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Medical News Marijuana 2007 Signature drives completed in Massachusetts and Michigan! Dear Tom Sutor: Last week, the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy (CSMP) and MPP's Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care (MCCC) both completed their signature drives to place marijuana-related initiatives on the November 2008 ballot in Massachusetts and Michigan, respectively.
On Tuesday — after six months of petitioning — MCCC turned in nearly 500,000 signatures to qualify a medical marijuana measure for the November 2008 ballot in Michigan. On the same day — after only two months of petitioning — CSMP turned in more than 100,000 signatures to qualify a marijuana decriminalization initiative for the November 2008 ballot in Massachusetts.
I'd like to thank all the hard-working petitioners in Michigan and Massachusetts who helped MCCC and CSMP realize these achievements.
Would you please consider making a contribution to the campaigns in Michigan and Massachusetts to ensure passage of both measures next year?
Both initiatives are crucial to advancing marijuana policy reform in this country. Passage of MPP's Michigan initiative would mean that almost one-quarter of the nation would live in states with medical marijuana laws. Michigan would become the 13th medical marijuana state — joining Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington — and the first medical marijuana state in the Midwest.
In Massachusetts, turning in this first round of signatures means we are one step closer to the first time in history that an initiative to decriminalize marijuana will be placed on any statewide ballot. In the spring, if the state legislature does not enact the initiative into law itself, CSMP will have to collect an additional 11,099 valid signatures in order to place the decriminalization initiative on the November 2008 ballot. But that will be relatively easy compared to the first — much larger — round of signature-gathering that was just completed in Massachusetts.
MPP is currently working closely with MCCC and CSMP to pass both ballot initiatives, and we need your help. Will you please visit www.StopArrestingPatients.org or www.SensibleMarijuanaPolicy.org to donate $10 or more today?
Thanks for your help in making these exciting initiatives a reality.
Sincerely,
Michigan medical marijuana initiative turns in nearly half a million signatures to qualify for ballot After six months of gathering signatures from Michigan voters, MPP's campaign committee, the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care, submitted nearly half
a million signatures to the state yesterday to qualify the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act for the 2008 ballot. This signature drive was a huge undertaking. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to collect signatures, signed the petition, and donated to the campaign. We could not have come this far without you, and we will need your support as we move forward!
Monday: Massachusetts legislative hearing on whether to continue jailing marijuana users Do you think Massachusetts should find better uses of your tax dollars than prosecuting and incarcerating adults for possessing small amounts of marijuana? On Monday, the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse will hold a hearing on the issue. Please turn out to the hearing to support sensible marijuana policies. Where: Room A-2, Statehouse, Boston, MA 02133 When: Monday, November 5, 1:00 p.m. (Please be prepared to devote several hours to the hearing because other bills could be called first.) What: Hearing on Senate Bill 1121, which would reduce the maximum penalty for possession of up to an ounce of marijuana from up to six months in jail, a $500 fine, or both to a $250 civil fine. (Please dress professionally.) Arresting and jailing adults for using marijuana has completely failed as a public policy. Despite more than 750,000 marijuana arrests annually, roughly 41% of Americans have tried marijuana. This massive policy failure hasn't come cheaply either. In addition to destroying otherwise law abiding citizens' lives, marijuana prohibition costs $7.7 billion each year, according to Harvard University professor Jeffrey Miron's report — endorsed by 500 economists, including Milton Friedman. This is an important opportunity to raise awareness of the need to reform Massachusetts' marijuana policies and show state legislators that Massachusetts voters are ready for a change. Another way you can help is to sign up to gather signatures to bring the issue to voters. The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy is collecting signatures for a November 2008 ballot measure that would change the penalty for up to an ounce of marijuana to a $100 fine. If you'd like to get involved, contact them at info@sensiblemarijuanapolicy.org. Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this information on so that even more people can participate in reform.
Vote for MPP's question to the presidential candidates / join me on the radio Dear Tom Sutor: Please join MPP Outreach Director Joe Haptas and me on Tuesday for a live, one-hour call-in show to discuss MPP’s plans for passing state legislation and ballot initiatives in 2008. We will also be taking calls from MPP supporters regarding other topics related to marijuana policy reform. You can also post your comments online during the show. What: BlogTalkRadio show with MPP’s Rob Kampia and Joe Haptas One of the topics we might touch upon is the presidential candidates’ positions on medical marijuana. As you know, MPP’s campaign in New Hampshire has secured promises from 10 of the 16 major presidential hopefuls to end the DEA’s raids on medical marijuana patients in the 12 states where medical marijuana is legal. Speaking of presidential candidates, the Web site 10Questions.com is organizing a user-driven set of video questions that will be asked of the presidential candidates next month. Help MPP by voting for our question about medical marijuana here. If our question is in the top 10 by November 14, it will be presented to the candidates, who will have an opportunity to respond. Plus, after the responses are returned, you will be able to vote on whether or not the candidates actually answered the questions. In addition, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will be asked the site’s top question on MTV tomorrow, Monday, October 29. (The question and his response will air on MTV at 7:00 p.m. EST.) As of yesterday, our question had already risen into the top three on the site, and we are hoping that it will make it into the number one slot by tomorrow morning (Monday) at 10:00 a.m. EST, the cut-off time for determining which question Sen. Obama has to answer. Please vote for MPP's question now! Thanks for your support of MPP, and I look forward to talking with you on Tuesday. Sincerely, New York Senate doesn't vote on medical marijuana; patients needed Thank you to the more than 400 people who took the time to ask your state senators to put medical marijuana on the agenda for the October 22 special session. You let the senators know their constituents care about this issue. But, unfortunately, they have not yet voted on giving the sick and dying the protection they deserve. We can't give up now ... New York is still on the brink of becoming the 13th state to stop prosecuting the seriously ill. If you have battled a serious illness, or have a loved one who did, and your state senator is a Republican, we need your help. Please contact Karen O'Keefe at Karen@mpp.org or 202-462-5747, ext. 121 if you fit that criteria and are interested in meeting with your state senator. (If you are not sure who that is, you can write Karen@mpp.org and include your address, or you can look up your state senator at Congress.org.) The meetings would be in the senators' district offices, which should be fairly close to your residence. And you wouldn't be alone … Vince Marrone, a seasoned former legislative staffer who is MPP's lobbyist in New York, would join you. Additionally, if you have not yet e-mailed or called your state senator, please do so. Legislators often think that medical marijuana is a controversial issue. They seldom realize that the vast majority of their constituents — 76% of New Yorkers — support medical marijuana legislation. Let your state senator know that protecting the seriously ill is not only the compassionate thing to do … it's also what his or her constituents want. A phone call will have even more impact than an e-mail. You can look up your state senator's name and contact information at Congress.org. Before making the call, you can look over this background information. The state's medical community and the majority of Republican, Democrat, independent and Conservative Party voters support allowing medical marijuana. The Assembly already passed Assemblyman Richard Gottfried's (D-Manhattan) compassionate bill in June, and the governor indicated his support for the issue. But the Senate has not yet voted on medical marijuana, even though it has come back for three special sessions. Thank you for your support. Please pass this on to other compassionate New Yorkers, so together we can make sure no seriously ill patient faces arrest for relieving their suffering.
Gov. Richardson to Gov. Lynch on medical marijuana: "Do it!" Only one month to collect 100,000 signatures in Michigan — please help! Dear Tom Sutor: As I wrote you at the end of last month, the Marijuana Policy Project needs your help to place a landmark medical marijuana initiative on the Michigan ballot. Landmark? Yes, because if Michigan voters are given the opportunity to pass the initiative in November of next year, Michigan will become the first state in the Midwest where patients will be able to use, possess, and grow marijuana legally for medical purposes. And we can pass the initiative, because the only two public opinion polls that have been conducted in recent years show that between 59% and 61% of Michigan voters support the initiative. And this polling is accurate, because five out of five Michigan cities have passed local medical marijuana initiatives with an average of 64% of the vote since 2004. I want to thank the 44 generous supporters who made a financial donation after my last message about this campaign. But now I need your help, too. Would you please donate $10 or more today, so that we can afford to pay our hard-working petitioners who are working furiously to collect the remaining signatures that are needed to place the initiative on the November 2008 ballot? Our petitioners have done a great job since we kicked off the drive on May 23. But, we still have work ahead of us: In the next month, we need to collect the final 100,000 signatures that are needed to place the initiative on the ballot. Please donate $10 or more today, so that Michigan voters will have the chance to protect marijuana-using patients who have cancer, multiple sclerosis, and other medical conditions from arrest. Fully 10.1 million people live in Michigan, so making Michigan the 13th medical marijuana state would provide a huge boost to change federal law to end our government’s persecution of medical marijuana patients nationwide. If our hard-working petitioners fail to collect 100,000 signatures over the next month, the initiative will not appear on the ballot, and all the work we’ve done — and all the money we’ve spent — in Michigan will have been in vain. If you live in Michigan, please volunteer to collect 100, 500, or even 1,000 signatures from registered voters over the course of the next month. Or, if you’re unable to do so, please donate $10 or more so that we can pay others to do so. If you do not live in Michigan, please reach out across state lines to help make medical marijuana legal in the first Midwestern state by donating $10 or more today. Please lend your support today — and do not delay. I’ll be grateful for anything you can do to help. Thank you for considering this request ... Sincerely, P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2007. This means that your donation today will be doubled.
Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana Weekly Newsletter To:Tom Sutor Here is this week's update on Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana's campaign to press the presidential candidates to take public, positive positions on medical marijuana access. 1. Gov. Richardson to Gov. Lynch on medical marijuana: "Do it!" 1. Gov. Richardson to Gov. Lynch on medical marijuana: "Do it!" This past week, I attended a Concord house party for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) with GSMM volunteer and seriously ill resident Linda Macia. With the deadline looming for the introduction of medical marijuana legislation in New Hampshire for 2008, Macia asked Gov. Richardson: "First, I would like to thank you for the understanding, support, and compassion you have shown towards medical marijuana patients. Because I'm allergic or intolerant to conventional prescription medications I have tried medical marijuana. In New Hampshire, our governor — Gov. Lynch — will soon be considering medical marijuana legislation. From one governor to another governor, what would you say to Gov. Lynch while he considers supporting this legislation?" Gov. Richardson responded, "I would say to him, it's the right thing to do, and you should do it, but do it — I'll tell you what we're doing. I had people like you come to see me about a year and a half ago and this is what they said to me — people with cancer, glaucoma, serious illnesses — and they said, 'You know we have no health insurance, and we want something to ease our pain, and we think that medical marijuana would ease our pain, would you propose a bill to permit medical marijuana?' … I looked at these women and men I said, 'Can we find a way to do it right, can it be done and administered by qualified professionals? … And my department of health said yes. And so we're starting to administer the program and those that are suffering are getting medical marijuana." Gov. Richardson continued, "But guess what? Guess what the office of drug control is trying to do to New Mexico? I got word that the Office of [National] Drug Control [Policy] at the White House wants to prosecute my little state employees that are administering this. And they've threatened to prosecute. And that is so wrong, instead of going after drug dealers. Then they had a man in Malaga, New Mexico who was taking it for medicinal purposes. The DEA arrested that guy. 'Oh we didn't know that this man was getting medical marijuana and that the law permitted it.' They released him, but you know this is the kind of intolerant society we live in. So I appreciate what you said. I just think, properly administered, safeguards, you know, for your suffering." You can watch the entire encounter with Gov. Richardson here. 2. Gov. Romney waits until he's 2,941 miles away to answer Clayton's question Last week, I told you about former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) ignoring seriously ill New Hampshire resident Clayton Holton in Dover, New Hampshire, when he asked if the governor would have patients like himself arrested for using medical marijuana with their doctors' approval. Romney evaded the question and turned his back on Clayton as he sat in his wheelchair, unable to follow the governor as he scurried to leave his campaign event. You can watch the video of Clayton's encounter with Gov. Romney here. Since the encounter, thousands of American voters have responded with outrage towards Gov. Romney's treatment of this victim of muscular dystrophy who simply wanted a straight answer from the presidential hopeful. And a week after the encounter, while campaigning in Nevada — nearly 3,000 miles away from Dover — Gov. Romney finally answered Clayton's question. During the question and answer portion of Gov. Romney's event before members of the Conservative Leadership Conference, he was asked whether he would tell the DEA to stop raids in states that have legalized medical marijuana. Gov. Romney responded with a loud, "No," before continuing, "I believe marijuana is the gateway to drug use that is a plague to our children and a plague to our country. Medical marijuana is a Trojan horse for getting marijuana legalized. That is the last thing America needs. We do not need more drugs in our school and homes." 3. Sen. Clinton demands more medical marijuana research I've told you about our amazing progress with Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) during the New Hampshire primary. Initially, Sen. Clinton showed concern that the raids were occurring and assured us that she would look into the matter before she got back to us with a firm response. We lobbied her campaign staff, providing information on the raids and on marijuana's medical value. Only a few weeks later, she made her support for ending the raids clear when she was asked if she would end the raids and stated, "Yes, I will!" with great enthusiasm. This past week, Sen. Clinton returned to New Hampshire for a town hall forum at Plymouth State College in Plymouth. During the question and answer portion of the event, a member of the audience asked Sen. Clinton, "I have a question about something that pains me deeply — medical marijuana?" Sen. Clinton responded, "With respect to medical marijuana, you know I think that we have a lot of rhetoric and the federal government has been very intent upon trying to prevent states from being able to offer that as an option for people who are in pain. I think we should be doing medical research on this. We've ought to find what are the elements that claim to be existing in marijuana that might help people who are suffering from cancer, nausea related treatments. We ought to find that out. I don't think we should decriminalize it, but we ought to do research into what, if any, medical benefits it has. Remember, most painkillers come from poppies. We've had all kinds of drugs that have benefited Americans. So you know, we ought to be doing research. If there's something that could be made available that would be legal, we should look to that because I think that there are a lot of people suffering from debilitating pain, from medical treatments, that they undergo, and there's no reason they should suffer needlessly if we can have a legal, ethical framework to try to alleviate that pain." 4. Help us protect the seriously ill! You can help out the campaign by taking action in one, or all, of the ways recommended below:
Thank you for your continued support of our efforts, and please look for our weekly updates.
Chicago screening of "Waiting to Inhale" a huge success — act now to host a screening in your community On Thursday, September 20, patients, doctors, attorneys, and local activists packed the 263-seat Film Row Cinema at Columbia College to watch the award-winning documentary "Waiting to Inhale". The movie was followed by a fantastic discussion that included: Jed Riffe, director and producer of "Waiting to Inhale"; Melanie Dreher, dean of the College of Nursing at Rush University; and James Gierach, a former Cook County prosecutor and featured speaker with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. The Chicago screening was presented by The Public Square, an agency of the Illinois Humanities Council. Keep a lookout for future screenings presented by The Public Square. If you would like to help facilitate the public debate on this issue by hosting or sponsoring a screening of "Waiting to Inhale," please contact MPP Legislative Analyst Nathan Miller at (202) 249-1897 or Nathan@mpp.org. Next year we all hope to see the medical marijuana bill move even closer to becoming a medical marijuana law, but we need help from people like you to get the word out — this is a great way to do it. Another excellent way to spread the word about medical marijuana is by utilizing the airwaves. Please click here to download and share MPP's public service announcements with any radio station that might be interested in airing these wonderfully crafted messages. If you or anyone you know needs help understanding the issues involved with medical marijuana, please click here to download some of our brochures and handouts. These are great materials to leave with your local leader, physician, or law enforcement official who might need a little educating on the subject. Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project and all of our allies. Please pass this along to anyone or any organization you know that might be interested in hosting a screening of "Waiting to Inhale." Marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers $41.8 billion annually Dear Tom Sutor: A new report that MPP co-released yesterday shows that marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers $41.8 billion annually in law enforcement expenses and revenues lost to government at all levels. The analysis, by researcher Jon B. Gettman, Ph.D., is based primarily on government estimates of the U.S. marijuana supply, prices, and arrests. (MPP and Dr. Gettman made international headlines in December 2006 when we co-released his analysis showing that marijuana is the top cash crop in the U.S.) Click here to read some news coverage of Gettman’s latest report. Key findings of "Lost Taxes and Other Costs of Marijuana Laws" include:
This documentation of our nation’s failed marijuana laws comes just after the FBI reported a record 829,627 marijuana arrests in 2006. The evidence against marijuana prohibition keeps mounting. Funding and promoting cutting-edge research like this and getting it into the news and into the hands of lawmakers takes financial support from people like you — people who are motivated to turn common sense and cutting-edge research into action. Would you please consider making a donation to our work today? We need you standing with us in this battle. Sincerely, P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2007. This means that your donation today will be doubled. Marijuana "decrim" campaign launches in Massachusetts Dear Tom Sutor: I’m pleased to announce that the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy (CSMP) has launched its
long-awaited campaign to pass a statewide marijuana “decriminalization” initiative in Massachusetts in November 2008. MPP is currently assisting CSMP in collecting signatures to put the initiative on the November 2008 ballot, and we need you to be part of the campaign. Will you please visit
www.SensibleMarijuanaPolicy.org to donate $10 or more today?
You're invited to MPP's party in Austin! You're invited to the Marijuana Policy Project's first-ever party in Austin on Saturday, October 20! With 23,000 dues-paying members, 100,000 email subscribers, an annual budget of $6,000,000, and a separate $1,500,000 grants program that provides funding to allied organizations, MPP is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the U.S. Since its founding in 1995, MPP has been working to end marijuana prohibition in the U.S., with a particular emphasis on legalizing medical marijuana state-to-state. MPP is based in Washington, D.C., but MPP's executive director, Rob Kampia, has been temporarily living in Austin since May and will be moving back to D.C. over Thanksgiving. By holding the party on October 20, he hopes to put MPP members and allies in touch with each other, for the purpose of building the marijuana policy reform community in Austin. Alcoholic beverages and finger food will be provided. The indoor/outdoor party, which will have a DJ, starts at 8:00 p.m. There are no tickets to the event, and financial donations are not required. But there will be a *soft* pitch for financial support at some point in the evening. To RSVP and to learn the address for the party in the Travis Heights neighborhood of south Austin, either reply to this e-mail or send a message to MPPparty@mpp.org with your name and the number of people you'll be bringing. Thanks, and we hope to see you on October 20!
Dear Friend: California: Patients needed for clinical trial of medical marijuana There is good reason to believe that marijuana can boost the efficacy of opioid pain drugs, allowing pain patients to get better relief with smaller doses of narcotic medications. University of California, San Francisco researcher Dr. Donald Abrams is looking for participants to take part in an important pilot study that could lay the groundwork for critical research in this area. Dr. Abrams is conducting a trial of vaporized medical marijuana in conjunction with opioid medications in chronic pain patients. This is an opportunity for patients to try controlled doses of medical marijuana completely legally — under both state and federal law — for five days and for researchers to collect important data about the safety of medical marijuana. The study will assess the clinical safety of using marijuana with opioids by monitoring the short-term side effects associated with combined therapy. Participants in the study must:
Participating patients will:
You can receive $520 for participating. For more information, call (415) 476-9554, ext. 315, or e-mail pcouey@php.ucsf.edu. The Community Consortium Positive Health Program of the UCSF Medical Service at San Francisco General Hospital is conducting the study. Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this on to any chronic pain patients who might be interested in participating in the study.
Even though this is going on down below, I think it is a good idea to participate in these studies. I will try to get in as my Chronic Pain is now 6 years.
The DEA is raiding California right now. Dear Tom Sutor: Right now, the DEA is currently raiding the River City Patient Center in Sacramento, California — the longest established medical marijuana dispensary in the city. Protesters have gathered outside the building in support of the collective. And yesterday, the DEA began threatening landlords in the Santa Barbara area who lease space to medical marijuana dispensaries — activity that’s legal under California state law — with federal prison time and forfeiture of their properties. Several dispensaries closed right away. This follows a similar move in Los Angeles in July — a maneuver that was condemned in a Los Angeles Times editorial as "a deplorable new bullying tactic." No matter what state you live in, will you please take a few minutes to write all three of your members of Congress to protest this federal interference in state law? MPP’s action center is easy to use: You can send one of our pre-drafted letters, or you can personalize the letter. This is just the latest in the campaign of terror the DEA is waging on the sick. In June and July, the DEA conducted extensive medical marijuana raids in several California counties and in Oregon, including raids on at least 10 Los Angeles clinics in late July. Most were aimed at medical marijuana dispensaries operating legally under state and local laws, and in several cases the DEA detained and terrorized individual patients. If this outrages you like it does me, would you help MPP hire a new grassroots organizer in California, as well as to retain a lobbyist to help push legislation in Sacramento to protect these dispensaries? If enough supporters on this e-mail list donate today, MPP will be able to fully pay for both positions. These reprehensible DEA attacks — which run counter to state law, as well as the 78% of the American people who support "making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and suffering" — are preventing effective local regulation of medical marijuana: Cities and counties in California are passing ordinances to ensure that medical marijuana dispensaries follow the law and serve patients properly. But by treating all who provide medical marijuana to the sick as common drug dealers, the DEA has become the single largest obstacle to effective regulation of these establishments. A major Los Angeles raid actually occurred at the exact moment that members of the city council were holding a press conference to discuss an ordinance to regulate medical marijuana providers. Local officials and major newspapers are outraged by the DEA's actions. After the July raids in Los Angeles, L.A. City Councilman Dennis Zine — a Republican and former police officer with the L.A. Police Department — said, "I am greatly disturbed that the Drug Enforcement Administration would initiate an enforcement action against medical marijuana facilities in the City of Los Angeles during a news conference regarding City Council support of an Interim Control Ordinance to regulate all facilities within the City. This action by the DEA is contrary to the vote of Californians who overwhelmingly voted to support medicinal marijuana use by those facing serious and life threatening illnesses. The DEA needs to focus their attention and enforcement action on the illegal drug dealers who are terrorizing communities in Los Angeles." After a series of DEA medical marijuana raids in San Francisco, the city's health director, Dr. Mitchell Katz, wrote to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, "These actions have resulted in 4,000 persons with chronic illness left without access to critical treatment upon which they rely. Certainly in this post-September 11 environment, it seems that a DEA priority punishing organizations for distributing cannabis for medical purposes to chronically ill individuals is misplaced." Would you help us fight back against the DEA's deplorable attacks on sick patients? Please write your three members of Congress now, and then consider making a donation to MPP today. Sincerely, P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2007. This means that your donation today will be doubled. P.P.S. You can opt out of receiving fundraising mentions in the e-mail alerts I send you in 2007 by visiting www.mpp.org/2007optoutpreference at your convenience.
Help stop DEA obstruction of medical marijuana research Dear Tom Sutor: Would it surprise you to learn that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is refusing to allow medical marijuana research to move forward — despite a clear recommendation from its own administrative law judge to let such research happen? If you’re like me, this will be just the latest outrage from the same agency that insists on terrorizing and arresting medical marijuana patients and providers who are complying with state law and their doctors’ advice. Would you please take one minute to ask your U.S. House member to direct the DEA to permit medical marijuana research to move forward? MPP’s online action center has done all the work for you; just click a few buttons and your letter will be sent. (Congress provides the DEA with 100% of its funding — all of it taxpayer money — so the DEA is more likely to listen to members of Congress than just about anyone else.) In February of this year, DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Bittner recommended that Professor Lyle Craker and the University of Massachusetts be granted a license to grow research-grade marijuana that would be used in FDA- and DEA-approved clinical studies into marijuana’s therapeutic uses, noting that it would be “in the public interest” to do so. But the DEA has ignored her recommendation and continued to block the research. And earlier this month, during a hearing before the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, DEA official Joseph Rannazzisi refused to commit to a timeline for ruling on the University of Massachusetts’ application ... even implying that the DEA might just wait until after a new presidential administration takes power in January 2009! This is the height of hypocrisy. The DEA continually cites insufficient research as a reason for keeping medical marijuana illegal — while simultaneously blocking the very research that’s needed to persuade the FDA to approve marijuana as a prescription medicine. How can the DEA hide behind the FDA in arguing against medical marijuana access, and then block any attempt to move marijuana through the FDA approval process? Would you please take one minute to ask your U.S. House member to stop letting politics interfere with research into the medicinal value of marijuana? Thank you,
All 8 Democratic presidential candidates support medical marijuana! Dear Tom Sutor: U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) just became the last of the eight Democratic presidential candidates to pledge to end the DEA’s raids on medical marijuana patients and providers who act legally under state law. This means that all eight Democratic presidential candidates — including U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) — have now taken public positions in support of protecting patients in the 12 states with medical marijuana laws. In regard to Sen. Obama, it took MPP’s campaign in New Hampshire, Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana (GSMM), five separate encounters over the last few months — and two back-to-back encounters earlier this week — but on Tuesday in Nashua, Sen. Obama told a GSMM volunteer, “I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana users. It's not a good use of our resources." You can watch the encounter here and read some news coverage of this coup here. MPP/GSMM has had one full-time staffer — Stuart Cooper — working in New Hampshire since March, and I’m thrilled that our persistence has paid off. Stuart and his cadre of volunteers and patients have been dogging the Democratic and Republican candidates at almost every appearance in the state, urging them to take strong, public, positive positions on medical marijuana in advance of the New Hampshire primary — currently the first in the nation — on January 22. In addition to the eight Democratic candidates, two Republican candidates — U.S. Reps. Ron Paul (Texas) and Tom Tancredo (Colo.) — have also vowed to end the medical marijuana raids as well. In fact, these two members of Congress recently voted for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment on the House floor ... for the fifth year in a row. You can see or hear the good guys in their own words here. Can you imagine if all the presidential candidates publicly supported protecting patients? Please make a donation so we can keep up the pressure on the six Republicans who still haven’t taken positive positions. The 10 good candidates are to be commended for their common sense and compassion, especially as federal intrusion into medical marijuana states has been on the rise this summer, with DEA raids taking place in several counties in California and Oregon. Recently, the DEA also began threatening landlords who lease space to medical marijuana dispensaries — activity that’s legal under state law — with forfeiture of their property, a move condemned in a Los Angeles Times editorial as "a deplorable new bullying tactic." And last week, presidential candidate and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), who signed legislation in April making his the 12th medical marijuana state, wrote to President Bush asking him to end the federal raids in medical marijuana states: "Respected physicians and government officials should not fear going to jail for acting compassionately and caring for our most vulnerable citizens. Nor should those most vulnerable of citizens fear their government because they take the medicine they need." We still have work to do in New Hampshire: Will you consider making a donation today to ensure that in January 2009 we inaugurate a president who is committed to ending federal interference in the states that have medical marijuana laws? Thank you for your support. With gratitude,
Rob Kampia P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2007. This means that your donation today will be doubled. P.P.S. You can opt out of receiving fundraising mentions in the e-mail alerts I send you in 2007 by visiting www.mpp.org/2007optoutpreference at your convenience.
New York: New poll shows Conservative Party members support medical marijuana Some of the sparse opposition to allowing medical marijuana in New York has come from the spokesperson of the Conservative Party. But a newly released poll shows that the membership of the Conservative Party disagrees: They support allowing medical marijuana! That's right: A July poll found that 55% of Conservative Party members support allowing patients to grow and use marijuana with their doctors' approval, and only 35% oppose doing so. So what is the state Senate waiting for? The state's medical community, 76% of New Yorkers, and the majority of voters from every significant political party support allowing medical marijuana. The Assembly already passed compassionate legislation in June, and the governor indicated his support for the issue. Please take a moment to write your state senator to ask him or her to ensure that patients finally get the relief that they deserve. You can choose from one of our pre-written letters or draft your own. Please let your senator know that New York's seriously ill patients shouldn't have to risk arrest any longer: The Senate should enact medical marijuana legislation during a special session. If you've already written your state senator and haven't gotten a positive response, please follow up with a call and ask why he or she hasn't committed to stand up for patients. You can write to Karen@mpp.org for talking points. The state Senate has come back to session two times since it adjourned in late June. But both times it failed to take up legislation to stop the arrest of sick and dying medical marijuana patients. Now it's clear that, in addition to being the humane thing to do, supporting medical marijuana is popular even among the state's most conservative voters. So, please ask your state senator to support the Assembly medical marijuana bill. To read a news story on the poll's release, click here. And for the full results of the poll, as well as results of six polls commissioned in individual senators' districts, click here. Each of the district polls also found strong support for medical marijuana. Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this alert on to friends and family in New York so that even more voices for reform can be heard.
Job openings with the Marijuana Policy Project Dear Tom Sutor: The Marijuana Policy Project has one full-time job opening in Washington, D.C., as well as several contract positions around the country. The positions are as follows:
Director of Government Relations in Washington, D.C.
Petitioners and Team Leaders in Arizona and Michigan Please visit www.mpp.org/jobs for detailed job descriptions for each of the above positions and instructions for applying. MPP is not taking phone calls about these positions; rather, all interested candidates should apply by using the process described at the links above. Would you please pass this message along to anyone you know who might be interested? I also want to take this opportunity to thank MPP’s 23,000 dues-paying members who are making it possible for MPP to fight — more and more aggressively every year — to bring an end to the government's war on marijuana users. Sincerely,
Rob Kampia Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana Weekly Newsletter To:Tom Sutor Here is this week's update on Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana's campaign to press the presidential candidates to take public, positive positions on medical marijuana access. This week, I confronted former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) about his opposition to ending the federal raids on medical marijuana patients. 1. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani admits his information on medical marijuana is outdated 1. Rudy Giuliani admits his information on medical marijuana is outdated During the three previous conversations we've had with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, he repeatedly told us with confidence that marijuana had no medical value and that the entire campaign to protect medical marijuana patients was really a campaign to legalize marijuana. However, on July 31, during a town hall meeting in Rochester, New Hampshire, I reminded Mayor Giuliani of his past statements and asked if he could cite a single doctor or medical organization that supported his position of raiding and arresting the seriously ill. I also asked if his administration would ignore the 78% of the American people and the many medical organizations, such as the American Nurses Association and the American Public Health Association, that believe that marijuana has medical value and ought to be available for the seriously ill. Mayor Giuliani backtracked, saying, "The reality is, no one is suggesting that people who are sick be in prison." I immediately corrected him, saying, "If you raid them, then you're going to imprison them." Mayor Giuliani continued to soften his position, saying, "No one is suggesting that people who are sick should go to prison. And the second fact is, that all of the experts I have ever talked to about this — my knowledge of this goes back about eight to ten years, I haven't really looked at it in that period of time, or during the time when I was U.S. Attorney dealing with marijuana cases — is that, just about everything you want to do for pain can be done with other legal prescribed medications." Mayor Giuliani then pledged to take a second look at recent medical marijuana data, saying, "I'd be happy to take a look at the literature you are talking about … I haven't looked at it in about eight to ten years. So it's probably worth taking a look at it again. Give me a week or two, I'll probably be back here, you'll ask your question again. After I look at the material, I'll give you another answer, maybe the same, maybe different." 2. Make a difference today Without our volunteers putting constant pressure on Mayor Giuliani as he campaigned throughout New Hampshire, he probably never would have taken the time to take a second look at the available data on marijuana's medical value. We've have already told you about how, with your help, our work has led 10 of the 17 presidential candidates to pledge to end the federal raids on medical marijuana patients and their caregivers. And with your continued support, I am confident that we can continue to pressure Mayor Giuliani and the five other candidates who support the raids to reconsider their previous positions and pledge to protect our nation's seriously ill. In fact, this week Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will be holding town hall events on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in Merrimack, Wolfeboro, and North Conway. The last time we spoke to him, he flip-flopped on medical marijuana (after first saying that he would let states decide, he then said he would continue the federal raids). This week's town hall events offer the perfect opportunity for us to pressure him to respect states' rights and protect the seriously ill who use medical marijuana with approval from their states and doctors. If you would like to help us pressure Sen. McCain, please call me at (603) 703-1411, or e-mail me at stuart@granitestaters.com, and I will let you know how you can help. 3. Help GSMM fight for medical marijuana access In June and July, the DEA conducted extensive medical marijuana raids in several California counties and in Oregon, including raids on at least 10 Los Angeles sites in late July. Most were aimed at medical marijuana dispensaries operating legally under state and local laws, and in several cases individual patients were detained and terrorized. Recently, the DEA also began threatening the owners of buildings used for medical marijuana activities with seizure of their property. Called "a deplorable new bullying tactic" by The Los Angeles Times, this DEA action has occurred even where medical marijuana is legal under state law and specifically authorized by voters. By putting constant pressure on the candidates to pledge to stop using DEA agents to raid and arrest sick and dying medical marijuana patients, we can ensure that our next president ends these raids once and for all. But to do this, we will need your help! Would you please donate to our work today so that we may continue pressuring the presidential candidates to take stronger, positive positions on medical marijuana use by the seriously ill? Thank you for your continued support of our efforts, and please look for our weekly updates.
Ask your lawmakers to leave Florida's initiative process alone This session, Sen. Bill Posey (R-Rockledge) introduced a bill that would have made it harder for Floridians to amend the state constitution via the initiative process. Although SB 900 passed both chambers of Florida's legislature, it was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Charlie Crist (R). This bill was opposed by at least 15 organizations, including the ACLU of Florida, Common Cause of Florida, and League of Women Voters of Florida. SB 900 would have complicated Florida's initiative process in several ways. First, it would have placed unnecessary restrictions on the signature gathering process. A 30-day deadline would have been established for volunteers to turn in signed petitions, with any signatures turned in after this deadline automatically deemed invalid. Interestingly, there was no requirement that the election officials in charge of reviewing the signed petition forms notify voters if their petitions were thrown out in these instances! Secondly, SB 900 would have allowed groups opposed to voter-supported initiatives 120 days in which to contact voters who signed the petition and encourage them to revoke their signatures. Because the names of voters who sign petitions are a matter of public record, such legislation encourages paid organizations to gather this information and harass voters in an effort to remove questions from election ballots. Lastly, this legislation would have been disruptive and costly to the election process by requiring more work from election officials in matching up the names of petition signers with the names on petition-revocation forms. Perhaps the most disturbing thing about SB 900 is that it implied Florida voters lack the intelligence to know what they are signing. In reality, this legislation would have done nothing to improve the initiative process — it only would have created an opportunity for those in the business of collecting and selling information to exploit Florida's initiative process. This is one industry Florida can do without. While SB 900 has no chance of becoming law this year, it could be brought back up for consideration next session, which starts March 4, 2008. At this time, both chambers of the Florida Legislature could choose to override Gov. Crist's veto with a two-thirds vote. If this happens, SB 900 would become law. Alternatively, a similar, but different, bill could be introduced next session, in which case the bill would have to once again pass through both chambers before becoming law. To make sure that legislators are not wasting their (and your) time on this legislation next session, please e-mail them today and make sure they know you oppose SB 900. Please send an e-mail to Nathan@mpp.org to let us know of any feedback your legislators give you. As you may recall, Florida already made it more difficult to amend the state constitution last year with the passage of Amendment 3, which requires all new amendments to be passed by 60% of voters. This makes Florida one of the most difficult states in the nation in which to amend the state constitution — it does not need to be harder. Without the initiative process, Florida would not have smaller class sizes, a state minimum wage, a ban on indoor smoking, or universal pre-kindergarten — all of which came to fruition by way of Florida's initiative process. Please help preserve this most democratic of processes by acting today. Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this information along to your friends and family in Florida, so that others can help protect the initiative process. If you have any questions about marijuana reform in Florida, please contact Nathan Miller by calling (202) 462-5747, ext. 118, or e-mailing Nathan@mpp.org.
U.S. House votes 262-165 to continue funding DEA's war on medical marijuana patients Dear Tom Sutor: Tonight, July 25, the U.S. House of Representatives defeated by a vote of 165-262 an amendment that would have prevented the DEA and the U.S. Justice Department from arresting or prosecuting medical marijuana patients and providers in the 12 states where medical marijuana is legal.
Congressmen Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) sponsored the amendment.
Although we lost, this evening's vote was a record showing of congressional support, in part because of the more than 24,000 letters that MPP members and allies sent to their U.S. representatives in the last few weeks.
Speaking on the House floor in favor of the amendment, Congressman Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) told an emotional story about his close friend, a former Navy SEAL, who died of pancreatic cancer but used medical marijuana to ease his final months.
Congressman Rohrabacher spoke of the deaths of his mother and brother from cancer, stating, "If marijuana would have helped them, it would have been a horrible thing to think that federal agents would have come in and interfered with that, if their doctor had recommended it."
Speaking in opposition to the amendment, Congressman Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) falsely claimed that marijuana "does cause cancer. I've seen it." He added, "Most people who want to use [medical marijuana] want to get high."
This is only the fifth time in history that the full House has voted on binding legislation to end the federal government's war on medical marijuana patients. (The U.S. Senate never has.)
Leading up to the vote, the MPP staff and our lobbyists had dozens of meetings with House members. The addition of former Congressman Bob Barr (R-Ga.) to our lobbying ranks this year gave a boost to our efforts.
We also generated a record amount of grassroots support for the amendment, delivering hundreds of patient anecdotes and testimony to members of Congress. MPP coordinated an open letter to Congress from health and medical organizations and helped draft the text of the amendment. And in the last few weeks, we distributed decks of cards — with the title, "The Deal on Medical Marijuana: 52 Reasons Why You Should Support Medical Marijuana Access" — to every House lawmaker. The cards were extremely popular and garnered positive media attention.
Additionally, the documentary "In Pot We Trust" — which aired on Showtime earlier this month and features MPP's Aaron Houston lobbying for the medical marijuana amendment on Capitol Hill — brought much-needed attention to the issue during a crucial time for lawmakers considering the amendment. You can read some of the positive news coverage of the documentary here.
Now that the amendment has received 165 votes, in the next year we'll be targeting a smaller number of districts to pick up the remaining 53 votes we need to reach a 218-vote majority. And we need your help to begin working immediately on our lobbying strategy for next year: Do you personally know — or have a real connection with — any members of Congress, their relatives, or their staff? If so, please reply to this e-mail.
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. We are hopeful for change, as our campaign in New Hampshire has already gotten the majority — 10 out of 17, including U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) — of the presidential candidates to pledge to end the federal government's war on medical marijuana users. The days of DEA raids on seriously ill people are numbered.
If you support the work that MPP is doing — work that tonight 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 today. We need you standing with us as we continue the fight.
State medical marijuana laws threatened — act now! Dear Tom Sutor: Congress is currently considering a bill that could undermine the 12 state laws protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail. Please take one minute to write your three members of Congress today to oppose this action. The bill contains a provision offered by U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), a rabid opponent of medical marijuana who last year told MPP’s lobbyist that “marijuana is not a medicine, and the doctors and scientists who say it is one are smoking it themselves.” Sen. Coburn's amendment is a thinly veiled attempt to undermine the 12 state medical marijuana laws — in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington — by placing them under the authority of the FDA, while not providing the same approval process for marijuana as for other drugs seeking FDA approval as prescription medicines. And the FDA has already demonstrated its hostility to medical marijuana: In April of last year, the FDA released a highly politicized — and incorrect — statement claiming that “no sound scientific studies” support the medical use of marijuana. Please tell your U.S. representative and two U.S. senators to uphold the will of the voters in the 12 states that have enacted laws allowing medical marijuana. (MPP's action center is quick and easy to use. You can use one of our pre-written letters, or you can personalize your message.) If enacted into law, the Coburn amendment could cause medical marijuana patients and caregivers to face even greater risk under federal law than they already do. Even more disturbing, medical marijuana opponents could try to use the provision to shut down state medical marijuana programs across the country. Please help stop this unprecedented attack on local decision-making and help ensure that medical marijuana patients living in states that have already acted to protect them are able to retain those protections. Please write your members of Congress today.
Willie Nelson to do benefit for MPP Will you join Willie Nelson and the Marijuana Policy Project at a concert to raise money for marijuana policy reform?
You can buy regular tickets here — but I hope you'll consider buying a VIP ticket. VIP tickets include dinner, open bar, seating in the exclusive tree deck, and the opportunity to network with special celebrity guests. But we have only 20 VIP tickets available, so act fast if you want one. The concert will star legendary country singer Willie Nelson and the Grammy award-winning band Asleep at the Wheel — featuring MPP VIP advisory board member Ray Benson. Other special guests include Paula Nelson, Carolyn Wonderland, Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling, and Mark Stepnoski. Proceeds from the benefit will go to MPP, NORML, and WAMM. Earlier this week, the Austin-American Statesman reported that Nelson has cancelled many of his tour dates through August — except for ours and the annual Farm Aid concert. So if you want to see Willie Nelson in concert this summer, MPP’s event might be your only chance. Buy your tickets today: I hope to see you in Austin on August 10 . . . Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Patients' voices needed to pass New York's medical marijuana legislation Last month, New York's medical marijuana legislation came to the brink of becoming law. But now it's stalled in the Senate, and senators need to hear that seriously ill patients are counting on them. If you are a seriously ill patient, or if you have recovered from a serious illness, please write Karen O'Keefe at Karen@mpp.org to see how you can help get this legislation moving. We are especially looking for people who 1) used medical marijuana to treat a serious illness in the past; 2) currently use medical marijuana to treat a serious illness; or 3) do not use medical marijuana because of fear of criminal sanctions but find other medicines inadequate. Please include a phone number and your address and ZIP code (so we can determine who your state senator is). You can be involved as much or as little as you feel comfortable. There is a very real chance that New York can become the next state to allow medical marijuana: The Assembly overwhelmingly passed medical marijuana legislation, Gov. Eliot Spitzer said he was open to signing such legislation, and the Senate leadership supports allowing medical marijuana. The only sticking point is getting the Senate to act, and to ensure that the bill that it passes truly works. But to get the bill moving, more patients' voices must be heard. Involvement can range from writing or calling legislators to submitting letters to the editor to talking to reporters. So, please write Karen O'Keefe at Karen@mpp.org if you are a patient who is interested in helping make medical marijuana legal under New York law. Together, we can make New York the 13th state to allow the doctor-advised, medical use of marijuana. Thank you for your support. Please pass this on to any patients you know who might be interested in getting involved.
Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana Weekly Newsletter To:Tom Sutor Here is this week's update on Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana's campaign to press the presidential candidates to take public, positive positions on medical marijuana access. This week we approached candidates as they celebrated the Fourth of July in New Hampshire. 1. Rudy Giuliani wants to arrest medical marijuana patients 1. Rudy Giuliani wants to arrest medical marijuana patients The last time former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) was in the Granite State, he told a medical marijuana activist, "I believe there are a lot of alternatives people have other than using marijuana." During his stop in New Hampshire this week, Mayor Giuliani made it clear that he would continue the DEA's raids on the sick and dying. At a town hall meeting in Concord, I asked Mayor Giuliani if he would end the DEA's raids on seriously ill patients and their caregivers living in the 12 states that have passed medical marijuana laws. He responded, "Marijuana adds nothing to the array of legal medications and prescription medications that are available … We should keep it illegal, and I will keep it illegal." Apparently Mayor Giuliani hasn't done his research. Even a White House-commissioned report in 1999 concluded, "Nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting [a common side effect of cancer and AIDS treatments], and all can be mitigated by marijuana." And organizations supporting or accepting physician-supervised access to medical marijuana include the American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, American Academy of HIV Medicine, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and many others. It gets worse. When I followed up and asked Mayor Giuliani how medical marijuana differs from the numerous legal pharmaceuticals that contain dangerous narcotics, such as the opiate-based painkiller OxyContin, he responded: "There are substantial differences in the things you are talking about in terms of addiction potential, ability to control … and there are more than an array of medicines available." What Mayor Giuliani didn't say was that he has worked as a hired consultant for OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma. After the company pled guilty to charges that it misled doctors and patients about the addiction risks of the powerful narcotic and helped create a nationwide epidemic of addiction to the drug, Mayor Giulani personally met with the head of the DEA to urge him to keep the drug legal and available to patients. You can read media coverage of his statements here. And you can read more about his connections to OxyContin and Purdue Pharma here. 2. Rep. Duncan Hunter gets an earful at parade Several weeks ago, we told you about our encounter with California Congressman Duncan Hunter (R) in the spin room after the GOP debate. There he told us, "If you have a federal law, you have to enforce the law. And that's my answer." … making it clear that he would continue to have his own neighbors and constituents in California arrested for using medical marijuana on their doctors' advice and in compliance with state law. This past week, Rep. Hunter returned to New Hampshire to march in Merrimack's July Fourth parade. A large group of volunteers for Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana fanned out at the event, handing out more than 400 fliers describing Rep. Hunter's stance on medical marijuana and urging parade-goers to ask the congressman to change his position as he walked along the parade route. I personally witnessed eight different parade attendees question the congressman along the one-mile route, and I expect that even more questioning took place while Rep. Hunter was out of my view. 3. Gov. Bill Richardson celebrates patient protection New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) also spent his July Fourth marching in the Merrimack parade. Gov. Richardson has repeatedly pledged to end the federal raids on medical marijuana patients and fought hard to make New Mexico the 12th state to protect patients. As Gov. Richardson marched along the parade route, he took the time to stop and talk to several Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana volunteers, who thanked him for protecting the freedom of medical marijuana patients. Gov. Richardson even took out a pen and signed his name on one of our volunteer's "Stop Arresting Patients for Medical Marijuana" pin. 4. You can make a difference How many times have you told yourself and others that you wanted to make a difference and set our public policy straight, but you just don't know how? Here is your opportunity! This weekend, we expect visits from Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). And next week we expect visits from former Massachussetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D). The last time Sen. Clinton visited New Hampshire, she promised to look into the federal raids on medical marijuana patients and agreed that they were excessive. This weekend we need volunteers to help us make sure Sen. Clinton did her research and has taken a compassionate position on medical marijuana. We also need volunteers to help us pressure Sen. McCain to publicly promise to end the federal raids on medical marijuana programs. The last time we spoke to him, he told us that he would "let states decide the issue." This weekend, we want to make sure he publicly supports an end to the raids. If you would like to make a difference, please volunteer today by contacting GSMM campaign manager Stuart Cooper at (603) 703-1411 or stuart@GraniteStaters.com. 5. Don't Let Rudy Giuliani get away with misleading voters The only way to stop Rudy Giuliani from continuing to mislead voters about marijuana's medical value is to confront him continuously during future visits to New Hampshire. This means getting volunteers to his campaign events, educating New Hampshire voters with literature and letters to the editor, and creating constant pressure from residents. This level of pressure requires a great deal of time, staff, and resources. The fact is, we need your help to make all this possible. If you are sick and tired of politicians like Rudy Giuliani misleading voters and sacrificing the sick and dying so they can appear "tough on crime," then would you please donate to our work today? If you want to continue to see medical marijuana become a prominent issue in the presidential campaign, please give now. As you can see, our work is paying off — and we need your help to keep it up. Thank you for your continued support of our efforts.
See your marijuana policy ad on TV Dear Tom Sutor: Do you have a great idea about how to change public perception of marijuana and marijuana users? Would you like to see your idea on TV or hear it on the radio? MPP is gearing up to run TV and radio ads to change the way people think about marijuana and marijuana users. You and I know that marijuana users are doctors, legislators, mothers, athletes, and patients. And we know that marijuana is safer than alcohol and tobacco. It's time to get public perceptions in line with the reality. We're going to give the public an accurate representation of marijuana and marijuana users in place of worn-out government propaganda. This is where you come in: We're looking for submissions of any of the following:
Winning submissions may be posted online and used in actual radio and TV ads. Please visit www.mpp.org/ads for more information and guidelines for submissions. This is your chance to put your ideas into action — and maybe see your (and your friends') idea on TV. If you’re not the creative type, would you please consider making a donation today in support of this ad campaign? The White House drug czar is spending close to $100 million of your tax dollars each year for his misleading ad campaign, so every dollar we can raise to counteract the government’s anti-marijuana ads is crucial. Thanks in advance for your support. Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Victory! Denver district court judge invalidates bad part of Colorado's medical marijuana policy Last Tuesday, Senior Denver District Judge Larry Naves issued a preliminary injunction suspending the Colorado Department of Health and Environment's limitation on the number of patients a caregiver can assist. A limit of five patients per caregiver was adopted by the department during a closed meeting in 2004. During the department's 2004 secret meeting, no health care professionals were consulted regarding what the limit should be. In his ruling for the temporary injunction, Judge Naves criticized the way the department came up with the five-patient policy. According to his decision, the department was remiss for failing to actively involve the public in the process and for not seeking professional medical input on the issue. "This case is not even close," said Judge Naves. Judge Naves went on to cite the state's decision in establishing this policy as completely lacking in scientific evidence and labeled it "arbitrary and capricious" in nature. Judge Naves decision immediately suspended the policy statewide, stopping the state from limiting a patient's choice of caregiver. Specifically, the state will allow the plaintiff, Damien LaGoy, a licensed medical marijuana patient, to appoint the provider of his choice. LaGoy, who uses medical marijuana to cope with nausea related to AIDS wasting syndrome and hepatitis C, had his caregiver request denied by the department in May. "This is a historic victory for patients," said Brian Vicente, lead attorney and head of Sensible Colorado, a nonprofit medical marijuana organization and MPP grantee. "The decision to overturn this illegal policy is a giant step towards safe access to medical marijuana in Colorado." Please take a few moments to compose a letter to the editor praising Judge Naves' decision. While we have provided you with a template, the more you customize your letter, the more likely it is to be printed. If your letter is printed, please be sure to let us know by e-mailing Nathan@mpp.org. Thank you for supporting MPP, Sensible Colorado, SAFER Colorado, and all of MPP's allies in the state. If you have any questions about the status of marijuana reform in Colorado, please contact MPP Legislative Analyst Nathan Miller at (202) 462-5747, ext. 118, or at Nathan@mpp.org.
Please write Congress about medical marijuana Dear Tom Sutor: Would you please take a few minutes to write your member of Congress and ask him or her to vote in favor of the medical marijuana amendment that the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on in the next couple of weeks? If you're going to send only one e-mail this year to stop the federal government's war on medical marijuana patients, now is the time — and it couldn't be easier. Just click |
