support for reforming our nation's marijuana laws. Even if the subject being discussed isn't explicitly about
marijuana, many related issues can be used as a springboard for advocating marijuana policy reform. For example, if the issue is crime, you can point out that law enforcement resources would be better spent going
after violent criminals than on arresting adults who use marijuana responsibly.
8. Contact MPP for help in arranging meetings with your state legislators and members of Congress. Face-to-face visits with policymakers
and their staffs can be enormously effective if you're sufficiently prepared for such meetings.
9. Link to MPP's Web site, by downloading MPP's banner ads to post on your own Web
site, and encourage your Web site's visitors to get involved with marijuana policy reform by clicking on our ad.
10. If you're a medical professional, lawyer, elected official, medical marijuana patient (or have a loved one who is), or member of the clergy or law enforcement, contact MPP about special ways you can help.
11. If you're a student, choose a marijuana-related issue for your research projects or papers. Students in your class will be exposed to the issue, and professors sometimes
even use student ideas for their own research projects.
12. Work to get your city council to pass an ordinance making marijuana offenses your city's lowest law enforcement priority. MPP's grants program may be able to help with funding.
13. When you shop at major online retailers, such as amazon.com, gap.com, and many others, you can have a portion of the
cost of your purchase automatically donated to MPP — without adding to the cost of your purchase. To get started, simply register with www.iGive.com, enter MPP as your cause (cause ID = 2564), and then shop through the www.iGive.com portal in the future.
14. If you're a MySpace user, help MPP increase its supporter network by befriending the "Marijuana Policy Project" on MySpace and putting us in your "Top 8" friends. Our MySpace site features videos, a blog, and other content that's updated regularly.
15. Encourage your friends to visit www.mpp.org/donate to become dues-paying members of MPP. MPP does not have an endowment or any
revenue-generating investments, so we are 100% dependent upon the donations that people willingly give. This means that the cost of our campaigns is limited to the amount of money that MPP can raise from our 21,000
dues-paying members and a handful of major philanthropists.
Together, one person at a time, our work is paying off. On behalf of all of us at MPP, thank you for standing with us in the fight.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. Please visit www.mpp.org/vote and spend five minutes to complete MPP's supporter survey. In so doing, you will be entered into a
drawing to win a free ticket to MPP's party at the Playboy Mansion. (The event will be held in Los Angeles in May 2007; more details will be released in the next two weeks.) Five runners-up will win MPP T-shirts.
P.P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.5 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2006. This
means that your donation today will be doubled.
Tomorrow: Michigan House committee hearing on medical marijuana bill
For the first time in years, the medical use of marijuana is getting serious consideration in the Michigan Legislature. Tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., the House
Government Operations Committee will hear testimony about whether seriously ill patients should be arrested for the doctor-advised, medical use of marijuana.
This is the perfect time to let legislators know that Michigan voters care passionately about protecting sick and dying patients. Please urge your legislators to support Michigan’s medical marijuana bill — H.B. 5470.
If you live in one of the committee members’ districts, your help is especially critical. If the committee votes in favor of the bill, the
next step would be the House floor. Please take just a few minutes to look up your House member here to see if he or she is on the committee (listed below). If
your legislator is on the committee, please call and politely urge him or her to vote in favor of H.B. 5470 if it is brought to a vote. Simply let your representative know that seriously ill patients should not face
arrest for using a doctor-recommended medicine. You can also note that the 11 state medical marijuana laws are working well and protecting patients. If your representative is already a cosponsor of the bill, please be
sure to thank him or her!
Here are the House Government Operations Committee members and their numbers:
Rep. John Garfield (R-45th District) — 517-373-1773
Rep. Judy Emmons (R-70th District) — 517-373-0834
Rep. Robert Gosselin (R-41st District) — 517-373-1783
Rep. Jacob Hoogendyk (R-61st District) — 517-373-1774
Rep. Fulton Sheen (R-88th District) — 517-373-0836
Rep. Alexander Lipsey (D-60th District)) — 517-373-1785
Rep. Steve Tobocman (D-12th District) — 517-373-0823 — co-sponsor
Rep. LaMar Lemmons III (D-3rd District) — 517-373-1776 — sponsor
Chair Leon Drolet (R-33rd District) — 517-373-0820 — co-sponsor
A cancer survivor, a multiple sclerosis patient, and one of the five surviving patients who receive medical marijuana from the federal government will speak
at tomorrow’s hearing. Their testimony will show that seriously ill patients are counting on H.B. 5470’s passage. But it is equally important that legislators hear that their constituents care about medical marijuana
patients, so please take action now.
If you are a medical professional, a law enforcement officer, or a patient who could benefit from the medical use of marijuana, please e-mail
Karen@mpp.org to see what else you can do to move this compassionate bill forward.
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this on to your friends, family, and neighbors.
San Francisco votes to make marijuana offenses "lowest law enforcement priority"
Dear Tom Sutor:
Yesterday, in a groundbreaking development for marijuana policy in California, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 7-3 to make most adult marijuana offenses the city's
lowest law enforcement priority — making San Francisco the largest city in the country to effectively end adult marijuana arrests.
This vote comes on the heels of the three victories in California on November 7, when the voters of
Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Santa Monica passed similar measures by large margins. (That same day, the voters of Missoula
County, Montana also passed a similar measure.) The MPP grants program provided almost all of the funding for these campaigns.
As a result of yesterday's vote in San Francisco, nearly 1.4 million Californians will now live in cities that have de-prioritized marijuana offenses —
the four listed above, plus Oakland in 2004 and West Hollywood earlier this year.
This is one of MPP's most important roles — to assist local activists in creating homegrown campaigns that bring about constructive change in their communities.
Would you please support our work by making a financial contribution today? According to our records, you haven't donated
this year, and we could really use your help.
San Francisco's new ordinance makes marijuana offenses by adults 18 and older the lowest priority for the city's police, with exceptions for marijuana offenses
that occur in public or involve minors, a threat of violence, or driving while intoxicated. The law also directs the San Francisco city clerk to send letters to state and federal elected officials noting that the
ordinance passed and stating that the city supports the taxation and regulation of marijuana. Mayor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign the ordinance shortly.
MPP's support helped to catalyze a broad coalition whose advocacy made this victory possible; that coalition included the local offices of the Drug Policy Alliance
and NORML, as well as numerous extraordinary local activists.
With record numbers of Americans calling for an end to marijuana prohibition, these kinds of aggressive lobbying and initiative campaigns are more important than
ever. If you want to help hammer the nails into prohibition's coffin, please click here to make your most generous donation
today.
Thank you in advance for anything you can give to help.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. Please visit www.mpp.org/vote and spend five minutes to complete MPP's supporter survey. In so doing, you will be entered into a drawing to win a free ticket to MPP's party at
the Playboy Mansion. (The event will be held in Los Angeles in May 2007; more details will be released in the next two weeks.) Five runners-up will win MPP T-shirts.
P.P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.5 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in
2006. This means that your donation today will be doubled.
Dear Thomas Sutor:
As expected, the White House drug czar is once again using taxpayer money to lie and interfere with the Marijuana Policy Project's ballot initiative campaigns.
Just this week, White House Drug Czar John Walters traveled to Nevada, where he held a news conference to attack MPP's initiative to tax and regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol. Walters called marijuana an
"addictive, accident causing, dependence-producing substance" and urged Nevadans to vote against MPP's initiative on November 7.
As soon as MPP heard Walters was coming to Nevada, we were ready -- we organized a crowd of supporters to hold signs outside his Tuesday news conference, and we went head-to-head with him on all three major TV networks
in Reno. Visit http://nv.mpp.org/news to read some of the news coverage.
While the White House drug czar is spending taxpayer money to arrest marijuana users and campaign against MPP's initiatives to end the government's war on marijuana users, we're running out of money to fight back.
According to MPP's records, you have already made a financial donation to MPP (or the tax-deductible MPP Foundation) in 2006, and I want to thank you for that. If you would like make another donation to fund our work,
please visit http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M719274917863960033811665&af=y now.
This isn't the first time Drug Czar John Walters has attempted to scare and mislead voters. He campaigned against the medical marijuana laws that MPP successfully passed in Rhode Island in January of this year and in
Montana and Vermont in 2004, and he has a history of barraging the TV airwaves with inaccurate and fear-mongering ads during the last few weeks of MPP's initiative campaigns.
Walters was also rebuked by Nevada's then attorney general for "excessive" and "disturbing" interference in the state's vote on MPP's first initiative in Nevada in 2002 ... and Walters has refused to file with the state
government any campaign finance reports detailing the amount of taxpayer money that he spent attacking MPP's 2002 initiative -- even in response to a written request from the Nevada secretary of state to do so.
Will you please oppose the White House's lies by helping MPP to run a good, solid, well-funded campaign? We need financial help from supporters like you to fight back against the White House drug czar's mean-spirited and
unethical tactics.
Please visit http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M719274917863960033811665&af=y to do what you can today to help ensure that every time the drug
czar spreads misinformation about marijuana, MPP can counter his lies with the truth.
Thank you,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.5 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2006. This means that your donation today will be doubled.
P.P.S. If you've decided you don't want to donate anything today -- and you're also sure you don't want to donate any more money during the remainder of this year -- you can opt out of receiving fundraising mentions in
the e-mail alerts I send you by visiting http://www.mpp.org/2006optoutpreference at your convenience.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 101,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M719274917863960033811665&af=y to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address
is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Your help is needed to improve Vermont’s medical marijuana law
Vermont’s 2007-2008 legislative session begins in less than a month and we need your help to protect even more seriously ill patients from the threat of
arrest and imprisonment.
In 2004, Vermont took a big step forward by passing a medical marijuana law that protects patients from arrest if they suffer from cancer, HIV/AIDS, and
multiple sclerosis. However, this is the most limited law of the 11 states with effective medical marijuana programs. Many seriously ill Vermonters still risk arrest and imprisonment simply for using their medicine.
It’s time that Vermont legislators finish what they started! Please take a moment to write a letter to your state legislators urging them to support improving Vermont’s medical marijuana law to add serious conditions that
cause nausea, wasting, chronic pain, or seizures and to allow patients to possess an adequate supply of their medicine. Vermont legislators need to hear from their constituents that this issue is vital to them.
If you are a medical marijuana patient who does not currently qualify under the medical marijuana law or who finds the plant limits insufficient and you are
interested in helping to expand the law, please contact Zane Hurst by calling (202) 462-5747, ext. 119, or e-mailing zane@mpp.org. Your help could be especially influential.
Legislators truly do listen to their constituents’ opinions on important issues like this. With your help, many more sick and dying patients will get the
peace of mind they need and deserve. Please take action now.
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this alert on to your friends and family, so that even more Vermonters can join the call
for reform.
Great news! On Friday, a judge rejected the South Dakota attorney general's inaccurate and biased summary of the medical marijuana initiative that will be on the South Dakota ballot this November --
and chastised him for his bias.
Judge Max Gors disagreed with Attorney General Larry Long on almost every point and ruled that Long's summary "conjures up images of dope dealers preying on children ... and is an impermissible attempt to advocate
against the ballot issue."
The judge ordered Long to rewrite the ballot summary -- which will appear on the ballot and in voter guides -- to make it objective.
Would you please help the South Dakota activists pass this initiative on November 7 by visiting
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M719124397863960033445865&af=y to make a donation to their work today? Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
South Dakotans for Medical Marijuana and medical marijuana patient Valerie Hannah sued after Long issued a ballot summary that, among other things, raised the specter of children using marijuana and claimed that
"physicians who provide written certifications may be subject to losing their federal license to dispense prescription drugs." This is flat wrong, in addition to being biased: A federal court of appeals has ruled that
physicians cannot be prosecuted or have their licenses stripped from them just for recommending the medical use of marijuana.
In rejecting Long's summary, the judge noted that -- by the attorney general's reasoning -- he could describe the initiative as "an act to legalize the demon weed and allow drug-crazed adults and children to run rampant"
or "an act to unleash reefer madness on South Dakota."
"The whole impression leads one to believe that the attorney general wants voters to reject the initiative," wrote Judge Gors. "The attorney general should confine his politicking to the stump and leave his bias out of
the ballot statement that is supposed to be objective."
The ruling is a victory for medical marijuana patients and the voters of South Dakota. Now, with only 71 days remaining until Election Day, would you please help deliver an even bigger victory by visiting
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M719124397863960033445865&af=y to donate to the campaign today?
A win on November 7 would make South Dakota the 12th medical marijuana state in the country. Thank you in advance for anything you can do to help.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.5 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2006. This means that your donation today will be doubled.
P.P.S. If you've decided you don't want to donate anything today -- and you're also sure you don't want to donate any money during the remainder of this year -- you can opt out of receiving fundraising mentions in the
e-mail alerts I send you by visiting http://www.mpp.org/2006optoutpreference at your convenience.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 101,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M719124397863960033445865&af=y to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address
is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
End Stage Alcoholism
Chronic heavy use of alcohol results in severe physical withdrawal symptoms and often in serious medical complications. In the advanced stage, damage to the liver, heart, brain and other body tissues
may be irreversible. Severe physical damage often leads to life-threatening illnesses that result in premature death.
Brain damage from years of excessive drinking or drug use may be permanent. As brain cells die from chronic alcohol intake, they are generally not regenerated, and the tissue of the brain itself begins to deteriorate.
Even if sobriety is achieved in this advanced state of alcoholism, the quality of life may be significantly impacted and the physical damage may be so great that it becomes difficult to treat.
It is however, never too late to start recovery from alcohol addiction. Persons suffering from irreversible damage caused by chronic drinking can still begin and successfully continue recovery. Obviously, the earlier,
the better.
Physiological Effects of End-Stage Alcoholism
End-stage alcoholism is a horrible way to die. Alcohol is a cumulative poison that damages the skin, brain, liver, heart, and other parts of the body. As the damage to these organs
progresses with continued use, the body systems needed for life begin to fail. The heart weakens and becomes enlarged. The liver becomes scarred, shrunken, and
hardened (cirrhosis). It stops functioning, causing blood dysfunctions and esophageal varices, and hemorrhoids that can rupture suddenly, causing the person to bleed to death. The brain's internal spaces are
enlarged, and the fissures in the cortex are widened.
This general loss of brain tissue is associated with alcoholic dementia (wet brain), a decline in the capacity for thinking or learning. Other symptoms of organic brain disorders are mental confusion,
impaired coordination while walking, impaired vision, and memory loss. The skin's vascular systems are damaged. The skin's ability to retain heat is compromised. Abnormally enlarged capillary groups, with blue and red
spider-like capillaries, appear primarily on the upper body. Unexplained bruising, redness of the skin especially on the face, fluid retention under the eyes, and a "whiskey nose" can develop. Direct tissue irritation and/or induction of enzymes that activate other carcinogens can cause cancers of
the mouth, tongue, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, stomach,
liver, lung, pancreas, colon and rectum.
Now, what is the real Gateway to death? Pot or Drink???
Maybe we could use Marijuana to treat Acoholism...
Dear Thomas Sutor:
The Marijuana Policy Project is about to release an ad on radio stations across the country that begins this way:
"Warning! The government doesn't want you to hear this ad ... Because they're embarrassed they funded research indicating marijuana doesn't cause lung cancer, and might even prevent cancer. Government research also found
medical uses for marijuana, and no one has ever died of a marijuana overdose. The more research the government conducts, the more they undermine their own war on marijuana users."
The ad -- which you can hear at http://www.mpp.org/psas -- will begin airing on 141 stations nationwide on September 5. But we need your help to keep it on the air.
According to our records, you have already made a financial donation to MPP this year, and I want to thank you for that. If you would like to make an additional donation -- even if it's just $10 -- to help fund this ad
campaign, visit http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M719075617863960033364065&af=y to donate what you can.
As the ad points out, the federal government's own research directly contradicts the false information about marijuana that the government has been issuing for the last three decades. The White House drug czar's office
is still publishing ads and "fact sheets" suggesting that marijuana causes cancer, even though new research financed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows no link between marijuana use and cancer. In fact, the
marijuana smokers in the study had a lower rate of lung cancer than the non-smokers.
Helping put this ad on the air is an easy way to educate the public about the hypocrisy of marijuana prohibition. The campaign is also generating free news coverage about the ads themselves, thereby further educating the
American people. For instance, an MPP radio ad earlier this summer was covered by CNN Radio, the New York Daily News, and influential blogs such as TalkLeft, Hammer of Truth, and CommonDreams.
Would you please consider making a tax-deductible donation to this campaign today -- at
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M719075617863960033364065&af=y -- so that we can keep this provocative ad and others like it on the radio? Keeping them on the air costs MPP only $320 per day -- for the whole
nationwide run of ads -- for a total of only $2,773 per month.
Thank you in advance for anything you can do to help.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.5 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2006. This means that your donation today will be doubled.
P.P.S. If you've decided you don't want to donate anything today -- and you're also sure you don't want to donate any more money during the remainder of this year -- you can opt out of receiving fundraising mentions in
the e-mail alerts I send you by visiting http://www.mpp.org/2006optoutpreference at your convenience.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 101,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M719075617863960033364065&af=y to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address
is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear Thomas Sutor:
If you have Showtime, you'll be excited to know that MPP will appear briefly on the next episode of the Emmy-nominated TV show "Weeds." Starring Mary-Louise Parker as a recent widow who begins to sell marijuana after her
husband's death, the Showtime series has won critical acclaim for its dark comedy and thought-provoking content.
On Monday, August 21, MPP's own Francis DellaVecchia staffs a booth -- complete with an MPP banner -- at an event in the show's second episode. The episode will air at 10:00 p.m. EDT, and will be replayed at 10:30 p.m.
and midnight the same evening, as well as on August 23 at 10:00 p.m. and August 25 at 9:00 p.m.
And while I have your attention, I want to tell you about a few Web sites that I think will be of interest to you. I hope you'll consider visiting one or more of them today and, if you like what you see, forwarding this
message to your friends and family.
1. http://www.MedicalMarijuanaProCon.org
One of the most truthful online sources of marijuana-related information, the site features credible, objective pros and cons in answer to the question, "Should marijuana be a medical option now?"
2. http://www.iGive.com
Did you know that when you shop at major online retailers, such as amazon.com, gap.com, and many others, you can have a portion of the cost of your purchase automatically donated to MPP - without adding to the cost of
your purchase? To get started, simply register at http://www.iGive.com, and then enter MPP as your cause (cause ID = 2564). Then, shop with any of the hundreds of merchants
participating with www.iGive.com and a portion of the purchase price will be sent to MPP. This won't increase the costs of your purchases by even one cent.
3. http://www.myspace.com/marijuanapolicyproject
If you're a MySpace user, please help MPP increase its supporter network by befriending the "Marijuana Policy Posse" on MySpace and putting us in your "Top 8" friends. Our site features videos, a blog, and other content
that's updated regularly. We already have more than 14,500 friends, and that number is growing every day.
4. http://www.geraldoatlarge.com/video-archive.php?searchText=marijuana&do=1
On June 14, the national TV show "Geraldo At Large" ran a segment on medical marijuana that featured Rhonda O'Donnell, who was instrumental in passing MPP's medical marijuana bill in Rhode Island earlier this year, as
well as Montel Williams. The interview with Montel was conducted at MPP's New York gala on June 12.
5. http://www.mpp.org
And, finally, MPP's own Web site was recently revamped to bring you more user-friendly content than ever before. I hope you'll explore it and tell us what you think.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. According to our records, you have already donated to MPP or the tax-deductible MPP Foundation this year -- and I want to thank you for your generosity. If, by any chance, you want to donate again or join MPP's
monthly credit card pledge program, please visit our Web site at http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718865027863960033010165&af=y at your
convenience. (If you're sure you don't want to donate any more money this year, and you don't want me to continue raising this question with you, you can opt out of receiving such fundraising mentions for the rest of the
year -- while still receiving our campaign updates -- by visiting http://www.mpp.org/2006optoutpreference at your convenience.)
As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.5 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2006. This means that your donation today will be doubled.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718865027863960033010165&af=y to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address
is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear Thomas Sutor: 8 11 2006
Good news! Last week in Tennessee, state Sen. Steve Cohen (D) became the Democratic nominee for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. As a state legislator, Sen. Cohen introduced a bill that would have protected
medical marijuana patients from arrest and prison, and during the recent primary, one of his opponents attacked him with misleading TV ads, claiming that Sen. Cohen "wants to legalize marijuana."
However, with support from MPP's Medical Marijuana Political Action Committee (PAC), Sen. Cohen handily won a Democratic primary that was crowded with well funded candidates. If you donated to our PAC, you helped make
this success possible, and I want to thank you for that.
If you have not yet given to MPP's PAC, please consider donating $10 or more at http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718754197863960032733765&af=y
today. Election Day is less than 90 days away, and we need your help to elect pro-medical marijuana candidates to public office.
After I wrote you on July 27 about Sen. Cohen's fight in the primary, subscribers to this e-mail list contributed $650 to our PAC and -- as a consequence -- we were able to give Sen. Cohen $1,000 during the crucial final
days of his campaign.
Sen. Cohen's district votes overwhelmingly for Democrats, so he will almost certainly win the general election on November 7 and therefore become a new member of Congress in January. This means that the
"Hinchey-Rohrabacher" medical marijuana amendment will gain another "yes" vote next summer when the U.S. House considers the legislation.
Would you please contribute to MPP's Medical Marijuana PAC today at http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718754237863960032733765&af=y to help
elect more principled representatives like Sen. Cohen?
MPP's PAC, which is nonpartisan, works to reward members of Congress who vote with us and punish those who do not. The PAC's goal is to tip the balance in closely contested elections in which one candidate has
demonstrated his or her support for medical marijuana.
Under federal election law, I'm only allowed to ask people who have donated money to MPP -- not MPP Foundation -- in the last year to donate to our PAC. To say the least, this greatly limits my ability to raise money for
the PAC.
Thankfully, you have donated to MPP within the past 12 months, which is why I'm allowed to write to you about this. (Thank you very, very much for keeping your MPP membership current.)
Thank you in advance for anything you can give at http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718754337863960032733765&af=y to help.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. As I have mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to matching the first $3.5 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2006. Thus, your donation today at
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718754337863960032733765&af=y will be doubled. Thank you for your generosity.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718754447863960032733765&af=y) to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address
is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear Thomas Sutor:
Great news! The Marijuana Policy Project recently commissioned a survey of 5,000 registered voters in Nevada which revealed that voters are split precisely 50% to 50% on our ballot initiative.
Our initiative -- which the Nevada government has already certified for the November 7 ballot -- would end marijuana prohibition entirely for adults aged 21 and older ... if the initiative receives over 50% of the vote.
Only five times in the history of the country has a state voted on such a ballot initiative. The best showing so far was the 44.5% vote in Alaska in November 2004, so the fact that our survey shows the Nevada initiative
is polling at 50% to 50% is significant.
According to our records, you have already donated to MPP or the tax-deductible MPP Foundation this year -- and I want to thank you for your generosity. If, by any chance, you want to donate again or join MPP's monthly
credit card pledge program, please visit our Web site at http://www.mpp.org/donate at your convenience. (If you're sure you don't want to donate any money this year, and you don't
want me to continue raising this question with you, you can opt out of receiving such fundraising mentions for the rest of the year -- while still receiving our campaign updates -- by visiting
http://www.mpp.org/2006optoutpreference at your convenience.)
We used Nevada's voter rolls to make our calls, which means we know we were surveying 5,000 actual registered voters. (In typical public opinion polling, a polling firm will call random phone numbers and "screen out"
people who say they're not registered to vote or unlikely to vote, and end up with 500 completed interviews.)
Interestingly, we discovered that regular voters are just as likely to support our initiative as voters who vote irregularly -- both groups of voters are split 50% to 50% on our initiative. So we need every supportive
Nevadan to vote in this election, which could end up nearly tying at 300,000 to 300,000 votes.
When a race is split 50% to 50%, the side with the most money wins. So will you help us win by donating $10 or more to our campaign at
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718633987863960032473465&af=y today?
If we succeed in passing the initiative, Nevada would be the only place in the world to permit the cultivation, distribution, and sale of marijuana to adults aged 21 and older.
Please visit the campaign's Web site at http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/ for more information about the campaign, breaking news, the staff's blog, merchandise, ways you
can get involved -- from anywhere in the country -- and much more.
Please get involved by visiting http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718633997863960032473465&af=y today. Winning this campaign will be the
beginning of the end of marijuana prohibition.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. As I have mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.5 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2006. Thus, your donation today at
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718634007863960032473465&af=y will be doubled! Thank you in advance for your generosity.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 101,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/home/donate?id=5064 to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address
is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear Thomas Sutor: 8 7 2006
On July 18, I e-mailed you the news about a major philanthropist's commitment to match the first $3.5 million that the Marijuana Policy Project can raise from the rest of the planet in 2006. Incredibly, we raised $7,647
from that e-mail alert alone, which is the most money we've raised from any national e-mail alert since 2004.
According to our records, you have already donated to MPP or the tax-deductible MPP Foundation this year -- and I want to thank you for your generosity. If, by any chance, you want to donate again or join MPP's monthly
credit card pledge program, please visit our Web site at http://www.mpp.org/donate at your convenience. (If you're sure you don't want to donate any more money this year, and you
don't want me to continue raising this question with you, you can opt out of receiving such fundraising mentions for the rest of the year -- while still receiving our campaign updates -- by visiting
http://www.mpp.org/2006optoutpreference today.)
Now, on to Nevada, where MPP is in a feverish battle to pass our initiative to tax and regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol.
If a majority of voters passes MPP's initiative on November 7, Nevada will become the first place in the world to permit the legal cultivation, distribution, and sale of marijuana to adults aged 21 and older -- and not
just for medical use.
Our campaign manager, Neal Levine, just finished a weeklong tour of nonstop media interviews in northern Nevada. Our campaign was covered by the Sparks Tribune, "The Bill Manders Show" on KOH radio in Reno, and the
"Nevada Newsmakers" program on the local NBC TV affiliate, among other shows. In addition, Neal met with editors from five newspapers to pitch the case for the initiative.
On "Nevada Newsmakers," he faced off against a contentious and avowed prohibitionist, Washoe County District Attorney Dick Gammick, who, of course, relied on misinformation to make his "arguments." For example, Gammick
claimed the campaign is working to legalize hard drugs, that today's marijuana contains 20 times more THC than marijuana did in the 1970s, and that marijuana is a "gateway" to harder drugs. Neal held his own and set the
record straight about why taxing and regulating marijuana makes sense for Nevada. Please visit the campaign's Web site at
http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/home/nnm_07_27_06 to view the TV debate for yourself.
By donating to the campaign, you're not only allowing us to pay for the staff time that's necessary to educate Nevada voters through news coverage like this, but you're also allowing us to buy TV and radio ads -- where
the message to the voters will be 100% ours.
And remember, because of the $3.5 million matching donation I announced on July 18 and mentioned again in this message, every dollar you donate at
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718584897863960032331065&af=y will be doubled.
In addition to our successful media coverage, the grassroots is really heating up. During the month of July, campaign volunteers across the country exceeded our goal of making 5,000 calls to Nevada voters -- which is
part of our massive project to identify supportive and undecided Nevadans among the 600,000 who will be voting this fall.
This month, the goal is for volunteers to make 7,500 calls to Nevada voters, so we could really use your help. To volunteer to make calls from the privacy and comfort of your own home, please sign up at
http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/home/vac/register today.
And throughout Nevada, people are helping in their own creative ways. Visit http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/home/node/413 to watch a cool one-minute music
video about the initiative, which was put together for free -- and without anyone even asking us -- by a popular Reno-based band.
Won't you please help also? Together, we're going to win at the polls on November 7.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/home/donate?id=5063 to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address
is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear Thomas Sutor: August 1st 2006
For the first time ever, a congressional candidate in a Democratic primary is under attack for supporting medical marijuana.
Last year, state Sen. Steve Cohen (D) introduced a bill in the Tennessee Legislature that would have protected medical marijuana patients from arrest and prison. Now, Sen. Cohen is running for Congress, and one of his
opponents in the crowded Democratic primary field is attacking him with misleading television ads.
By donating to MPP's Medical Marijuana Political Action Committee at http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718444337863960031952365&af=y today,
you can help Sen. Cohen stand up to these attacks and win the election that will be held one week from today -- on Thursday, August 3.
A couple weeks ago, one of Sen. Cohen's opponents released a TV ad that distorted his support for medical marijuana, claiming Cohen "wants to legalize marijuana."
Here is the relevant portion of the fear-mongering ad:
"Steve Cohen's record suggests that he favors same-sex marriage. Moreover, he supports legalized marijuana, gambling, and has even objected to a prayer opening the General Assembly. Is this the type of man we need to
represent the people of the 9th district?"
With over a dozen candidates in the race, Cohen is considered the front-runner, but we need your help to ensure he wins the primary. (The district votes overwhelmingly for Democrats, so the victor of the Democratic
primary election next week will almost certainly also win the general election on November 7 and therefore become a new member of Congress in January.)
This is only the second time that a congressional candidate's support for medical marijuana has been attacked by an opponent ...
The first time was back in 2004, when former Congressman Bob Dornan (R-CA) attacked Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) -- the lead Republican co-sponsor of the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment in Congress
-- in the Republican primary. Among other attacks, Dornan was quoted in a local newspaper as saying that "[a]nybody who wants to legalize marijuana or any other illegal substance is the enemy of this country."
Fortunately, Congressman Rohrabacher trounced Dornan, winning more than 83% of the vote in the primary. But we need your help to ensure that another friend of medical marijuana patients wins election to Congress.
Please contribute to MPP's Medical Marijuana PAC at http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718445047863960031952365&af=y and help Sen. Cohen beat
back those who are attacking him.
Our PAC, which is nonpartisan, works to reward members of Congress who vote with us and punish those who do not. The PAC's goal is to tip the balance in closely contested elections in which one candidate has demonstrated
his or her support for medical marijuana.
Under federal election law, I'm only allowed to ask people who have donated money to MPP -- not MPP Foundation -- in the last year to donate to our PAC. To say the least, this greatly limits my ability to raise money for
the PAC.
Thankfully, you have donated to MPP within the past 12 months, which is why I'm allowed to write to you about this. (Thank you very, very much for keeping your MPP membership current.)
Can you help Sen. Cohen stand up to the despicable attacks against him for protecting medical marijuana patients by visiting
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718445147863960031952365&af=y today? Thank you in advance for anything you can give to help.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/site/lookup.asp?c=glKZLeMQIsG&b=1141093 to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address
is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear Thomas Sutor:
South Dakota's top prosecutor -- Attorney General Larry Long -- apparently wants to continue prosecuting medical marijuana patients.
His office just issued a terrible -- and terribly biased -- summary of the medical marijuana initiative that will be on the South Dakota ballot this November.
This initiative is the only medical marijuana initiative to appear on any statewide ballot this year, so please help sue Attorney General Larry Long by visiting
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718384477863960031816965&af=y to block his terrible summary from appearing on the South Dakota ballot (and
in voter guides).
Long's summary of the initiative is biased and flat-out inaccurate. Among other things, his summary raises the specter of children using marijuana and warns, "Even if this initiative passes, possession, use, or
distribution of marijuana is still a federal crime. Persons covered by the proposed law would still be subject to federal prosecution for violation of federal drug control laws. Physicians who provide written
certifications may be subject to losing their federal license to dispense prescription drugs."
Well, actually, the last sentence above is flat wrong, in addition to being biased. The federal courts have already ruled that physicians cannot be prosecuted or have their licenses stripped from them just for
recommending the medical use of marijuana.
Please donate today at http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718384877863960031816965&af=y so that South Dakotans for Medical Marijuana can take
the South Dakota government to court for the purpose of putting better, fairer language on the ballot this November.
Visit http://www.mpp.org/BiasedSDBallotLanguage if you'd like to read the full text of what Long wants to print on the ballot (and in the voter guides that are
mailed to voters' homes).
MPP's polling shows that South Dakota voters support medical marijuana generally -- and the pending initiative in particular -- if the voters are presented with a clear description of the issue. But the margin of victory
is slim enough that the state government's biased language could turn a slight majority win into a loss.
Eight out of eight statewide ballot initiatives to make medical marijuana legal have passed since 1996. (And an additional three states have passed similar laws via their legislatures.) Let's not risk seeing South Dakota
become the first state to vote to continue arresting medical marijuana patients.
Will you please help sue the South Dakota government in court by visiting http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718385027863960031816965&af=y
today? The lawsuit will likely cost about $15,000. Thanks in advance for anything you can do to help.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. On July 18, I told you about the $3.5 million a philanthropist has agreed to donate to MPP if we can raise an equivalent amount from other sources. I want to thank the subscribers to this e-mail list who have
already donated more than $7,000 in response to that appeal -- all of that money will be matched dollar-for-dollar, as will any additional money you provide by visiting
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718385167863960031816965&af=y this year.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718385167863960031816965&af=y to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address
is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Trigger Points
Have you ever felt tiny tight lumps in your neck or shoulder muscles? Chances are these persistent little knots are trigger points, a common problem in the musculoskeletal system.
Old Pain Barometer Tracking of Webmaster T. Back in 2000 to 2001
Dear EXODICE: 7 20 2006
The Marijuana Policy Project has received a commitment from a major philanthropist to match the first $3.5 million we can raise from the rest of the planet.
This is a huge opportunity for MPP and all of us who are working to end marijuana prohibition. If we succeed at securing $3.5 million + $3.5 million = $7.0 million in revenues this year, all of the projects mentioned
below will be fully funded this year ... and into next year.
Would you please help make this financial windfall a reality by visiting http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718212917863960031393365&af=y to
make your own contribution today?
The matching funding comes in two stages. The first $2.3 million that you and other MPP allies donate will be matched by $2.3 million from the philanthropist. Then, if we can raise an additional $1.2 million from you
and other allies, the philanthropist will again match that with $1.2 million of his own.
We've already raised $2,026,479 this year. If each of the 101,000 subscribers on this e-mail list were to donate just $5 each, we would immediately jump over the $2.3 million hurdle.
But not everyone on this e-mail list will donate $5 -- or even read this e-mail message -- so please consider visiting
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718212937863960031393365&af=y to donate $10, $50, $250 (you'll receive a DVD of MPP's TV debates and other highlights), or $1,000 (you'll become a Lifetime Member of MPP).
Does money really make a difference? In a word, "Yes." Please consider these two thoughts:
- Because 78% of the American people already support allowing patients to use marijuana "to reduce pain and suffering," according to the latest Gallup poll, the only thing that's preventing us from making medical
marijuana legal in Michigan, Ohio, Florida, and all 50 states is our ability to hire lobbyists and/or to put medical marijuana initiatives on the ballot.
- Because 36% of the American people say "the use of marijuana should be made legal," according to Gallup, we need to continue dedicating resources to educating the public on the harms of marijuana prohibition ...
until a majority of voters agree.
In short, money is one of the most critical factors that will determine how quickly we -- which includes you -- can end marijuana prohibition.
It's not the academic commitment of the people who agree with MPP ... or the righteousness of our cause ... or our willpower, or our intelligence. These elements are all important, but it's money that translates good
ideas into good laws.
If you're able to help us reach the $3.5 million milestone -- preferably by October 1, so that we can actually use the money to pass key ballot initiatives this November 7 -- we'll be able to fully fund the following:
- MPP's ballot initiative in Nevada to end marijuana prohibition entirely, which Nevadans will be voting on this November.
- The ad campaign we recently launched on Jim Hightower's national radio show.
- Local ballot initiatives to make adult marijuana offenses the lowest law enforcement priority for local police in Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, Missoula County (Montana), and Portland (Oregon) ... which
all five communities are voting on this November.
- The medical marijuana initiative in South Dakota that -- if passed by a majority of the voters this November -- would make South Dakota the 12th medical marijuana state ... and the first medical marijuana state in
the midwest.
- Public opinion polling to help us determine where to run similar statewide medical marijuana initiatives in 2007 and 2008.
Will you please help achieve what you believe in by voting with your dollars by visiting
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718212937863960031393365&af=y today? MPP is doing everything it can to end the government's war on marijuana users, but we need the financial means to achieve the goal.
I want to thank you in advance for any help you can provide. Financial support from supporters like you is literally the only thing that makes our work possible.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. If you join MPP's pledge program at http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718212967863960031393365&af=y at a level of $5 or more per
month, you'll receive your choice of MPP's colorful "Stop Arresting Patients" t-shirt, a DVD of the award-winning medical marijuana documentary Waiting to Inhale, or the DVD BUSTED: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving
Police Encounters. And if you donate $250 or more (or sign up for a monthly pledge of at least $50), we'll also mail you a compilation DVD featuring the TV and radio ads, TV news coverage, and raw video coverage from
MPP's campaigns last year.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 101,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718212937863960031393365&af=y to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing
address is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear EXODICE: 7 17 2006
Please visit http://www.changetheclimate.com/tv/imagine.html to watch this powerful new video from Change the Climate, one of MPP's many allies in the fight
to end marijuana prohibition.
Then, if you're as moved as I was by what you saw in the video, please visit http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718132947863960031179665&af=y
to contribute $10 or more to MPP's work to end the government's senseless war on marijuana users. And don't forget to click on the link at the end of the video - http://action.mpp.org
- to let your members of Congress know how you feel about our government's wasteful war on marijuana.
According to MPP's records, you have already donated to MPP (or the tax-deductible MPP Foundation) this year. I want to thank you for that. If, by any chance, you want to make an additional donation or you want to join
MPP's monthly pledge program, please visit http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718132947863960031179665&af=y at your leisure.
Please forward this alert to everyone you know ... so that they, too, can learn about our government's wasteful marijuana policies and take action using the link at the end of the video.
Thank you,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. If you're a supporter of small government, just imagine that the video -- which you can view at http://www.changetheclimate.com/tv/imagine.html --
could just as easily present a number of options for cutting taxes and/or cutting government programs as a result of ending marijuana prohibition.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address
is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M718144707863960031179665
Dear EXODICE: 7 9 2006
Imagine airing radio ads on major stations across the country, listing prominent officials who have used marijuana and asking, "Is it fair to arrest three quarters of a million people a year for doing what presidents
and a Supreme Court justice have done?"
The Marijuana Policy Project's new ad -- which you can listen to at http://www.mpp.org/streaming/2006-Ad_One.html -- does exactly that.
The spot began airing on Tuesday, during national radio personality Jim Hightower's syndicated "Common Sense Commentaries." But we need your help to keep it on the air. Please donate what you can by visting
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M717959267863960030818465&af=y today.
The three-fold purpose of the ads is to (1) increase public support for ending marijuana prohibition, (2) persuade supportive or curious listeners to visit MPP's Web site or to call MPP, and (3) generate free news
coverage about the ads, thereby further educating the American people. In fact, the ad has been covered by CNN Radio, the New York Daily News, and influential blogs such as TalkLeft, Hammer of Truth, and CommonDreams.
For only $320 per day, MPP is able to run this 30-second radio ad (and others like it) on 61 commercial stations twice daily, plus a 10-second "underwriting announcement" crediting MPP on an additional 80 stations
once daily.
In order to get this special rate, we had to commit to a one-year contract. Running the ads twice a week for 52 weeks will cost $33,280 ... meaning that we need to raise $2,773 each month for the next 12 months to
keep the ads on the air.
I'm hoping you'll make a tax-deductible donation to this campaign today by visiting
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M717959687863960030818465&af=y, so that we can keep these provocative ads on the radio.
Additionally, if you have ideas for future ads we should run, please send your ideas to me at rob@mpp.org. (Ad ideas should be about broad marijuana policy issues, not just medical
marijuana, and they should be concepts that are easily communicated in 25 seconds or less ... with bonus points for ideas that are edgy enough that the ad itself might generate free news coverage.)
Won't you please help us educate the American people about the hypocrisies and tragedies of marijuana prohibition on radio stations all over the country? Visit
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M717959687863960030818465&af=y today.
Thank you in advance for anything you can do to help.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M717959687863960030818465&af=y to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing
address is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear EXODICE:
Great news! A newspaper in rural Nevada has become the first newspaper to endorse the Marijuana Policy Project's ballot initiative to tax and regulate marijuana in the state ... and the endorsement is making headlines
around the nation.
Recently, the Lahontan Valley News -- which serves a conservative population -- editorialized in favor of our initiative to tax and regulate marijuana and encouraged its readers to vote for the initiative this November.
The endorsement has made news around the country, including stories in the San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Kansas City Star, Las Vegas Review-Journal, and many others and was covered by
the Associated Press.
In an editorial headlined "It's time to enact new state marijuana policy," the Lahontan Valley News wrote:
"In a state where prostitution is legal in certain counties, bars are not required to close and children can legally possess and use tobacco, objections to marijuana legalization on a moral basis seem hypocritical ...
Those who view marijuana as a blight on society have yet to offer an effective solution of how to stop its spread through society or better fund law enforcement. Continuation of the ill-funded, halfhearted campaigns of
the past is little more than veiled acceptance of its current widespread and illegal use." Visit http://www.mpp.org/NV/news/12234.mpp to read the full endorsement.
If a majority of voters passes MPP's initiative on November 7, Nevada will become the first place in the world to permit the legal cultivation, distribution, and sale of marijuana to adults aged 21 and older - and not
just for medical use.
There are two ways you can help pass the Nevada initiative:
1.Please visit http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/home/donate?id=5053 to donate to the campaign so that we can fully execute our campaign plan and win on
November 7.
2.If you have a phone and a few minutes, please help us call Nevada voters about the initiative. To volunteer to make phone calls from home, sign up at
http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/home/vac/homebank , the Web site of MPP's Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana.
In the weeks to come, we expect to see more breakthroughs like the Lahontan Valley News' surprise endorsement. With your help, we will win this campaign.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. Photos from MPP's recent awards gala in New York City are online at http://www.mpp.org/nygala .
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/home/donate?id=5053 to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address
is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear EXODICE:
Today, June 28, the U.S. House of Representatives defeated by a vote of 163-259 an amendment that would have prevented the DEA and the U.S. Justice Department from spending any more taxpayer money to raid and prosecute
medical marijuana patients and providers in the 11 states where medical marijuana is legal.
Although we lost, today's vote was a stronger showing than political observers had predicted, in large part because of the more than 5,000 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 18 House Republicans bucked the White House to vote "yes."
This is only the fourth time in history that the full House has voted on binding legislation to end the federal government's war on medical marijuana. (The U.S. Senate never has.) Today's vote was a record vote for
medical marijuana -- the legislation received two more votes than it did on June 15, 2005, and this is an election year.
Leading up to the vote, the MPP staff and our lobbyists had more than 250 meetings with House members, including visiting every single Republican House office, which had never happened before. In the days leading up to
the vote, we also delivered plastic handcuffs to more than 100 House offices with "evidence tags" asking them to vote for the amendment, and we generated several thousand constituent phone calls and thousands of letters
to members of Congress.
Additionally, MPP nurtured connections within the conservative movement for months leading up to the vote, which helped lay the groundwork for the letter that was sent to Congress this week by a host of prominent
conservative organizations, blasting the federal government for wasting tax dollars on raiding medical marijuana patients.
MPP also coordinated an unprecedented grassroots campaign in California to pressure the state's Republican congressional delegation to support the amendment and funded, through MPP's grants program, the former executive
director of the San Diego Republican Party to lobby for the amendment. We also placed organizers in key congressional districts throughout the country to run high-pressure grassroots campaigns directed at targeted swing
votes.
Now that the amendment has 163 votes, in the next year we'll be targeting a smaller number of districts to pick up the remaining 55 votes we need to reach a 218-vote majority.
The momentum is on our side, and we'll keep fighting until Congress listens to the American people and ends the government's cruel and needless war on sick people.
If you support the work that MPP is doing -- work that today forced each member of the U.S. House of Representatives to take a public stand on the question of arresting and imprisoning seriously ill patients -- please
help us continue by making a financial contribution at www.kintera.org/site/lookup.asp?c=hjJZJgMOIoE&b=980423&msource=5052 today.
We need you standing with us as we continue the fight.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
www.kintera.org/site/lookup.asp?c=hjJZJgMOIoE&b=980423&msource=5052 to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address is MPP,
P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear: EXODICE
How many states will need to make medical marijuana legal before Congress will change federal law?
No one knows the answer to this question, so the Marijuana Policy Project will continue to fight in multiple states simultaneously ... every legislative session ... until the federal government's war on medical marijuana
patients is over. If you like what you read below, will you please consider visiting
www.kintera.org/site/lookup.asp?c=hjJZJgMOIoE&b=980423&msource=5049 and donating to our work today?
- NEW YORK: Our medical marijuana bill in New York enjoyed a huge victory last month when it sailed through its first Assembly committee with an 18-6 vote. We expect the bill will go all the way to the Assembly floor
next year, which would set us up for a dramatic battle in the Senate.
- MINNESOTA: Our medical marijuana bill in Minnesota passed four out of four Senate committees, reaching the Senate floor after only two years of lobbying. When the state legislature reconvenes in January, we expect the
bill to pass the Senate and make substantial progress in the House.
- ILLINOIS: For the first time ever, MPP was able to pass its medical marijuana bill out of an Illinois Senate committee and onto the Senate floor. This win is a tremendous step forward, putting MPP in a great position
to move medical marijuana legislation even farther next year. However - despite more than 2-1 public support for the bill, endorsements from major health organizations, and favorable editorials by state newspapers -
we'll face a big battle in the House.
- SOUTH DAKOTA: On May 31, the South Dakota government certified a medical marijuana initiative for the November ballot. With gay marriage and abortion rights on the same ballot, South Dakota will likely be the center of
the nation's political focus this fall.
And of course, you already know about our major victory in Rhode Island, which on January 3 overrode the governor's veto of MPP's medical marijuana bill, making Rhode Island the 11th medical marijuana state.
Please help support these campaigns today by visiting www.kintera.org/site/lookup.asp?c=hjJZJgMOIoE&b=980423&msource=5049 so that
we can afford to continue our lobbying in state legislatures across the country. We need to create a critical mass of states that protect medical marijuana patients from arrest in order to force Congress to change
federal law.
Thank you for anything you can do to help us keep up the pressure.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
www.kintera.org/site/lookup.asp?c=hjJZJgMOIoE&b=980423&msource=5049 to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address is MPP,
P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear EXODICE:
You can help pass the first state law to end marijuana prohibition -- just by picking up your phone.
All across America, people just like you are helping the Marijuana Policy Project to call Nevada voters about MPP's initiative that will be on the ballot this November.
If you have a phone and a few minutes of time, we need your help. Would you please be part of our massive voter identification project that's identifying supporters across Nevada -- so that we can make sure they get to
the polls in November? (Generating just a few thousand additional "yes" votes could very well swing this election.)
Please sign up right now to make the phone calls at www.RegulateMarijuana.org/home/vac/homebank -- the Web site of MPP's Committee to Regulate and Control
Marijuana.
Or visit www.RegulateMarijuana.org/home/donate?id=5047 to make a donation to support this effort.
To participate in this massive phone-banking program, all you need is a phone line and a computer with Internet access. Our campaign will provide a few simple instructions, a training video to show you exactly what to
do, and even a way to make practice calls before you begin. It's an easy way to help make history.
Please just visit the Web site of MPP's Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana at www.RegulateMarijuana.org/home/vac/homebank to get started.
Signing up is easy, and when you log in, you'll see "Home Phone Banking" in the menu on the left. You can begin making phone calls right away or whenever it's convenient for you.
(And, of course, you can also help the marijuana initiative win on November 7 by visiting www.RegulateMarijuana.org/home/donate?id=5047 to donate to the
campaign.)
With your help, we can win at the polls on November 7 -- and make Nevada the first state to tax and regulate marijuana. Please visit
www.RegulateMarijuana.org/home/vac/homebank to volunteer today.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. By volunteering, you'll be eligible to win prizes. Log in for details.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
www.RegulateMarijuana.org/home/donate?id=5047 to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address is MPP,
P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear EXODICE
If you were to send only one e-mail this year to stop the federal government's war on medical marijuana users, now would be the time.
Would you please take one minute to visit the Marijuana Policy Project's legislative online system at http://action.mpp.org to ask your congressperson to vote for the medical
marijuana amendment that the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on in approximately two weeks?
Then, please visit
http://action.mpp.org/c.hhLWK2PALoF/b.1479855/k.A29D/Tell_Your_Friends/siteapps/email/spreadWord.aspx to send an alert to five or more of your friends who want to see Congress protect medical marijuana patients
from arrest and jail. Please tell them to act now!
The federal government has boldly and unremorsefully raided seriously ill patients (and their caregivers) who are using medical marijuana in compliance with their states' laws. Now is your chance to help bring an end
to these raids by urging your U.S. representative to support the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment ... which would bar the U.S. Justice Department from raiding, arresting, or prosecuting medical marijuana patients who are
complying with state laws.
MPP's goal is to generate 25,000 letters to the U.S. House by the time of the vote late this month, but we won't be able to achieve that goal without your help.
TAKE ACTION TODAY!
Would you please take one minute to visit http://action.mpp.org and e-mail your congressperson today? Doing so could have a huge impact on the outcome of the medical marijuana vote.
Then, don't forget to make your voice louder by visiting
http://action.mpp.org/c.hhLWK2PALoF/b.1479855/k.A29D/Tell_Your_Friends/siteapps/email/spreadWord.aspx and asking your friends to take action also.
Thank you,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.kintera.org/site/lookup.asp?c=hjJZJgMOIoE&b=980423&msource=5048 to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing
address is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear Thomas Sutor:
Yesterday, the South Dakota government certified a medical marijuana initiative for the November 7 ballot!
Please help the South Dakota activists responsible for this initiative by visiting http://www.SDMedicalMarijuana.org/contribute to donate to the campaign today.
Because the campaign's previous revenues were spent on paying petitioners to collect signatures to place the initiative on the ballot, there is currently no money in the South Dakota campaign's coffers.
If the initiative is passed by a majority of voters, South Dakota will become the 12th state to protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail -- and the first in the Midwest to do so.
Please visit http://www.SDMedicalMarijuana.org to learn more about the initiative.
A coalition of activists in South Dakota -- led by South Dakotans for Safe Access and South Dakotans for Medical Marijuana -- handed in 24,000 signatures to the state government on May 2. Yesterday, the secretary of
state confirmed that the petitions contained the required number of valid signatures, and the initiative will therefore appear on the November 7 ballot.
The widespread support among South Dakotans for safe and legal access to medical marijuana shows how mainstream the issue has become: A 2002 Lucas Organization poll found that 64% of South Dakota residents support
allowing seriously ill patients to use marijuana if recommended by a doctor.
Please help the South Dakota activists pass this initiative on November 7 by visiting http://www.SDMedicalMarijuana.org/contribute to make a donation to their
work today. MPP is processing donations made online and is sending checks to the campaign on a rolling basis. Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
www.kintera.org/site/lookup.asp?c=hjJZJgMOIoE&b=980423&msource=5045 to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address
is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear Thomas Sutor:
This is the last e-mail you'll receive from me about the Marijuana Policy Project's gala in New York City, so please reserve your tickets now. Prices go up the day after tomorrow (May 31).
MPP Awards Gala
6:00 p.m., Monday, June 12
Capitale, 130 Bowery
New York City
Please come out and join us for cocktails, dinner, and an awards celebration to mark the progress we've made as a movement toward ending marijuana prohibition. Visit www.mpp.org/NYgala
to purchase your tickets today.
Jim Hightower is co-hosting the event, and TV talk show host Montel Williams, Howard Stern Show regular Jackie "the Joke Man" Martling, philanthropist Peter Lewis, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, and many
VIPs from the entertainment industry are confirmed to attend.
National touring act Medeski Martin & Wood -- a recent addition to our VIP advisory board -- will provide musical entertainment, and Showtime will be filming the event for an upcoming documentary.
Our host committee includes eight members of Congress, six members of the New York State Legislature, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Mary-Louise Parker, the ACLU, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, and others. (Please
see www.mpp.org/NYgala for a complete list.)
Those in attendance will have a chance to bid on:
- a script from Showtime's Weeds, signed by the entire cast, writers, and producers
- a medical marijuana canister mailed by the federal government to one of the five medical marijuana patients who receives marijuana from the federal government -- packed full of pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes (now
empty and clean)
- a DVD and poster from The Aristocrats, signed by Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza
- artwork by Alex Grey
- and much more
Please visit www.mpp.org/NYgala to purchase your tickets today, so that you won't miss out on this exclusive event. All proceeds will be used to support MPP's work to end marijuana
prohibition in the U.S.
Ticket prices increase after tomorrow, so please don't wait to purchase your tickets.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
www.kintera.org/site/lookup.asp?c=hjJZJgMOIoE&b=980423&msource=5044 to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address is MPP,
P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Dear Thomas Sutor:
Come out and party with the Marijuana Policy Project, comedian Tommy Chong, and many others at ...
MPP Awards Gala
6:00 p.m., Monday, June 12
Capitale, 130 Bowery
New York City
Tommy Chong and his wife, Shelby, will perform a comedy routine, and national radio personality Jim Hightower will co-emcee the dinner gala. National touring act Medeski Martin & Wood -- a recent addition to MPP's VIP
advisory board -- will provide musical entertainment, and Showtime will be filming the event for an upcoming documentary. Visit www.mpp.org/NYgala to purchase tickets now.
Our host committee includes eight members of Congress, six members of the New York State Legislature, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Mary-Louise Parker, the ACLU, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, and others. (Please
see www.mpp.org/NYgala for a complete list.)
TV talk show host Montel Williams, philanthropist Peter Lewis, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, and many VIPs from the entertainment industry are confirmed to attend.
Will you please join us for cocktails, dinner, and an awards celebration to mark the progress we've made as a movement toward ending marijuana prohibition?
Please visit www.mpp.org/NYgala to purchase your tickets today, so that you won't miss out on this exclusive event. All proceeds will be used to support MPP's work to end marijuana
prohibition in the U.S.
And whether or not you're able to attend, please contact MPP's Jess Ellis at jess@mpp.org if you'd like to buy an ad in the event's tribute journal.
Ticket prices increase after May 31, so please don't delay purchasing your tickets.
I hope to see you on June 12.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. The documentary "a/k/a Tommy Chong" -- director Josh Gilbert's chronicle of how the U.S. Justice Department targeted Chong and sent him to prison for nine months for selling on the Internet glassware that could be
used to smoke marijuana -- will have its New York theatrical premiere on June 14.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.kintera.org/site/lookup.asp?c=hjJZJgMOIoE&b=980423&msource=5042 to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address
is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
TO: Thomas Sutor
FROM: Karen O'Keefe, MPP assistant director of state policies
County by county, the Marijuana Policy Project is making sure that California's medical marijuana patients are finally getting the protection they deserve -- and even in parts of the state that used to oppose medical
marijuana access. Illustrating how far we've come, yesterday Tulare County -- the county that voted against California's medical marijuana initiative by the widest margin (63% opposing) -- voted to implement the state's
voluntary medical marijuana ID card program. Tulare County supervisors voted unanimously -- 5-0 -- to implement the ID cards, which guarantee medical marijuana patients protection from arrest.
This victory didn't happen by itself ... It took the determined organizing of MPP grant recipient Aaron Smith of California's Safe Access Now, more than 20 brave Tulare County patients who attended the vote, and
constituent calls generated by MPP. But these efforts are expensive -- generating the calls alone cost $500 per county -- and we can't continue this work without your help. Please visit
https://www.mpp.org/donate and make a contribution today, so that we can keep pressuring county officials to follow the law and implement the ID card program.
When Aaron began his work in December, only 12 of California's 58 counties had implemented the medical marijuana ID card program. Now, 23 have voted to do so, 19 of them are issuing cards, and many more have begun the
process of developing a program. Every county is required to implement ID cards, according to Senate Bill 420, which was enacted in 2003. Visit
http://www.dhs.ca.gov/MMP/County_Programs_&_Business_Hours/CoProgBusHrs.pdf to learn if your county is accepting applications for
statewide cards. For each county that is accepting applications, the chart includes contact information for its program. In addition to the counties that are listed, Alameda, Los Angeles, San Benito, and Tulare counties
have voted to implement ID cards but are not yet issuing them.
If you are a patient or a medical professional who lives in a county that has not yet voted to implement ID cards, please contact Aaron Smith at fa_smith@yahoo.com to see how you
can help.
The cards offer great protection to patients. They can be immediately verified by police officers via a 24-hour 800 number, so that patients have to spend as little time as possible waiting for verification. And patients
are under no obligation to get the ID cards -- a recommendation still legally protects them from arrest. Particularly in smaller counties, many patients want the opportunity to get the voluntary ID card to provide them
with additional protection from wrongful arrest and seizure.
So, please don't forget to visit https://www.mpp.org/donate and donate whatever you can afford to our efforts to protect patients from arrest.
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this message on to others in California, so that even more voices can speak up for patients.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address
is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
Making Marijuana Real
How long has mankind been smoking cannabis? As far as we know, since man has been on the planet. However, since around 1937 it has been outlawed in America.
It is amazing that America has studied the effects of cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, in scientific control environments. Yet to apply the same scientific regiment to the use of marijuana is against the
law? How will we ever find out if it can be used socially? As you would not give a child alcohol, cigarettes, or marijuana, the prior two are legal for adults.
With the governments need to find taxes to save Social Security, and other programs beneficial to the U.S. citizens, taxing marijuana would only help
salvage these much respected and expected programs. It will jump start the Economy! With new Jobs for the entire USA industry. We can cut the cost to the drug war by 50 percent, and then focus all their attention on
cocaine, crack and other synthetic drugs that are known deadly.
Even though people could grow their own, I believe most when they realize it is accepted by law to be legal and for use in the privacy of their home.
Then rich, middle-class, and even poor class will buy from the government, since all products would be government owned and endorsed by “we the people”. (The Power of Vote)
Keeping this a national treasure would monopolize the countries ability to make money and charge taxes on a product our government can grow
anyplace in America! Since we have been losing the drug war on marijuana for the past 30 years, and in the generation that started its wide use. They are now all in there 60s. Do they still not have a voice
today? It’s only by getting it put on the ballot, and allowing democracy to vote on whether or not its citizens would like this item legalized.
Amendments and proper taxation would make legalizing marijuana part of boosting the local economy. And when the economy is good because America
is making money on itself, then Americans benefit from better Social Security, medicinal uses for marijuana, social relaxation like alcohol and tobacco after a hard day’s work. Is it not the American ideal “to
vote” on issues we think are important? The Bible does not say one way or another about the properties of this plant. As with alcohol and cigarettes` they can be abused, and so can this substance.
However, Americans drinking and smoking can and do so in moderation, there is no reason to think that they could not do the same smoking
marijuana. I see a future where America begins selling marijuana globally. The money on export/imports would be richly astounding! Therefore. It is in our best interest to legalize this plant, study it
scientifically, enjoy it socially, and put all the profits into Medicare, Social Security, and most importantly toward our Educational system! The funds, to raise and educate all Americans.
In light of the Attack on the USA, the profits from this money can fund our military as well. It is a well-known fact that Afghanistan is still (2004 update)
the leading country in making illegal drugs. Ask our governments: What is up with the extreme stance on "not"
eradicating this threat to the youth of our country? Sadly our government policy outside influence is "Reinventing Extremist Prohibition" how can we justify that?
One last note, with legalized cannabis and profit, we could use portions of money to build more recovery facilities for drug and alcohol addicts to
become productive citizens of our country. Alcohol companies should pay for these services already` since they are the "Sole Contributor" to Alcoholism...
Latest News from MPP 5 23 2006
TO: Thomas Sutor
FROM: Karen O'Keefe, MPP assistant director of state policies
County by county, the Marijuana Policy Project is making sure that California's medical marijuana patients are finally getting the protection they deserve -- and even in parts of the state that used to oppose medical
marijuana access. Illustrating how far we've come, yesterday Tulare County -- the county that voted against California's medical marijuana initiative by the widest margin (63% opposing) -- voted to implement the
state's voluntary medical marijuana ID card program. Tulare County supervisors voted unanimously -- 5-0 -- to implement the ID cards, which guarantee medical marijuana patients protection from arrest.
This victory didn't happen by itself ... It took the determined organizing of MPP grant recipient Aaron Smith of California's Safe Access Now, more than 20 brave Tulare County patients who attended the vote, and
constituent calls generated by MPP. But these efforts are expensive -- generating the calls alone cost $500 per county -- and we can't continue this work without your help. Please visit
https://www.mpp.org/donate and make a contribution today, so that we can keep pressuring county officials to follow the law and implement the ID card program.
When Aaron began his work in December, only 12 of California's 58 counties had implemented the medical marijuana ID card program. Now, 23 have voted to do so, 19 of them are issuing cards, and many more have begun the
process of developing a program. Every county is required to implement ID cards, according to Senate Bill 420, which was enacted in 2003. Visit
http://www.dhs.ca.gov/MMP/County_Programs_&_Business_Hours/CoProgBusHrs.pdf to learn if your county is accepting applications
for statewide cards. For each county that is accepting applications, the chart includes contact information for its program. In addition to the counties that are listed, Alameda, Los Angeles, San Benito, and Tulare
counties have voted to implement ID cards but are not yet issuing them.
If you are a patient or a medical professional who lives in a county that has not yet voted to implement ID cards, please contact Aaron Smith at fa_smith@yahoo.com to see how
you can help.
The cards offer great protection to patients. They can be immediately verified by police officers via a 24-hour 800 number, so that patients have to spend as little time as possible waiting for verification. And
patients are under no obligation to get the ID cards -- a recommendation still legally protects them from arrest. Particularly in smaller counties, many patients want the opportunity to get the voluntary ID card to
provide them with additional protection from wrongful arrest and seizure.
So, please don't forget to visit https://www.mpp.org/donate and donate whatever you can afford to our efforts to protect patients from arrest.
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this message on to others in California, so that even more voices can speak up for patients.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one financial donation to MPP's work in 2006. Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2006 strategic plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2006plan -- if you and other allies are generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To contact MPP, please visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing
address is MPP, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20013.
To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M716783047863960028377365
|
