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Dear Friend:
Some quick updates from the Marijuana Policy Project ...
1. VERMONT VICTORY: Today the Vermont Senate passed a watered-down
version of MPP's medical marijuana bill by a vote of 22-7.
(Please
see http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr051402vt.html
.) The MPP bill
that the House passed two months ago would remove the threat
of
arrest for patients and caregivers who possess and grow
marijuana
for medical purposes. The Senate version, on the other hand,
would
only allow patients to raise a "medical necessity"
defense in
court after they are arrested for marijuana possession (not
cultivation). MPP now needs to purchase $20,000 worth of TV
commercials to pressure the House/Senate conference committee
to
pass the House version -- not the Senate version -- but MPP's
fundraising e-mail alert on May 3 raised only $1,000 from all
MPP
members and allies for these ads. Would you please donate now
at
http://www.mpp.org/HelpVermont
?
2. PROGRESS IN CONGRESS: The letters you have been faxing to Congress
via http://www.mpp.org/USA
are really paying off. In just the past
month, five new U.S. House members have co-sponsored the
federal
medical marijuana bill -- U.S. Representatives Jim McDermott
(D-WA), Mark Udall (D-CO), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Albert Wynn
(D-MD), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT). The medical marijuana
bill,
H.R. 2592, now has a total of 36 House sponsors, including
three
Republicans.
3. MPP/SSDP CONFERENCE ON NOVEMBER 8-10: The conference registrations
are still rolling in for MPP's first-ever conference, to be
held
on November 8-10 in Anaheim, California. On Saturday night,
Bill
Maher will be doing a benefit for MPP and SSDP. Please
consider
registering today at http://www.mpp.org/conference
.
4. D.C. MEDICAL MARIJUANA INITIATIVE: MPP received substantial,
positive news coverage after beating Congressman Bob Barr
(R-GA)
and the U.S. Justice Department in federal court; please see
http://www.mpp.org/lawsuit/news.html
. After the local D.C.
government finishes its standard bureaucratic processes, we
expect
to launch the signature drive on May 29, and it must be
concluded
by July 8. Please donate at http://www.mpp.org/lawsuit
if you are
interested in adding to the $9,000 we have raised so far for
the
signature drive.
5. MARYLAND MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL KILLED: On April 5, the Maryland
Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee killed a watered-down
version of MPP's medical marijuana bill by a 6-5 vote. The
House
had passed the medical marijuana bill (after three years of
lobbying) just a few days earlier. MPP will be back in
Maryland in
January with our model medical marijuana bill, which removes
the
threat of arrest for patients and caregivers who possess or
cultivate medical marijuana.
6. MPP CONFRONTS DEA ADMINISTRATOR ASA HUTCHINSON: This is old news,
but the article at http://www.mpp.org/USA/news_567.html
describes
how MPP's Bruce Mirken and Fernando Mosquera confronted DEA
Administrator Asa Hutchinson in Maryland on March 18. It is a
must-read.
7. TWO NEW MEDICAL MARIJUANA STUDIES SEEK PATIENTS: Dr. Donald Abrams
is looking for patients to participate in two new marijuana
studies he is conducting at San Francisco General Hospital.
If you
have HIV-related painful neuropathy or cancer and are
interested
in participating in one of these studies, please see
http://www.mpp.org/abrams.html
.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
URGENT: Please consider donating to the Vermont campaign by Monday at
http://www.mpp.org/HelpVermont
... and distribute this alert widely!
Dear friend:
Things came to a head today in Vermont. Vermont could become the ninth
state to legalize medical marijuana -- which could happen in the next
10 days -- with your help.
To push our medical marijuana bill over the top, the Marijuana Policy
Project needs to purchase $20,000 worth of TV ads in Montpelier and
Burlington on Monday, May 6. The ads will pressure one person --
Vermont Senate President Peter Shumlin (D) -- to stand up for our
bill, which will allow patients to use and grow their own marijuana if
they have the approval of their physicians.
We need to run the TV ads starting on Monday, so would you please
consider donating today at http://www.mpp.org/HelpVermont
?
MPP's medical marijuana bill has been the predominant legislative
issue in Vermont since we launched our lobbying campaign in January,
and our bill is the ONLY issue today:
* This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a watered-down
version of our bill, which we oppose because (1) it would not allow
patients to grow their own marijuana, forcing them instead to
purchase marijuana from the criminal market, and (2) patients would
still be arrested for marijuana and could escape a criminal
conviction only if they could prove in court that their use was a
"medical necessity." This compromise bill is unacceptable
to MPP,
and we need your help to fight it (on TV).
* The committee chairman and the Senate president -- both of whom
support medical marijuana -- held a news conference immediately
thereafter defending their position, saying that the governor would
not sign MPP's stronger bill. They acknowledged that they are under
enormous pressure (from MPP's lobbying and grassroots letter-
writing campaign) to pass something, but they claimed that the
watered-down bill was the best they could do.
* Our lobbyists, patients, and a tri-partisan team of legislators
from the House responded with our own news conference, charging
that the Senate bill is unacceptable. The House previously passed
MPP's good bill by an 82-59 vote, and the House leaders promised
today that they will not accept the Senate version, which means the
competing versions of the bill will be debated by a House/Senate
conference committee. This will occur immediately after the Senate
passes the bad bill, which will happen early next week.
* The governor then held his own news conference to say he wants the
legislature to send him "a medical marijuana bill I can
sign." This
is quite an improvement over his long-held opposition! MPP has been
lobbying him hard for months, and it is really paying off.
One committee vote and three news conferences in one day.
We already know that the three House members of the House/Senate
conference committee are strongly on our side. The question is whether
we can pressure one or more of the three Senate conferees to pass
MPP's bill, rather than the watered-down bill.
Ultimately, the Senate president will determine what the three
senators will do in conference committee. We need to hit the Senate
president hard with our TV ads during all of next week. The TV ad is
being developed now and will be ready by Monday morning, and we need
to purchase the ads at that time. Will you please donate now at
http://www.mpp.org/HelpVermont so
that we can pressure the Senate
president to do the right thing?
The ads will encourage Vermonters to call on him to pass the good
bill, and he is sure to respond to the pressure because (1) he
supports medical marijuana, and (2) he is running for the statewide
seat of lieutenant governor this November. We simply need to convince
him that he should not jeopardize his own political future in order to
protect Gov. Dean.
The governor is now willing to sign a bill, the Republican-controlled
House is strongly on our side, and the Democratic leadership in the
Senate is supportive of medical marijuana -- but the Senate president
needs a backbone.
Please help MPP give him a backbone by donating to our TV ad campaign
immediately at http://www.mpp.org/HelpVermont
. Thank you for
considering this request.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. MPP has been using membership dues to pay for targeted mailings
to voters in key Vermont districts, as well as to fund
the
lobbying campaign in Montpelier. But we need additional
donations
-- today and this weekend -- if we are going to pay for
the
aggressive TV ad campaign on Monday. Thank you!
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