Dear Friend: April
21st 2005
The Canadian government has just delivered a body blow to the U.S.
government's irrational prohibition against the medical use of
marijuana. Today, Canada approved the prescription sale of a natural
marijuana extract -- for all practical purposes, liquid marijuana --
to treat pain and other symptoms caused by multiple sclerosis.
In short, the Canadian government has just certified that virtually
everything our own government has been telling us about marijuana is
wrong. Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate2088 to help the
Marijuana Policy Project capitalize on this opportunity to lobby
Congress and select state legislatures to make medical marijuana legal
in the U.S.
Sativex, produced by GW Pharmaceuticals in Britain, is literally
liquid marijuana. It is nothing like Marinol, the synthetic THC pill
sold in the U.S. and sometimes falsely touted as an adequate
substitute for marijuana. Rather, Sativex is a whole-plant extract,
containing the wide variety of naturally occurring compounds called
cannabinoids that are unique to marijuana. It also contains trace
elements of other compounds in the plant, which scientists believe
contribute to its therapeutic value.
Sativex is to marijuana as a cup of coffee is to coffee beans. If
Sativex is safe and effective, marijuana is safe and effective.
And Sativex is safe and effective. Studies have shown significant
effect against pain and other symptoms caused by multiple sclerosis
and other debilitating conditions, and over 600 patient-years of
research have established a remarkable record of safety.
Sativex should certainly be approved in the U.S., but the process may
take years -- if it is allowed to happen at all, given our federal
government's reflexive hostility to the medical use of marijuana.
And more importantly, now that we know beyond doubt that marijuana is
a safe, effective medicine, how long will our government continue to
arrest patients who use it?
Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate2088 to give MPP the money we
need to continue lobbying to end our government's war on medical
marijuana users.
Even if Sativex is approved in the U.S. someday, it won't be the
answer for every patient now benefiting from medical marijuana.
Different strains of marijuana work better for some conditions and
less well for others. Sativex just comes in one formula, and it won't
be right for everyone.
And Sativex will be expensive. Will we force patients to buy a pricey
pharmaceutical version of a plant they could grow themselves for
pennies? We could end up with a policy every bit as silly as telling
coffee drinkers that they can buy a cappuccino, but they'll be
arrested on sight if caught in possession of coffee beans.
Visit
http://www.mpp.org/sativex.html to learn more about the issues
associated with Sativex.
With Canada taking such a significant step toward recognizing
marijuana's safety and effectiveness as a medicine, it's becoming
harder and harder for U.S. officials to defend arresting and
imprisoning medical marijuana patients in our own country. Help us
hammer the nails into prohibition's coffin by visiting
http://www.mpp.org/donate2088 to
make your most generous donation
today.
Thank you,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. MPP's 10th anniversary galas are just a couple of weeks
away -- in Washington, D.C., on May 4, and Los Angeles on May 9!
Celebrities and members of Congress will be attending both events.
Please join the celebration by visiting
http://www.mpp.org/galas
to purchase your tax-deductible ticket. All proceeds will support
MPP's work to end our government's war on marijuana users.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 153,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2005. Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate2088 to
donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2005 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2005plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to fund our work.
=====================================================================
Dear Friend: April
16th 2005
On his way home from the hospital where he had received treatment for
a severe intestinal blockage, 63-year-old cancer patient Jerome
Schaffer was arrested by police, who placed handcuffs over his
hospital ID bracelet and took him to jail. He was held overnight and
charged with using marijuana to relieve the debilitating side effects
of chemotherapy.
Last Tuesday, a Minnesota Senate committee held a hearing on the
Marijuana Policy Project's bill to protect medical marijuana patients
like Schaffer from arrest and imprisonment ... and Schaffer himself
was there to testify.
After hearing the testimony of Schaffer and other patients, the
committee passed the bill by a 5-2 vote -- the first time a medical
marijuana bill has passed any legislative committee in Minnesota.
This victory -- along with a Zogby poll released by MPP on March 10,
showing two-to-one support for medical marijuana statewide -- will
give the bill momentum as it continues to move through the
legislature.
Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate2085 to make your most generous
donation today, so that we may continue our aggressive campaigns to
enact medical marijuana laws in more and more states this year.
* RHODE ISLAND: Also last Tuesday, a Rhode Island Senate committee
held a hearing on legislation that's similar to the medical marijuana
legislation in Minnesota. Three patients, three doctors, the Rhode
Island Medical Society, AIDS Project Rhode Island, and the Rhode
Island ACLU spoke in favor of the bill ... and not a single witness
testified against it.
This Senate bill and its companion bill in the House are sponsored by
more than half of all Rhode Island state legislators, and our momentum
is tremendous, but we still have a lot of work to do to get the bill
to the governor's desk this year.
* ALASKA: Two weeks ago, an Alaska Senate committee heard testimony
from a variety of experts refuting the government's assertion that
marijuana is more dangerous now than in the past. Despite that, the
legislators then passed a bill to impose up to five years in prison
for possession of four ounces of marijuana -- the same penalty for
committing incest with a child. Currently, Alaska is the only state
where any aspect of recreational marijuana use is legal, but this bill
and a twin bill in the House would undo this and send Alaska back to
the Dark Ages.
MPP is continuing to pressure Alaska legislators to kill this horrible
legislation; at a minimum, we expect the constituent pressure and our
radio ads will persuade the legislature to water down the legislation.
* MAINE: Maine legislators are considering a bill to improve the
state's existing medical marijuana law by creating a registry ID card
program and increasing the plant limit. MPP will be providing
information, coordinating patient testimony, and building grassroots
support there.
* ILLINOIS: Once again, the White House drug czar is using taxpayer
money to lie and interfere in MPP's campaigns. In February, the
Illinois House appeared poised to pass MPP's medical marijuana bill
out of committee ... but Drug Czar John Walters flew in at the 11th
hour to urge legislators not to. Walters' heavy-handed move succeeded
in browbeating all five committee Republicans and two Democrats into
voting "no" ... defeating the bill for now.
Despite the drug czar's success in quashing our bill, this fight isn't
over. MPP -- and the bill's sponsor -- will be back next year to
ensure the bill becomes law.
* TEXAS: Last Tuesday, a Texas House committee held a hearing on a
bipartisan bill that would allow marijuana defendants to use medical
necessity as a defense against their charges. A slate of supportive
witnesses testified in support of the bill, including the Texas Nurses
Association, three patients, a retired physician, and a minister.
Texans for Medical Marijuana, a MPP grant recipient, has coordinated
the lobbying for the bill.
* NEW MEXICO: Although three medical marijuana bills quickly passed
through the Senate this year, two stalled in a House committee, and
the third reached the House floor but wasn't debated before the
legislature adjourned for the year. Lobbying efforts for this bill
were coordinated by the Drug Policy Alliance.
* WASHINGTON: The chair of the Washington Senate Judiciary Committee
is sponsoring a bill to establish a state commission to evaluate the
state's response to drug use, including marijuana. The bill is the
result of three years of work by a coalition of professional and civic
groups, led by the King County Bar Association (KBCA), which issued a
report recommending that marijuana be taxed and regulated for adults,
with penalties for use that leads to harm -- such as distributing
marijuana to minors and driving under the influence. The approach
supported by the KCBA emphasizes a public health model -- pushing
rehabilitation and prevention over incarceration -- and recommends a
state-level system of regulatory control over psychoactive substances,
allowing responsible adult use, and eliminating the criminal market.
KCBA's approach is quickly becoming the model for how reform advocates
should attempt to build support for tax-and-regulate systems in their
states.
======================================================================
As you can see, in state after state, marijuana policy reform is
becoming impossible for legislators to ignore.
All in all, medical marijuana bills have been introduced in a full 20
states this year: Alabama, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee,
Texas, and Vermont. (The Hawaii, Maine, and Vermont bills would
improve existing laws.)
Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate2085 today so that MPP can
afford to continue its lobbying campaigns around the country. Thank
you for anything you can give in order to help us keep the pressure
on!
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. MPP's 10th anniversary galas are less than four weeks away -- in
Washington, D.C., on May 4, and Los Angeles on May 9! Celebrities and
members of Congress will be attending both events. Please join the
celebration by visiting
http://www.mpp.org/galas to purchase your
tax-deductible ticket. All proceeds will support MPP's work to end our
government's war on marijuana users.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 153,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2005. Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate2085 to
donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2005 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2005plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
Dear Friend: March
15th 2005
Marijuana policy reform made dramatic strides forward this week, when
the Nevada Legislature held an historic hearing on the Marijuana
Policy Project's ballot initiative to regulate marijuana, and a
similar bill was introduced in the Vermont Legislature.
Here are the news articles from Nevada, all of which feature MPP:
http://mpp.org/NV/news_1647.html
http://mpp.org/NV/news_1648.html
http://mpp.org/NV/news_1650.html
http://mpp.org/NV/news_1652.html
And here is a news article from Vermont:
http://mpp.org/VT/news_1642.html
Please make a donation at
http://www.mpp.org/donate2082 so that MPP
can continue with its campaigns to regulate marijuana in states across
the country.
Yesterday, the Nevada Legislature debated MPP's initiative to tax and
regulate marijuana in the state ... the first time in years that any
state legislature has debated regulating marijuana.
University of Southern California Professor Mitch Earleywine and Jack
Cole, a 26-year veteran of the New Jersey highway patrol and the
executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP),
joined me in testifying before the Nevada Legislature in support of
MPP's ballot initiative, which will appear on the November 2006 ballot
in Nevada. We corrected a host of misconceptions about taxing and
regulating marijuana, explaining that it would take money away from
drug dealers and allow law enforcement to spend their time on more
serious crimes.
Our opposition -- which was composed of a dozen prosecutors, sheriffs,
and police officers, one of whom is the speaker of the Nevada
House -- offered up only anecdotal evidence and vague concerns about
what message regulation might send to children. One witness said that
passing MPP's initiative would be "giving up on our children"; the
witness neglected to note that current marijuana laws have failed to
keep marijuana from kids. Significantly, not one opposition witness
offered up his (there were no women) own plan for fixing the broken
system of marijuana prohibition.
The legislature has until March 18 to either pass MPP's proposal
(unamended) or place it on the November 2006 ballot so Nevadans can
vote on it. MPP is already gearing up for a high-profile ballot
campaign, and we will need your help to win. Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate2082 to
lend your support.
And on Tuesday, a Vermont state representative introduced a bill to
remove all penalties for adults who use and possess up to one ounce of
marijuana; in addition, the bill would also tax and regulate the sale
of marijuana to adults.
Vermont passed MPP's medical marijuana bill into law last spring.
And there's more good news. In Washington state, the chair of the
Senate Judiciary Committee is sponsoring a bill to establish a state
commission to examine a new legal framework for regulating
psychoactive substances, including marijuana. The bill is the result
of three years of work by a coalition of professional and civic
groups, led by the King County Bar Association, which issued a report
recommending that marijuana be taxed and regulated for adults, with
penalties for use that leads to harm -- such as distributing marijuana
to minors and driving under the influence.
Support for ending marijuana prohibition is more widespread,
prominent, and credible than ever. With multiple states seriously
considering marijuana regulation, the end of marijuana prohibition is
one step closer.
Help us hammer the nails into prohibition's coffin: Visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate2082 to
make your most generous donation
today. Anything you can give will strengthen our aggressive lobbying
and initiative campaigns around the country.
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 don't forget to visit
http://www.mpp.org/galas to purchase
your ticket for MPP's 10th anniversary galas (in Washington, D.C., on
May 4 and Los Angeles on May 9). Celebrities and members of Congress
will be attending both events. All proceeds will support MPP's work to
end our government's war on marijuana users.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 154,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2005. Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate2082 to
donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2005 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2005plan
-- 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 unsubscribe, simply reply with the word REMOVE in the
subject line. Removal may take up to 48 hours. 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 Friend: March
1st 2005
Last week, the Marijuana Policy Project filed complaints with
elections authorities in Montana, Oregon, and Alaska because the White
House drug czar's office failed to file any campaign expenditure
reports regarding its efforts to defeat the marijuana initiatives that
were on all three statewide ballots in November 2004.
Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/WarOnDrugCzar/complaints.html to view
the three complaints. And then please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate2079 to
help fund our efforts to stop the
drug czar's illegal and unethical meddling in state elections.
Please also visit
http://www.mpp.org/states/site/quicknews.cgi?key=1468 to read an
Associated Press article from Montana about our complaints.
On October 5, 2004, Drug Czar John Walters traveled to Oregon to
oppose a ballot measure that would have expanded the state's medical
marijuana program. On October 6, the drug czar's deputy director,
Scott Burns, visited Montana to campaign against the medical marijuana
initiative that the voters later passed on November 2. And on October
13 and 14, Burns traveled to Alaska to oppose an initiative to allow
the state to tax and regulate the sale of marijuana. All of these
trips were widely reported in the local press as being campaign stops
in opposition to the reform initiatives.(The Alaska and Oregon
initiatives were defeated by a majority of voters.)
In each state, campaign finance laws specifically require people or
organizations that spend money either opposing or supporting ballot
measures to formally report these expenditures to elections officials.
But although the drug czar's office clearly spent many thousands of
taxpayer dollars explicitly campaigning against marijuana
initiatives -- expenses that unquestionably must be reported as
campaign expenditures -- it has arrogantly ignored state campaign
finance laws.
MPP, by contrast, complies fully with campaign finance laws in all
states in which we campaign.
Additionally, last week MPP issued a news release notifying the
Illinois media that the drug czar had missed the deadline to register
with the state as a lobbyist, after his February 17 trip to Illinois
to lobby the state House of Representatives to reject MPP's medical
marijuana bill.
Since the drug czar is now in violation of Illinois law, we'll be
pressuring the state attorney general to take action.
We'll also keep pressure on Montana, Oregon, and Alaska elections
officials to force Walters to report on the taxpayer money he has
spent in his attempts to convince voters to oppose marijuana policy
reform.
All of this work takes money and time. Would you please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate2079 to
enable MPP to continue fighting
against the White House drug czar's illegal activities?
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. Please don't forget to visit
http://www.mpp.org/galas to purchase
your ticket for MPP's 10th anniversary galas (in Washington, D.C., on
May 4 and Los Angeles on May 9). Celebrities and members of Congress
will be attending both events. All proceeds will support MPP's work to
end our government's war on marijuana users.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 154,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2005. Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate2079 to
donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2005 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2005plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
Dear Friend:
February 20th 2005
The Marijuana Policy Project currently has 14 full-time job openings,
all of which are based in Las Vegas.
The positions are all for MPP's campaign to pass a ballot initiative
that would tax and regulate marijuana in Nevada -- something that has
yet to be achieved in any state. Please see
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org
for more information about the
campaign.
The available positions are:
* Campaign Manager
* Field Director
* 10 canvassers and 2 team leaders
Please visit http://www.mpp.org/jobs
to see detailed job descriptions
for each of the above positions and instructions for applying.
Additionally, MPP is seeking proposals from accomplished and creative
videographers to direct and produce an inspirational 15- or 20-minute
videotape/DVD that explains -- in emotional and educational
terms -- the horrors of marijuana prohibition and the need to end it.
Interested videographers should visit
http://mpp.org/jobs/videorfp.html to apply.
Also, the MPP grants program is interested in reviewing proposals from
people who are interested in building a long-term, statewide coalition
to tax and regulate marijuana in each of the following
states -- Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, and
Oregon.
If you live in one of the above seven states -- or you are willing to
move there -- and you have substantial organizing experience, please
visit http://www.mpp.org/grants to
see MPP's grant guidelines.
MPP is not taking phone calls about these positions; rather, all
interested candidates should apply by using the process described at
the links above.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank the 17,000 dues-paying
members who are making it possible for MPP to fight -- more and more
aggressively every year -- to bring an end to our government's war on
marijuana users.
Please pass this message on to anyone you know who may be interested.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. Please don't forget to visit
http://www.mpp.org/galas to purchase
your ticket for MPP's 10th anniversary galas (in Washington, D.C., on
May 4 and Los Angeles on May 9). Celebrities and members of Congress
will be attending both events. All proceeds will support MPP's work to
end our government's war on marijuana users.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 154,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2005. Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate to donate
now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2005 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2005plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
Please distribute this memo widely. Forward it to family and friends
in California, or ask them to visit
http://www.mpp.org/CA today.
======================================================================
TO: California residents*
FROM: Karen O'Keefe, MPP legislative analyst
DATE: Tuesday, February 8, 2005
SUBJECT: It's time to end marijuana prohibition in California
======================================================================
Although marijuana prohibition in the U.S. results in more than
700,000 arrests each year and costs more than $10 billion annually,
it has not stopped adults -- or youth -- from using marijuana. But
California -- and every other state -- continues to participate in
this colossal policy failure.
Want to change this?
With California's session under way, you have a chance to ask your
legislators to introduce a bill to take marijuana off of the criminal
market and regulate it in a manner similar to alcohol and tobacco. To
do so, please visit:
http://mpp.org/CA/action.html
After you choose your favorite pre-written letter and type in your
address, our site will automatically e-mail your letter to your
legislators ... all with the click of a few buttons. The whole process
takes less than two minutes, but it makes a world of difference. Also,
you can print the letters and send them to your legislators through
regular mail.
Or, if you prefer to call your legislators, you can visit
https://ssl.capwiz.com/mpp/dbq/officials/?lvl=L to find their names
and numbers. Visit
http://mpp.org/CA/letters_23.html to get talking
points, or go to
http://mpp.org/prohfact.html for more background
information.
State legislators truly do listen to their constituents. According
to former U.S. Congressman Billy Evans (D-GA), "Legislators estimate
that 10 letters from constituents represent the concerns of 10,000
citizens. Anybody who will take the time to write is voicing the fears
and desires of thousands more."
http://mpp.org/CA/action.html
If marijuana were regulated similarly to alcohol, minors would have a
tougher time obtaining it, and responsible marijuana users would not
be exposed to more-dangerous and more-addictive drugs. The millions of
dollars saved in police, prison, and court costs would help alleviate
current budgetary burdens, to say nothing of the additional millions
of dollars in revenue that regulation and taxation would bring.
California's voters made their state the first in the nation to stop
prosecuting the seriously ill for using marijuana. The state can,
once again, lead the nation in humane and sensible marijuana policy.
But it can't happen without your help. Please visit:
http://mpp.org/CA/action.html
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass
this information on so that even more people can participate in
reform.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 155,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2005. Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/MoneyForStates to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2005 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2005plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
*If you live outside of California, please reply with your city and
state or zip code so that we can send you alerts that are of local
interest to you. You are receiving this e-mail because you
subscribed to MPP's e-mail alerts. To unsubscribe, simply reply with
the word REMOVE in the subject line. Removal may take up to 48 hours.
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 Friend:
February 2nd 2005
The Marijuana Policy Project won a huge victory on Friday, when a
federal judge ordered the Nevada government to place our marijuana
regulation initiative on Nevada's 2006 ballot.
U.S. District Court Judge James Mahan said Secretary of State Dean
Heller followed an unconstitutional procedure when he rejected MPP's
initiative in December ... and ordered him to immediately send the
initiative to the legislature when it convenes on February 7. The
legislature is then required to consider our proposal and either pass
it into law themselves (unamended) within 40 days or place it on the
November 2006 ballot (unamended) so Nevadans can vote on it.
The state has announced it will not appeal the ruling and will comply
with the judge's order. Please read the news coverage here:
http://www.mpp.org/NV/news_1209.html
http://www.mpp.org/NV/news_1214.html
Now that we've won in court, please visit
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate2003 to donate $10 or more
today to help us lobby the legislature in February and March ... and
then pass the initiative in 2006.
The lawsuit stemmed from a decision by Nevada Attorney General Brian
Sandoval to revise the number of valid signatures needed to place an
initiative on the ballot -- after it was already too late for any more
signatures to be gathered, and in direct contradiction of previous and
repeated statements from elections officials about how many signatures
were needed. This effectively disqualified MPP and two other
initiatives from the ballot.
MPP began collecting signatures for our initiative -- which would
remove all penalties for marijuana use by adults aged 21 and older, as
well as create a system for the legal cultivation, distribution, and
sale of marijuana to adults -- in September 2004. We turned in the
completed petitions on November 9, exceeding by almost 18,000 the
number of signatures the state had repeatedly stated were needed (and
which was still being cited by the secretary of state as late as
November 18, nine days after we had turned in our petitions). On
December 20, Nevada's attorney general issued an opinion indicating
that MPP and other organizations were required to meet a massively
higher signature target that was based on the November 2004 general
election turnout, rather than the much lower November 2002 general
election turnout. In doing so, he argued that both initiatives failed
to qualify for the November 2006 ballot and should not be transmitted
to the state legislature for consideration.
In his ruling on Friday, Judge Mahan said that the state's processes
and procedures are flawed, and that the 2002 general election figures
should have applied, not those of the 2004 election. He also ruled
that the state's actions violated MPP's equal protection and due
process rights, as well as our First Amendment rights.
Now that we've defeated the efforts of Nevada's elections officials to
keep us off the ballot, we need to gear up for the campaign ahead.
On February 7, the Nevada Legislature will receive our initiative
proposal and be required to debate the taxation and regulation of
marijuana ... which will be the first time in decades -- perhaps
ever -- that a legislature will have done so.
It has been a long, difficult road to get us where we now are, and
we're finally poised to change marijuana policy in Nevada ... as well
as mount a high-profile campaign that will stimulate debate
nationwide.
Will you please help us mount the strongest campaign possible by
visiting
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate2003 to donate $10 or
more today? An exciting, historic battle lies ahead, and we need you
standing side-by-side with us as we wage it.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 155,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2005. Please visit
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate2003 to donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2005 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2005plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
Dear Friend:
January 31st 2005
Please join TV host Montel Williams and me in celebrating MPP's
victories over the past 10 years and commemorating the progress of the
entire marijuana policy reform movement at MPP's 10th Anniversary
Fundraising Galas.
One will be in Washington, D.C. on May 4, and the other will be in Los
Angeles on May 9. Celebrities and members of Congress will be
attending both events.
Please visit http://www.mpp.org/galas
to buy a tax-deductible ticket
today. All proceeds from the galas will support MPP's work to end our
government's war on marijuana users.
Please also visit
http://www.mpp.org/2005poll to vote for the
Marijuana Policy Reform Activist of 2004. We'll present this award at
the Los Angeles event to the activist who obtains the most votes.
(Participating in the voting will also give you access to the results
of MPP's August 2004 supporter survey and our December 2004 membership
survey about our 2005 strategic plan.)
Montel Williams, who is serving as the honorary chair of the Los
Angeles event, will receive an award at the Washington event for his
outstanding advocacy for medical marijuana patients.
JOIN US IN CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF PROGRESS.
Ten years ago yesterday, Chuck Thomas and I walked out of a D.C.
government office with our newly ratified articles of incorporation
for the Marijuana Policy Project. The signature of Marion Barry, who
was mayor at the time, graces the front page.
For the next two years, MPP would be run out of three bedrooms in
three different locations -- D.C., and Takoma Park and Silver Spring
in Maryland -- with MPP's three unpaid staffers communicating with
each other via phone and e-mail. (The Internet was so new that the
vast majority of MPP's members did not have e-mail addresses at the
time.)
Back then, medical marijuana was illegal in every state, favorable
legislation had not been introduced in Congress in a decade, and the
mainstream news media almost never included our perspective when
covering the marijuana issue.
Ten years later, MPP works out of offices on Capitol Hill, has a
staff of 20 full-time professionals, and we've made enormous strides
toward ending marijuana prohibition.
Since that day 10 years ago, medical marijuana is now legal in 10
states ... the federal penalties for marijuana cultivation have been
changed to provide for the early release of hundreds of prisoners ...
positive medical marijuana bills have been introduced in five
consecutive Congresses, with the U.S. House even debating and voting
on our legislation in the summers of 2003 and 2004 ... the National
Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine declared that marijuana has
medical value ... Congress passed a landmark property forfeiture
reform law, which shifted the burden of proof from the defendant to
the government to prove that the defendant's property was used in a
crime ... and MPP's ballot initiative campaign in Alaska garnered the
all-time biggest statewide vote for the full repeal of marijuana
prohibition in the history of the country (44%).
I hope you will join us in celebrating 10 years of progress for MPP
and for the entire marijuana policy reform movement. Would you please
visit http://www.mpp.org/galas to
reserve your ticket for our 10th
anniversary celebrations? I look forward to seeing you!
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. If you are interested in sponsoring MPP's galas, please visit
http://www.mpp.org/sponsor/ for
information about sponsorship levels
(which include VIP tickets, company name on the formal invitation and
associated materials, acknowledgment during the event, opportunities
for product placement in the events' gift bags, and other benefits).
P.P.S. For an interesting look back at MPP's early days, visit
http://www.mpp.org/MD/news_1068.html -- a 1996 profile of the
organization.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 155,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2005. Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate2001 to
donate now.
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2005 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2005plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to fund our work.
======================================================================
Dear Friend: 12 28
2004
The Marijuana Policy Project is heading back to federal court to force
Nevada's elections officials to obey the law.
Six weeks after MPP turned in more than enough signatures to qualify
our marijuana regulation initiative for Nevada's 2006 ballot, the
state's attorney general has announced that he is revising the number
of valid signatures required -- by 30,000 more signatures than the
state had previously and repeatedly stated were needed.
This isn't a matter of changing the rules in the middle of the game --
the Nevada government is changing the rules after the game was
supposed to be over.
As a result, MPP's initiative and two other ballot initiatives are being
wrongfully disqualified from the November 2006 ballot.
Please visit
http://lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2004/dec/23/518032989.html
to read yesterday's Las Vegas Sun article on the growing public
outrage over the matter. The move "just boggles my mind," one
legislator told the paper.
MPP's election lawyer canceled his vacation over the holidays in order
to write the lawsuit that we'll be filing in federal court. We expect
the court to hear our case in early January, with a decision likely by
early February.
If you're as tired as I am of the Nevada government's obstructionism
and criminal behavior, please channel your outrage into support for
our fight by visiting
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate1096 to
make a financial contribution, so that we'll have the funds needed to
beat the Nevada government in court ... in order to place our
marijuana initiative on the 2006 ballot.
We've seen malfeasance from Nevada's election officials before*, but
their latest action truly reaches a new low ...
To place an initiative on the 2006 ballot, the law indicates and
Secretary of State Dean Heller's office has repeatedly stated that you
need to turn in 51,337 signatures -- a number Heller's office cited as
recently as November 18, which was nine days after we turned in our
petitions.
Then, on December 11, Heller officially certified that MPP had
submitted over 69,000 valid signatures, which should have easily
qualified our initiative for the ballot.
But last week, Attorney General Brian Sandoval announced that the
signature requirement would be changed. Why? The 51,337 requirement
was based on the election turnout in November 2002, but Sandoval
announced the state will now be basing the signature requirement on
the much higher voter turnout in November 2004. This has the effect of
increasing the signature requirement by 30,000 ... even though the
2004 election results weren't even certified until two weeks after we
had turned in our signatures!
The Nevada government's legal contortions don't even pass the
straight-face test.
Please visit
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate1096 to help us
mount the strongest legal challenge possible.
If we win in court, the court will require the Nevada government to
reimburse us for our attorneys' fees ... which means all of the money
you donate to this case will then be recycled and used for the
initiative campaign itself. (In the litigation that we waged earlier
this year on behalf of the previous Nevada initiative, we won on two
out of three constitutional issues, which means that those legal
expenses will also be refunded and reinvested in the 2006 campaign.)
And no matter what Nevada's officials dream up next to stand in our
way, we're not going to stop fighting ... not until we've brought an
end to the government's war on marijuana users, starting in Nevada,
and ultimately nationwide.
I want to thank MPP's 18,000 dues-paying members who are standing
With us in this fight. According to MPP's records, you have not yet
made a financial donation to MPP (or the tax-deductible MPP
Foundation) in 2004. Would you please consider visiting
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate1096 to donate $10 or more
today?
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. MPP's initiative would remove all penalties for marijuana use by
adults aged 21 and older, as well as create a system for the legal
cultivation, distribution, and sale of marijuana to adults. If
enacted, this law would be the first of its kind in the world.
* Please visit
http://RegulateMarijuana.org/corrupt to read about the
battle we waged during the signature drive for the 2004 initiative
earlier this year, when Nevada's government officials improperly
disqualified many thousands of signatures, including signatures from
2,000 people who filled out voter registration forms on the same day
they signed our petitions. In addition, the government's recount of
the signatures was rife with errors and mismanagement; officials even
refused to allow our campaign staffers to observe the recount process,
even though this right was granted to other initiative campaigns.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 157,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least
one financial donation to MPP's work in 2004. According to our
records, you have not yet donated this year. Would you please
consider making one donation this year by visiting
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate1096 today?
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2005 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2005plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to donate and/or raise the following sums in 2004:
TYPE OF DONATION .. $ GOALS FOR 2004 ..... $ RAISED IN 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pioneers & Rangers ....... $4,479 ............. $4,554 ....
Monthly pledgers ........ $57,000 ............ $57,600 ....
less than $1,000 ....... $379,000 ........... $364,735 ....
$1,000 to $4,999 ....... $130,000 ............ $99,155 ....
$5,000 to $24,999 ...... $150,000 ........... $100,000 ....
$25,000 to $99,999 ..... $290,000 ........... $195,000 ....
$100,000 and up ...... $1,180,000 ........... $380,000 ....
-----------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS ............... $2,190,479 ......... $1,201,044 ....
======================================================================
Dear Friend:
December 16 2004
I want to share the Marijuana Policy Project's strategy for 2005 with
you ... but first a piece of good news: Next month, MPP is going to
receive a large check -- and the size of that check depends upon you.
Working Assets, a progressive telephone company, has included MPP
among the 50 nonprofit organizations that Working Assets will be
funding at the end of this year. Working Assets will be distributing
approximately $3 million to the 50 groups, and MPP's slice of the
funding pie will be determined by how many customers vote for MPP. If
Working Assets is your long distance telephone company, please visit
http://www.workingassets.com/voting to cast your vote for MPP by
December 31.
If you aren't a Working Assets customer and want to help MPP, you can
sign up with Working Assets and still vote if you do so by December
31, or you can visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate1094 to support our work
directly.
Dues-paying members of MPP will be receiving our 2005 strategic plan
in the mail over the next few days. If you don't receive it, that
means you haven't donated to MPP within the last year and/or we don't
have a current mailing address for you. (Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate1094 to
join or bring your membership
up-to-date.)
Meanwhile, here's a brief outline of MPP's 2005 plan ... and a chance
for you to weigh in on it.
MARIJUANA REGULATION BILLS IN ALASKA AND NEVADA
In Alaska, state legislators will attempt to overturn the September
2004 court decision that made four ounces of marijuana legal in the
home. As a counterstrike, we hope to introduce legislation to create a
legal, regulated market for marijuana. We will argue that -- because
adults already have a constitutional right to possess marijuana at
home -- they should be able to obtain it from legal establishments,
rather than from illegal drug dealers.
In Nevada, the legislature will be debating MPP's new ballot
initiative to tax and regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol. Last
month, MPP submitted to the Nevada government over 69,000 valid
signatures, which is well over the 51,337 valid signatures that are
needed to qualify our initiative for the November 2006 ballot.
Nevada's laws require the legislature to review our proposal during
its 2005 session, and we will use the opportunity to publicize and
legitimize our initiative.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILLS IN CONNECTICUT, ILLINOIS, MINNESOTA,
NEW YORK, AND RHODE ISLAND
We're retaining professional lobbyists in the capitals of these five
states for the purpose of passing our medical marijuana legislation
through each state legislature, similar to how Hawaii, Maryland, and
Vermont passed medical marijuana bills in 2000, 2003, and 2004,
respectively. Four of the states have already been debating our bills
throughout the past year, and we're only just beginning to get active
in Minnesota. Our goal is to enact medical marijuana laws in all five
states in 2005 and 2006.
FULL-TIME LOBBYING IN CONGRESS
MPP employs the only full-time congressional "marijuana lobbyist" --
on either side of the marijuana issue -- and we expect to make good
progress on lobbying both the House and Senate to pass legislation to
allow states to determine their own medical marijuana policies without
federal interference. The first-ever medical marijuana bill was just
introduced in the Senate, and House support for medical marijuana is
now at around 158 votes -- just 60 shy of a 218-vote majority.
In the meantime, MPP has identified a dozen House members who support
the idea of de-federalizing all marijuana laws -- not just medical
marijuana. Many are saying they would cosponsor such a bill, so now we
need only persuade one to be the lead sponsor. If we succeed at
introducing the first-ever bill to end marijuana prohibition in
Congress, this will spark a huge, lively, national debate about
whether marijuana should be prohibited or regulated.
And we continue to lobby Congress to eliminate all funding for the
White House drug czar's advertising budget. (These ads have featured
stoned teenagers driving over a little girl on a bicycle, one stoned
teenager shooting another in his parents' den, one stoned teenager
date-raping another, and a teenager who gets pregnant because she
smoked marijuana.)
Congress has reduced this disgraceful ad budget from $180 million in
2002 to $120 million in 2005. Our goal is to reduce it to zero dollars
as soon as possible.
"WAR ON DRUG CZAR" CAMPAIGN
Speaking of the White House drug czar, MPP is planning to continue its
barrage of legal complaints against him.
MPP will be filing complaints with the Alaska, Montana, and Oregon
elections offices because the drug czar's office failed to file any
campaign expenditure reports regarding its efforts to defeat the
initiatives that were on all three statewide ballots in November 2004.
Separately, we also have learned that the drug czar ran a
disproportionate volume of ads immediately before the 2002 elections,
which featured statewide initiatives in Arizona, Nevada, and Ohio (all
three of which failed). While the government's ads in 2002 did not
mention the initiatives, they were clearly intended to influence the
outcome of the elections, which is illegal. We plan to sue the White
House in federal court to seek an injunction to prevent it from using
its ads in this way. (Please see
http://www.mpp.org/WarOnDrugCzar/ for
details.)
STATE BALLOT INITIATIVES IN 2006
When it warms up in May, we'll begin collecting signatures to place an
initiative to regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol on Alaska's
November 2006 ballot. (In 2004, our Alaska campaign garnered the
all-time biggest vote for ending marijuana prohibition in the history
of the country -- 44% -- and we fully intend to push the vote above
50% in two years.)
And, as I mentioned above, a similar initiative is already slated to
appear on the November 2006 ballot in Nevada. We'll be campaigning for
two full years for this measure.
We also plan to pass at least one medical marijuana initiative in
November 2006. We're starting this process by commissioning public
opinion polling to determine which state is the most supportive of
passing an initiative that's similar to the medical marijuana laws
that are already on the books in 10 states.
GRANTS PROGRAM
MPP's grants program -- whose budget is entirely separate from the
budget for all of MPP's other work -- provided most or all of the
funding for 14 of the 17 local ballot initiatives that passed
nationwide in 2004, including the medical marijuana initiative in
Detroit and the tax-and-regulate initiative in Oakland.
To continue with this trend, the grants program will be encouraging
activists to launch and win additional ballot initiatives in their
local communities in 2005 and 2006. The grants program will also fund
proposals to lobby city councils and county boards of supervisors to
pass local marijuana policy reform legislation.
ORGANIZING CELEBRITIES
MPP has hired a full-time employee in Hollywood for the sole purpose
of organizing celebrities to speak out in favor of ending marijuana
prohibition. Please see
http://www.mpp-vip.org for details.
LET'S GET STARTED
As you can see, we're taking on a lot of work in 2005, and we won't be
able to complete it without your help. If you support our strategic
plan, please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate1094 to donate $10 or
more ... and use the "comments" section at the bottom of the
donation page to tell us which parts of the plan you support the
most.
Thank you, as always, for your support.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. If you donate $250 or more this year, you will receive in
February a compilation DVD featuring the TV ads and TV news coverage
of the statewide ballot initiative campaigns in Alaska, Montana, and
Oregon this year, as well as excerpts from Montel Williams's national
TV show about medical marijuana. With the end of the year fast
approaching, this is a great time to receive a tax deduction by
donating to MPP Foundation! (Donations to MPP Foundation, the public
education branch of the organization, are tax-deductible. Donations
to MPP, the lobbying branch of the organization, are not
tax-deductible. Make sure to check the "MPP Foundation" box on the
donation form if you want a tax deduction.) Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate1094 to
make your donation.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 157,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2004. According to our records,
you have not yet donated this year. Would you please consider making
one donation this year by visiting
http://www.mpp.org/donate1094
today?
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2005 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2005plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to donate and/or raise the following sums in 2004:
TYPE OF DONATION .. $ GOALS FOR 2004 ..... $ RAISED IN 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pioneers & Rangers ....... $4,479 ............. $4,554 ....
Monthly pledgers ........ $57,000 ............ $57,004 ....
less than $1,000 ....... $379,000 ........... $359,373 ....
$1,000 to $4,999 ....... $130,000 ............ $99,155 ....
$5,000 to $24,999 ...... $150,000 ........... $100,000 ....
$25,000 to $99,999 ..... $290,000 ........... $195,000 ....
$100,000 and up ...... $1,180,000 ........... $380,000 ....
-----------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS ............... $2,190,479 ......... $1,195,086 ....
======================================================================
Dear Friend:
December 11th 2004
Nevada's incorrigible secretary of state and attorney general have
sunk to a new low. As you read this alert, Nevada Attorney General
Brian Sandoval is considering revising the number of valid signatures
needed to qualify the Marijuana Policy Project's marijuana regulation
initiative for the 2006 ballot by 30,000 more signatures than
Secretary of State Dean Heller had previously stated it would take to
qualify for the ballot.
You read that correctly. They're trying to change the rules weeks
after we submitted a sufficient number of signatures to qualify our
initiative for the ballot.
On Tuesday, Heller officially certified that MPP had submitted over
69,000 valid signatures -- almost 18,000 more than the 51,337 we were
told we needed to qualify for the ballot. However, the secretary of
state did not certify us for the ballot. Instead, he announced that
the attorney general is considering whether or not to increase the
threshold to qualify from 51,337 to 83,156.
Visit
http://mpp.org/NV/news_724.html to read a Las Vegas
Review-Journal article about this outrageous action.
The 51,337 threshold is based on 10% of the 2002 General Election
turnout. What the attorney general is considering right now is whether
to revise the threshold to the recently completed 2004 General
Election turnout. Because turnout in 2004 was so much higher than in
2002, the total number of valid signatures we would need to make the
ballot would increase by roughly 30,000. This move would knock us off
of the ballot -- even though we collected almost 18,000 more
signatures than the secretary of state had announced we would need to
qualify ... and even though we turned in our signatures on November 9,
and the election returns were not declared official until November 23
... and even though as recently as November 18 the secretary of state
stated the threshold would be based on the 2002 returns -- nine days
after we turned in our signatures!
We shouldn't have to go to court again and face another costly legal
battle to try to get Nevada officials to do what's right. But we will
if that's what it takes. No matter how much Nevada's elections
officials kick us around, we won't stop fighting until we've brought
an end to the government's war on marijuana users, starting in Nevada,
and ultimately nationwide.
If you're as tired of this malfeasance and obstructionism as I am,
please channel your outrage into support for our fight by visiting
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate1093 to make a financial
contribution, so we have the funds needed to show Nevada's elections
officials that they can't prevent Nevada's citizens from voting on
their state's marijuana policy.
Thank you to the 17,000 MPP members who have supported us thus far.
According to MPP's records, you have not yet made a financial donation
to MPP (or the tax-deductible MPP Foundation) in 2004. Would you
please consider visiting
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate1093
to donate $10 or more today?
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. MPP's initiative would remove all penalties for marijuana use by
adults aged 21 and older, as well as create a system for the legal
cultivation, distribution, and sale of marijuana to adults. If enacted,
this law would be the first of its kind in the world.
Visit
http://RegulateMarijuana.org/corrupt to read about the battle we
waged during the signature drive for the 2004 initiative earlier this
year, when Nevada's government officials improperly disqualified many
thousands of signatures, including signatures from 2,000 people who
filled out voter registration forms on the same day they signed our
petitions. In addition, the government's recount of the signatures was
rife with errors and mismanagement; officials even refused to allow
our campaign staffers to observe the recount process, even though this
right was granted to other initiative campaigns.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 157,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2004. According to our records,
you have not yet donated this year. Would you please consider making
one donation this year by visiting
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate1093 today?
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2005 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2005plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to donate and/or raise the following sums in 2004:
TYPE OF DONATION .. $ GOALS FOR 2004 ..... $ RAISED IN 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pioneers & Rangers ....... $4,479 ............. $4,554 ....
Monthly pledgers ........ $57,000 ............ $57,004 ....
less than $1,000 ....... $379,000 ........... $359,373 ....
$1,000 to $4,999 ....... $130,000 ............ $99,155 ....
$5,000 to $24,999 ...... $150,000 ........... $100,000 ....
$25,000 to $99,999 ..... $290,000 ........... $195,000 ....
$100,000 and up ...... $1,180,000 ........... $380,000 ....
-----------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS ............... $2,190,479 ......... $1,195,086 ....
======================================================================
Dear Friend:
November 29th 2004
Please tune in to C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" on Monday morning,
when I will be discussing the historic medical marijuana case the U.S.
Supreme Court will be hearing that day. My appearance is scheduled to
air from 7:45 to 8:30 a.m. Eastern time and may repeat later in the
day. (Check
http://www.c-span.org/homepage.asp?Cat=Series&Code=WJE&ShowVidNum=6&Rot_Cat_CD=WJ&Rot_HT=205&Rot_WD=
for times.)
The Supreme Court case, Ashcroft v. Raich, was first launched in
October 2002, when two medical marijuana patients -- Angel Raich and
Diane Monson -- and two caregivers filed a motion asking a federal
court to forbid the DEA from arresting them under federal law. They
argued that their home use and cultivation of medical marijuana, which
is legal under California state law, aren't commercial in nature and
do not involve interstate commerce ... and therefore the federal
government does not have the constitutional authority to prohibit what
they're doing.
The U.S. district court in northern California ruled against Raich in
March 2003, but then the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed
and ruled in favor of Raich in December 2003, shocking the nation. As
a result, Raich, Monson, and patients in similar circumstances have
been legally allowed to use medical marijuana under both state and
federal law in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and
Washington since December 2003.
The Marijuana Policy Project's grants program provided the majority of
the funding for this litigation, which is only the second medical
marijuana case ever to reach the Supreme Court.
The Bush administration appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
If the Court rules in favor of Raich, the federal government would be
blocked from arresting medical marijuana patients whose activities are
legal under state law anywhere in the country. If Raich loses,
however, it would not overturn the laws now protecting the right of 57
million Americans living in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii,
Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington to use medical
marijuana legally under state law.
In short, if our side wins the case, the federal government's war on
medical marijuana will be largely over, and the 40 states without
medical marijuana laws will quickly start to pass such laws. If our
side loses the case, however, we will be no worse off than we were
before the litigation was launched -- medical marijuana would be legal
under certain state laws but not federal law.
According to annual statistics released by the FBI and the U.S.
Sentencing Commission, 99% of all marijuana arrests are made by state
and local authorities under state law; only 1% of marijuana arrests
are made by the DEA and other federal authorities under federal law.
Because of this criminal justice reality, MPP will continue to focus
on making medical marijuana legal from state to state -- just as we
did this year in Montana and Vermont -- regardless of what the Supreme
Court rules. (A ruling is expected sometime in the winter or spring.)
If you'd like to help MPP keep fighting battles like these -- battles
that have a dramatic effect on the marijuana laws across the
nation -- please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate1091 to make a
financial contribution today.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 157,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2004. According to our records,
you have not yet donated this year. Would you please consider making
one donation this year by visiting
http://www.mpp.org/donate1091
today?
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2004 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2004plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to donate and/or raise the following sums in 2004:
TYPE OF DONOR ..... $ GOALS FOR 2004 ..... $ RAISED IN 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pioneers & Rangers ....... $7,183 ............. $7,704 ....
monthly pledgers ....... $100,000 ............ $93,197 ....
less than $1,000 ....... $383,000 ........... $301,291 ....
$1,000 to $4,999 ....... $100,000 ............ $67,370 ....
$5,000 to $24,999 ...... $100,000 ............ $77,500 ....
$25,000 to $99,999 ..... $300,000 ........... $225,000 ....
$100,000 and up ...... $1,200,000 ........... $380,000 ....
-----------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS ............... $2,190,183 ......... $1,152,062 ....
Dear Friend:
One year ago today, police burst into a Goose Creek, South Carolina
high school, pointed guns at students' heads, handcuffed them, and
made them lie on the floor or kneel with their faces to the wall while
an officer with a drug-sniffing dog searched their backpacks and
belongings. No drugs were found, and no charges were filed.
If you want to see excerpts from the video of this raid, please visit
http://www.mpp.org/goosecreek
... and please forward the link to your
family and friends.
If you're as outraged by the video as I am, you'll be glad to know
that the Marijuana Policy Project is working to prevent this kind
of dangerous, abusive, and un-American travesty from ever happening
again ... starting in Nevada ...
This Tuesday, November 9, we'll be turning in signatures to place
MPP's marijuana regulation initiative on the November 2006 ballot in
Nevada. The initiative would remove all penalties for marijuana use
by adults aged 21 and older, as well as create a system for the legal
cultivation, distribution, and sale of marijuana to adults.
Our canvassers are working seven days a week to collect the 80,000
gross signatures we need by November 9. We've already collected 73,805
gross signatures, about 51,000 of which we estimate are valid.
The initiative needs 51,337 valid signatures to qualify for the
ballot, and we want to give ourselves a big, big buffer so that
malfeasant government officials cannot boot our initiative off the
ballot.
If you're not already tapped out because of the elections, please
consider visiting
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate1085 to help
us make the final push for signatures over the weekend ... so that on
November 9, we can announce to Nevada's corrupt elections officials
that we're back ... and that their illegal attempts to keep us off the
2004 ballot* haven't stopped us.
In fact, we won't stop fighting until we've brought an end to the
government's war on marijuana users, starting in Nevada, and
ultimately nationwide.
We're not even on the ballot yet, but the White House drug czar is
already trying to stop us, vowing to "do everything within his power"
to oppose us. And he's using taxpayer money to do it. See
http://www.mpp.org/NV/news_297.html for the story.
After we turn in our signatures on November 9, the Nevada legislature
is legally required to consider our proposal and either pass it
themselves (unamended) or place it on the 2006 ballot (unamended) so
Nevadans can vote on it.
We expect the Nevada legislature to do the latter. But, either way,
the legislature will debate the taxation and regulation of marijuana,
which would be the first time in decades -- perhaps ever -- that a
legislature will have done so.
Please help MPP finish the signature drive, fight the drug czar,
lobby the legislature, and then pass the initiative in Nevada.
Please visit
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate1085 to make a
financial contribution to the fight in Nevada.
Thank you,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
* See
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/corrupt/index.php for the
history of our fight with Nevada's elections officials.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 157,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2004. According to our records,
you have not yet donated this year. Would you please consider making
one donation this year by visiting
http://www.mpp.org/donate1085
today?
As a part of this campaign, we hope that 200 volunteers will each
commit to raising $1,000 from their friends and colleagues, with
another 100 volunteers committing to raise $2,000 each, for a total of
$400,000. Please see
http://www.mpp.org/Pioneers to sign up for this
campaign. (Since MPP launched this campaign on May 4, 94 people have
signed up.)
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2004 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2004plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to donate and/or raise the following sums in 2004:
TYPE OF DONOR ..... $ GOALS FOR 2004 ..... $ RAISED IN 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pioneers & Rangers ..... $400,000 ............. $7,014 ....
monthly pledgers ........ $85,000 ............ $84,442 ....
less than $1,000 ....... $405,000 ........... $284,368 ....
$1,000 to $4,999 ........ $80,000 ............ $65,270 ....
$5,000 to $24,999 ...... $120,000 ............ $67,500 ....
$25,000 to $99,999 ..... $300,000 ........... $225,000 ....
$100,000 and up ........ $800,000 ........... $380,000 ....
-----------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS ............... $2,190,000 ......... $1,113,594 ....
Dear Friend:
The marijuana ballot initiative campaigns in Alaska, Montana, and
Oregon are coming to a close. Would you please help the Marijuana
Policy Project finish these campaigns by doing two quick things?
1. Please see our hard-hitting TV and radio ads that are running in
the three states:
-
http://www.RegulateMarijuanaInAlaska.org/ads/index.html
-
http://www.MontanaCares.org/ads/
- http://www.Vote33.org/ads/
2. Then visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate1071 to donate $10 or more ...
and use the "comments" section at the bottom of the donation page to
tell us which TV and/or radio ad is your favorite.
We want to know which ads are the most effective so that we can run
even better campaigns and ads in 2005 and 2006.
And, as for donating ... if you've ever considered donating to our
efforts, now would be the time. Please, please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate1071 to
donate just $10. If you and everyone
else on this e-mail list contributes just $10, we will be out of
financial trouble.
Trouble?
Our revenues are half of what they were two years ago -- not because
our supporters don't like MPP's work, but rather because they're
saying they're "tapped out" because of all the money they've donated
to the presidential election.
When supporters of marijuana policy reform aren't donating to
marijuana policy reform, this spells trouble.
If you have $10, could you please donate it to MPP's efforts by
visiting
http://www.mpp.org/donate1071 today? The stakes are high ...
On Tuesday, voters in Alaska will have the chance to remove all
criminal penalties for marijuana use by adults 21 and older.
Oregonians will vote on a groundbreaking initiative to allow medical
marijuana to be sold in pharmacy-like dispensaries. And Montanans will
vote to protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail.
Because of the support of MPP's 16,000 dues-paying members, we've been
able to go head-to-head with the drug warriors in all three states by
spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on TV and radio ads,
targeted mailings to voters, and huge Get-Out-The-Vote programs.
We've done everything we said we were going to do, and the momentum is
on our side. We have a good shot at rocking the nation on Tuesday with
a slate of victories.
But playing in the big leagues is expensive. We "emptied the clip" to
wage these hard-hitting campaigns ... and now we're broke.
That's no exaggeration. Invoices are piled up on my desk for telephone
services, office rent, printing costs ... and we can't pay them.
If you haven't already done so, could you please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate1071
and donate just $10?
You receive our e-mails, so you know we're doing good work. Indeed,
the Las Vegas Review Journal said on Friday that -- of all the
initiatives appearing on all state ballots this Tuesday -- "none ...
will rattle national policy as much as Alaska's Ballot Measure 2,
which would make that state the first to completely decriminalize
marijuana." See
http://www.mpp.org/NV/news_385.html for the story.
On Tuesday night, please check
http://www.mpp.org to get the results
of our elections in real time.
And on Wednesday, I'll send you the results of all marijuana policy
reform campaigns, including a host of local ballot initiatives.
I want to thank you in advance if you're able to visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate1071 to
donate $10 or more today. Here's to
hoping for big victories on Tuesday ...
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 157,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2004. According to our records,
you have not yet donated this year. Would you please consider making
one donation this year by visiting
http://www.mpp.org/donate1071
today?
As a part of this campaign, we hope that 200 volunteers will each
commit to raising $1,000 from their friends and colleagues, with
another 100 volunteers committing to raise $2,000 each, for a total of
$400,000. Please see
http://www.mpp.org/Pioneers to sign up for this
campaign. (Since MPP launched this campaign on May 4, 94 people have
signed up.)
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2004 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2004plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to donate and/or raise the following sums in 2004:
TYPE OF DONOR ..... $ GOALS FOR 2004 ..... $ RAISED IN 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pioneers & Rangers ..... $400,000 ............. $6,539 ....
monthly pledgers ........ $85,000 ............ $83,027 ....
less than $1,000 ....... $405,000 ........... $269,976 ....
$1,000 to $4,999 ........ $80,000 ............ $56,570 ....
$5,000 to $24,999 ...... $120,000 ............ $66,500 ....
$25,000 to $99,999 ..... $300,000 ........... $225,000 ....
$100,000 and up ........ $800,000 ........... $380,000 ....
-----------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS ............... $2,190,000 ......... $1,087,612 ....
======================================================================
You are receiving this e-mail because you subscribed to MPP's e-mail
alerts. To unsubscribe, simply reply with the word REMOVE in the
subject line. Removal may take up to 48 hours. To contact MPP, please
visit http://www.mpp.org/contact or
reply to this e-mail.
======================================================================
Dear Friend:
The government just announced it's arresting one marijuana user every
42 seconds.
And the White House drug czar has vowed to "do everything within his
power to stop new efforts to legalize marijuana in Nevada and other
states." (Please see
http://www.mpp.org/NV/news_297.html for the
story.)
And government officials are using taxpayer money to oppose the
statewide marijuana initiatives that are on the November 2 ballots in
Alaska, Montana, and Oregon.
And, unfortunately, the Marijuana Policy Project does not have the
money that is needed to finish the final week of these three
campaigns.
Of the 156,736 subscribers on this e-mail list, 2,391 have donated to
MPP at least once in 2004, while 154,345 subscribers haven't donated
anything this year.
According to MPP's records, you are in the second group. Would you
please consider visiting
http://www.mpp.org/donate1069 to donate $10
or more today? If you and the other subscribers on this e-mail list
each donate $10, we will have the money needed to finish our campaigns
... and win.
Yesterday, the FBI reported that the annual number of marijuana
arrests reached an all-time high of 755,186 in 2003. That's one
arrest every 42 seconds. And 88% of these arrests were for simple
possession, not sale or manufacture.
This figure exceeds the 597,026 arrests for all violent crimes
combined. In addition, marijuana arrests account for 45% of all 1.7
million drug arrests in 2003.
Faced with a government that is waging an endless war on nonviolent
marijuana users, we at the Marijuana Policy Project have two choices:
We can give up and let the government continue arresting millions
more people, or we can fight.
We choose to fight.
And, seven days from now, we're taking the fight directly to voters in
Alaska, Montana, and Oregon:
ALASKA: Two months ago, the initiative to remove all criminal
penalties for marijuana use by adults aged 21 and older was behind by
32% to 56%, but our TV and radio ads have closed the gap: Our internal
polling now shows the initiative down 42% to 50% (with 8%
undecided) -- tighter than anyone thought was possible.
Alaska voters are moving in our direction, and we're pulling more of
them over to our side every day. We have a massive Get-Out-The-Vote
operation; our opposition does not. We have TV and radio ads in heavy
rotation; our opposition does not. Please visit
http://www.RegulateMarijuanaInAlaska.org/ads to watch our TV ads ...
which are so powerful that MSNBC aired one nationwide last week.
But Alaska's elections officials have shown that they are willing to
violate the law to defeat us. Yesterday, an Alaska judge ruled that
Alaska's lieutenant governor violated his obligation to assure the
"integrity, credibility, and impartiality" of state elections when his
office wrote a statement opposing the initiative for the state voter
pamphlet. See
http://www.mpp.org/AK/news_343.html for the story.
MONTANA: In Montana, new poll results show that our campaign to
protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail has a crushing
lead. Since our TV ads began airing on October 11, support for the
initiative has increased by 9%, and we are now ahead by 63% to 28%
(with 9% undecided).
But Montana Gov. Judy Martz (R) is using her office (and therefore
taxpayer money) to campaign against the measure, calling medical
marijuana a "myth" despite countless seriously ill Montanans who have
found relief from medical marijuana. See
http://www.mpp.org/MT/news_303.html for the story.
OREGON: In Oregon, our TV ads are changing the face of the race to
pass a groundbreaking initiative that would strengthen the state's
existing medical marijuana law by authorizing nonprofit organizations
to sell marijuana to patients and their caregivers. If the initiative
passes, Oregon would become the first state in the nation to allow the
sale of marijuana in any context.
Please visit http://www.Vote33.org/ads
to view our ads. Only a
Neanderthal or an authoritarian could oppose the initiative after
viewing these heart-wrenching ads. To no one's surprise, one such
example is Drug Czar John Walters, who has attacked our ads, charging,
"What's really going on is that sick and dying people are being used
as a political prop to legalize marijuana." See
http://www.mpp.org/OR/news_254.html for the story.
NEVADA: In Nevada, our canvassers are on track to collect 80,000 gross
signatures by November 8 to place a marijuana regulation initiative on
the November 2006 ballot. The initiative would remove all penalties for
marijuana use by adults aged 21 and older, as well as require the
state government to authorize a system for the legal cultivation,
distribution, and sale of marijuana to adults. We have already
collected 47,576 gross signatures, 33,183 of which are estimated to be
valid; the initiative needs 51,337 valid signatures to qualify for the
ballot.
With seven days left until Election Day, all the polls are moving in
our direction. All that remains is to raise the remaining money that's
needed to finish our campaigns and win next Tuesday.
Just imagine if we actually succeed at passing the first
"legalization" law in the country ... and we score two more state
medical marijuana wins. If we have the money to finish our campaigns,
we're going to rock the nation with three out of three victories ...
and change the face of marijuana policy forever. Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate1069 to
lend whatever financial assistance
you can afford today.
Thank you,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 157,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2004. According to our records,
you have not yet donated this year. Would you please consider making
one donation this year by visiting
http://www.mpp.org/donate1069
today?
As a part of this campaign, we hope that 200 volunteers will each
commit to raising $1,000 from their friends and colleagues, with
another 100 volunteers committing to raise $2,000 each, for a total of
$400,000. Please see
http://www.mpp.org/Pioneers to sign up for this
campaign. (Since MPP launched this campaign on May 4, 92 people have
signed up.)
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2004 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2004plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to donate and/or raise the following sums in 2004:
TYPE OF DONOR ..... $ GOALS FOR 2004 ..... $ RAISED IN 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pioneers & Rangers ..... $400,000 ............. $6,519 ....
monthly pledgers ........ $70,000 ............ $73,670 ....
less than $1,000 ....... $434,000 ........... $251,079 ....
$1,000 to $4,999 ........ $50,000 ............ $52,570 ....
$5,000 to $24,999 ...... $120,000 ............ $64,000 ....
$25,000 to $99,999 ..... $250,000 ........... $225,000 ....
$100,000 and up ...... $1,080,000 ........... $380,000 ....
-----------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS ............... $2,404,000 ........... $1,052,838 ....
Dear Friend:
On September 27, Jonathan Magbie died while serving a 10-day sentence
for marijuana possession in a jail in Washington, D.C.
Magbie, a 27-year-old quadriplegic who used marijuana to treat his
chronic pain, was unable to breathe on his own. The jail, unable to
meet his medical needs, allowed him to die while in custody. Visit
http://www.mpp.org/states/site/quicknews.cgi?key=8319 for the article.
After he was arrested, Magbie was unable to present his medical use of
marijuana as a defense in court, despite the fact that 69% of D.C.
voters passed a local medical marijuana initiative in November 1998.
Why? Because -- every year during its annual budgeting
process -- Congress votes to reestablish the federal law that prevents
the local initiative from taking effect.
Every week, we at the Marijuana Policy Project are bruised and shocked
by numerous instances of the government arresting, threatening to
shoot, seizing the property of, and now killing medical marijuana
patients. Our government is out of control, and it is our
duty -- it's your duty -- to rein in the government ... our
government.
We absolutely must change more and more state laws until Congress is
forced to change federal law to allow the states to determine their
own marijuana policies without federal interference.
We can change three state laws simultaneously on November 2 if you
would be so kind as to visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate1065 to donate
$10 or more today. If you and everyone else on this e-mail list each
donate $10 or more, MPP will be able to finish all of the following
campaigns ...
======================================================================
ALASKA: We're on the brink of passing a groundbreaking initiative in
Alaska, which would remove all penalties for marijuana use by adults
aged 21 and older. Unfortunately -- but not surprisingly -- state
government officials are playing dirty.
Yesterday, the Anchorage Daily News revealed that the office of
Alaska's lieutenant governor -- who is supposed to remain neutral in
election issues -- wrote a statement opposing the initiative in the
official election pamphlet that is being mailed to all Alaska
households. Even our main opponent, former U.S. Attorney Wev Shea,
says he is "totally disgusted" by the actions of the elections office.
Please visit
http://www.mpp.org/AK/news_199.html for the story.
With Alaska's elected officials unwilling to conduct the election
fairly, we must redouble our efforts to get our message to the voters.
(And, if the initiative fails on November 2, we will sue the state
government for conducting an unfair election.)
======================================================================
MONTANA: MPP's Montana initiative would make it legal for patients to
use, possess, and grow their own marijuana for medical purposes. If
passed by a majority of voters, Montana would become the 10th state to
make medical marijuana legal.
With the polls going our way, White House Deputy Drug Czar Scott Burns
is now lying outright to Montana voters, claiming, "To date, no one
has said that marijuana is a medicine" ... despite the fact that the
American Nurses Association, the American Public Health Association,
the American Academy of Family Physicians, and even the National
Academy of Sciences recognize marijuana's medical value. Please visit
http://www.MontanaCares.org to see
the Montana campaign's news
articles and TV ads.
======================================================================
OREGON: In Oregon, an initiative to strengthen the state's existing
medical marijuana law by authorizing nonprofit organizations to sell
marijuana to patients and their caregivers would make the state the
first to allow the sale of marijuana in any context.
MPP's polling shows that voters favor the measure when they understand
what it would do, but state officials and the establishment media are
lining up against it. The Oregonian, the Statesman-Journal, the Eugene
Register-Guard, and other newspapers around the state have all
editorialized against the measure. The TV ads we're running are the
only thing that can save the initiative -- we absolutely must continue
running the ads during the remaining two weeks of the campaign. Please
visit http://www.Vote33.org to see the
Oregon campaign's news articles
and TV ads.
======================================================================
NEVADA: In Nevada, our canvassers are on track to collect 80,000 gross
signatures by November 8 to place a marijuana regulation initiative on
the November 2006 ballot. The initiative would remove all penalties
for marijuana use by adults aged 21 and older, as well as require
the state government to authorize a system for the legal cultivation,
distribution, and sale of marijuana to adults. We have already
collected 28,773 gross signatures, about 19,404 of which we estimate
are valid; the initiative needs 51,337 valid signatures to qualify for
the ballot.
======================================================================
If you responded to my urgent plea for money in the e-mail message I
sent you on Friday, I want to thank you for your assistance. We raised
$7,634 over the weekend, and donations are still coming in now that
people are back at work checking their e-mail. But we still need to
raise much more money to finish the four campaigns mentioned above.
(Please see budget below.)
Unfortunately, of the 157,057 subscribers on this e-mail list, 2,268
have donated to MPP at least once in 2004, while 154,789 subscribers
haven't donated anything -- not even $1 -- this year. Would you please
visit http://www.mpp.org/donate1065
to donate $10 or more today? We
really need your help.
Thank you in advance for any donation you can make.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. To help raise the money that is needed to win in Alaska, Montana,
and Oregon, please visit
http://www.mpp.org/Pioneers to set up your
own personal Web page to raise funds for MPP. Creating your own
fundraising page takes only 15 minutes. If you donate/raise a total of
$1,000 by November 2, you will receive a free ticket to one of MPP's
two 10th anniversary galas. One event will be in Los Angeles, and the
other will be in Washington, D.C. Celebrities and members of Congress
will be attending both events, which will be held in February 2005.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 157,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2004. According to our records,
you have not yet donated this year. Would you please consider making
one donation this year by visiting
http://www.mpp.org/donate1065
today?
As a part of this campaign, we hope that 200 volunteers will each
commit to raising $1,000 from their friends and colleagues, with
another 100 volunteers committing to raise $2,000 each, for a total of
$400,000. Please see
http://www.mpp.org/Pioneers to sign up for this
campaign. (Since MPP launched this campaign on May 4, 85 people have
signed up.)
MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in its 2004 strategic
plan -- http://www.mpp.org/2004plan
-- if you and other allies are
generous enough to donate and/or raise the following sums in 2004:
TYPE OF DONOR ..... $ GOALS FOR 2004 ..... $ RAISED IN 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pioneers & Rangers ..... $400,000 ............. $6,517 ....
monthly pledgers ........ $70,000 ............ $67,313 ....
less than $1,000 ....... $434,000 ........... $235,576 ....
$1,000 to $4,999 ........ $50,000 ............ $49,120 ....
$5,000 to $24,999 ...... $120,000 ............ $64,000 ....
$25,000 to $99,999 ..... $250,000 ........... $200,000 ....
$100,000 and up ...... $1,080,000 ........... $380,000 ....
-----------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS ............... $2,404,000 ........... $1,002,525 ....
DATE: Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Once again, the White House Drug Czar is using taxpayer money to lie
and interfere in the Marijuana Policy Project's state initiative
campaigns.
Tomorrow, Deputy Drug Czar Scott Burns will appear in Alaska to
campaign against an initiative to remove all penalties for marijuana
use by adults aged 21 and older.
On October 6, Burns went to Montana to denounce MPP's medical
marijuana initiative there. Burns lied to voters, claiming that no
"credible" medical authority backs up medical marijuana's
effectiveness -- when in fact the American Nurses Association, the
American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Family
Physicians, and dozens of other organizations recognize marijuana's
medical value.
And on October 4, Drug Czar John Walters visited Oregon to urge voters
to reject a groundbreaking state initiative that would allow nonprofit
dispensaries to sell medical marijuana to patients. Walters called the
measure a "fraud" against voters and said it would turn Oregon into a
"safe haven for drug trafficking."
While the drug czar spends taxpayer money to continue arresting and
imprisoning marijuana users, MPP is running out of funds to fight
back. If MPP doesn't raise more money between now and Election Day, we
won't be able to complete the medical marijuana initiative campaigns
in Montana and Oregon and the marijuana regulation initiative drive in
Alaska ... and all three initiatives may fail.
We badly need your help. According to MPP's records, you have not yet
made a financial donation to MPP (or the tax-deductible MPP
Foundation) in 2004. Would you please consider visiting
http://www.mpp.org/donate1061 to
donate $10 or more today?
In the past, the White House has swarmed the airwaves with misleading
and fear-mongering TV ads during the last two weeks of marijuana
initiative campaigns. It's crucial for MPP to be able to afford to
take our message directly to millions of voters, through hard-hitting
TV ads that put a face on the cruel and inhumane policies the drug
czar is pushing ... and explain how the initiatives would help protect
people with painful and crippling diseases.
Please visit http://www.vote33.org/ads
to view our Oregon ads, which
feature Angelique Yeakle -- who uses marijuana to treat pain
associated with lupus, diabetes, and crippling arthritis -- and
Jeanelle Bluhm -- who uses marijuana to treat multiple sclerosis. If
we have the money to finish running these ads, Oregon will become the
first state to allow the sale of marijuana in any context.
And please visit
http://www.MontanaCares.org/ads to view MPP's
Montana ad, in which 69-year-old cancer survivor Walter Simon explains
how marijuana helped him combat his pain, nausea, and dramatic weight
loss. If the initiative passes, Montana would become the 10th state to
make medical marijuana legal for patients like him.
If every subscriber on this e-mail list donates $10, we
will have exactly the amount of funding needed to finish our campaigns
(see the budget at the bottom of this message). Would you please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate1061
and donate $10 or more today, so that we
can win at the polls on November 2?
The drug czar is also attacking the Alaska marijuana regulation
initiative, which would remove all penalties for marijuana use by
adults aged 21 and older. But despite the attacks, our campaign has
momentum: We've been running TV and radio ads for the past month,
we've already identified the positions of more than 50,000 voting
households, our opposition is disorganized and underfunded, we're
sending targeted mailings to voters we've identified as undecided,
and we're about to launch a huge Get-Out-The-Vote program targeting
voters we've identified as supportive.
Even the top opponent of the initiative says that MPP's strategy is
strong enough that we can win, noting that we are "running a very
professional campaign." Visit
http://www.mpp.org/states/site/quicknews.cgi?key=42 for the story.
Please also visit
http://www.RegulateMarijuanaInAlaska.org/ads to view
our Alaska TV ads.
If you can help call voters whom we have already identified as
supportive of the initiative and remind them to vote -- from your own
home, anywhere in the country -- please e-mail
grassroots@mpp.org.
Our massive Get-Out-The-Vote drive will require hundreds of volunteers
in the final days of the campaign.
If we can afford to finish our campaign and the initiative passes,
Alaska would literally have the best marijuana laws in the world.
As you can see, our bold state campaigns are in full swing ... but
without the funding to hit all three states hard from now until
Election Day, we may not be able to win on November 2. Would you
please visit
http://www.mpp.org/donate1061 to donate $10 or more
that is needed to catapult the initiatives to victory?
I want to thank you in advance for any last-minute donation you can
make.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. To help MPP raise the money needed to finish these three
campaigns, please visit
http://www.mpp.org/Pioneers to set up your own
personal Web page to raise funds for MPP. Creating your own
fundraising page takes only 15 minutes. If you donate/raise a total of
$1,000 by November 2, you will receive a free ticket to one of MPP's
two 10th anniversary galas. One event will be in Los Angeles, and the
other will be in Washington, D.C. Celebrities and members of Congress
will be attending both events, which will be held in February 2005.
======================================================================
The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the 158,000
subscribers on our national e-mail list will make at least one
financial donation to MPP's work in 2004. According to our records,
you have not yet donated this year. Would you please
