Under the direction of acting-administrator Michele Leonhart, the DEA has gone rogue. They are continuing to raid homes and businesses in compliance with state medical marijuana laws in direct opposition to the directive from the Department of Justice. Leonhart has been nominated to take over as head of the DEA, which is why we are asking you to join us in calling on President Obama to withdraw this nomination.
GW Hatchet, Sep. 02, 2010 - GW Needs To Revisit The Medical Marijuana Ban With the passing of Initiative 59 this spring, medical marijuana became legal in the District. Finally, the D.C. Council realized the lunacy of keeping the substance illegal for medical purposes. But GW administrators clearly still fear the reefer, because they have banned the use or possession of medical marijuana on campus. While I can sympathize with the University in its mission to keep illicit substances off campus, I can't agree with denying a student with a valid prescription the right to do something that would be perfectly legal anywhere else in the city.
The Record, Sep. 02, 2010 - STOCKTON - A previously shuttered Stockton medical marijuana dispensary - which later reopened in a pocket of unincorporated San Joaquin County - is appealing the county's notice that it is operating without a business license. In July, San Joaquin County officials issued a notice to Pathways Family Health Cooperative Counseling after receiving a complaint about the dispensary's Tomahawk Drive location. A previous Pathways location inside the Stockton city limits was shut down after the city won a court order against the shop for operating before the city had rules on the books regulating dispensaries.
Kalamazoo Gazette, Sep. 04, 2010 - KALAMAZOO - The Kalamazoo City Commission will consider new ordinance language Tuesday night to regulate the supplying of medical marijuana and the installation of wind turbines that create electricity. City staff is proposing that Kalamazoo follow the lead of some other Michigan communities and establish rules that will categorize small, medical marijuana-growing operations as home occupations. That would allow the city to apply its existing home-occupation rules that regulate things like operating hours and require that the operator be a resident in the home.
Flint Journal, Sep. 03, 2010 - FLINT TOWNSHIP, Michigan -- Jim Lewis, a 76-year-old grandfather and former missionary worker, got a surprise visit from the police last month. It was around dinnertime, when he heard a knock on the door of his Flint Township home. He answered the door and found police officers from the Flint Area Narcotics Group. Someone had given a tip that there was an illegal marijuana growing operation and a possible methamphetamine lab, they said. While there was no meth, police found an indoor growing operation in the basement with a kiddie pool-size tub full of 15 marijuana plants - -- marijuana that Lewis legally grows to treat his arthritis and headaches, as well as provides to three patients, who also use the drug for medicinal purposes.
The Desert Sun, Aug. 29, 2010 - With more than $300 million spent annually arresting more than 60,000 Californians, the majority of them young, black and brown, the California Medical Association accurately labels marijuana criminalization "a failed public health policy." Proposition 19 allows police to concentrate on real crimes, unclogs courts and reduces prison overcrowding. The California Board of Equalization estimates legalization will raise $1.4 billion for schools, health programs and essential government services. Proposition 19 opponents point to the societal and health costs of alcohol as proof there will be increased costs if marijuana is legalized. Truth be told, health care costs will go down when responsible adults are allowed to make the rational, safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol.
Two must-read op-eds from last week explain why ending marijuana prohibition is perhaps the only effective way to curtail the ever-increasing violence plaguing Mexico: In The Washington Post, Hector Aguilar Camín, publisher of the Mexican magazine Nexos, and Jorge G. Castañeda, a former Mexican foreign minister who teaches at New York University, write that California’s [...]
Inhaled marijuana can provide relief to patients suffering from chronic nerve pain, and can also help them sleep, according to a Canadian study published last week in the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association. Researchers at McGill University in Montreal gave different types of marijuana to adult volunteers suffering from intractable pain that hadn’t responded [...]
For decades, prohibitionists have claimed that marijuana is a “gateway drug” that inevitably leads to use of harder substances like heroin and cocaine — despite the fact that every objective study ever done on the gateway theory has determined that it’s absolute crap. Last week, researchers at the University of New Hampshire released yet another [...]
Earlier this week, Oakland County authorities raided two medical marijuana businesses and several private homes, arresting 15 people and confiscating what was allegedly $750,000 worth of marijuana and equipment. One of the facilities raided, Clinical Relief, is located in Ferndale, Michigan where the City Council voted just two days earlier to lift a moratorium on [...]
Unofficial vote totals show that marijuana decriminalization supporter Peter Shumlin won the Vermont Democratic primary for governor yesterday by an agonizingly tight margin of fewer than 200 votes. Although votes are in from all 260 precincts, towns and cities have a couple of days to certify official results. Currently president pro tempore of the Vermont [...]
MPP executive director Rob Kampia appeared on Fox Business News’s “Freedom Watch” with Judge Andrew Napolitano this weekend to discuss the merits of ending marijuana prohibition in the United States. Joined by John Stossel, Rob debated pundit S.E. Cupp, who claimed that marijuana policy reformers were “confused” about how to treat marijuana. “We’re not confused,” [...]
A coroner’s inquest jury ruled this weekend that the fatal shooting of Trevon Cole by a Las Vegas narcotics officer during a botched marijuana raid in June was justified, despite reports of conflicting testimony and contradictory evidence. Cole, 21, was shot dead in front of his pregnant fiancée after officers raided their Las Vegas home [...]
MPP tracks marijuana policy in all 50 states and at the federal level.
MPP in the News
October 19, 2009 —
Aaron Houston weighs in on the Justice Department's formal decision to not prosecute medical marijuana patients and providers who are following state law.
March 29, 2010 —
Aaron Houston debates Heritage Foundation's Ernest Istook on the benefits of ending marijuana prohibition and how it would adversely affect the profits of Mexican drug cartels.
October 20, 2009 —
Aaron Houston explains the implications of the new federal policy toward medical marijuana state laws, and discusses the growing acceptance of marijuana in public perception.
January 13, 2010 —
Aaron Smith appears on CNBC to discuss AB390. He debates with other guests about the benefits of a system that allows the taxation and regulated distribution of marijuana to adults 21 and over.
January 12, 2010 —
Aaron Smith is seen here on CBS Sacramento talking about the passage of AB390 through the California Assembly's Public Safety Committee.
October 28, 2009 —
Aaron Smith speaks in support of California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's bill to tax and regulate marijuana after a hearing to discuss the effects of the law when it passes.
January 14, 2010 —
MPP Arizona spokesperson Andrew Myers discusses the initiative to put a medical marijuana bill on the ballot in 2010 with KSAZ Fox 10.
January 6, 2010 —
Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws chairman Dave Schwartz discusses the petition to put a measure that taxes and regulates marijuana like alcohol on the Nevada ballot in 2012.
January 15, 2010 —
Dave Schwartz debates the merits of the ballot initiative proposed for 2012 that would allow Nevadans over the age of 21 to legally purchase and possess marijuana in small quantities. This is part two of an appearance on Jon Ralston's "Face to Face".
October 19, 2009 —
Mike Meno is interviewed about the Justice Department announcement that the federal government will no longer use resources to prosecute medical marijuana users and providers that are in compliance with state law.
December 9, 2009 —
Mike Meno appears on NBC 4 to discuss the impending passage of a medical marijuana ordinance approved by voters in 1998. The law had been prevented from implementation by a funding ban that was recently removed from the Capitol's spending bill.
May 5, 2010 —
MPP director of communications Mike Meno appears on Russia Today to talk about the medical marijuana law recently approved by the Washington DC City Council, and how this will affect the way people view the nation's capitol.
January 26, 2010 —
Mike Meno talks about marijuana prohibition and the announcement of a bill to allow medical marijuana in the state of Maryland. In this interview, he explains that the current affirmative defense for medical marijuana patients does not go far enough to protect their safety.
March 24, 2010 —
MPP spokesperson Sarah Lovering appears on KTLA to explain the benefits of a taxed and regulated marijuana market proposed by the Tax Cannabis 2010 initiative in California.
March 26, 2010 —
MPP director of state campaigns Steve Fox debates Brian Darling of the Heritage Foundation on the benefits of ending marijuana prohibition.
April 8, 2010 —
MPP director of state campaigns Steve Fox appears on the O’Reilly Factor with host Laura Ingraham to discuss the benefits of taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol. This came just after Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws offered Sarah Palin $25000 to speak at a pro-marijuana reform event and admit that marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol. Palin spoke at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers convention on Tuesday.
February 1, 2009 —
MPP's Bruce Mirken discusses the benefits of marijuana policy reform on CNN.
June 18, 2009 —
Bruce Mirken discusses the introduction of compassion centers in Rhode Island, the benefits of taxing and regulating marijuana, and its efficacy as medicine on "CNBC Reports."
June 16, 2009 —
Rob Kampia appears on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" to talk about the reasons to support treating marijuana like alcohol in a regulated fashion.
March 28, 2009 —
MPP's Bruce Mirken is interviewed by CNN correspondent D.L. Hughley.
"Marijuana is beneficial to many patients. I support MPP because it is a professional organization attempting to change our destructive marijuana laws." — Dr. Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. Surgeon General
"There's been medical marijuana ever since there's been medicine. Nobody gets hurt, so why not? People still smoke marijuana, and they still go to work." — Gary Coleman
"Instead of taking five or six of the prescriptions, I decided to go a natural route and smoke marijuana ... Every single one (of my doctors) was, 'Oh, yeah. That's the best help for the effects of chemotherapy."— Melissa Etheridge
"I support MPP because our existing marijuana laws — based on fear, ignorance, and vested interests — are unenlightened, overreactive, and often inhumane to the point of tyrannical cruelty." — best-selling author Tom Robbins
"All we need in order to change away from our nation's failed and hopeless marijuana policy is to have a full, honest, and open discussion about the issue. That is why I support MPP — and that's why you should too."
— Judge Jim Gray
"Given the many known medicinal uses for marijuana and the wasted money and time spent on jailing marijuana users, it seems the logical and humane thing to do is tax and regulate marijuana for its medicinal purposes. I support MPP's efforts and encourage more people to pressure your lawmakers to reform our marijuana laws." - Ray Benson, Musician and Advisory Board Member
"Marijuana is the drug that should most clearly be brought into a system of regulation and taxation. It is less dangerous than drugs like alcohol and tobacco as far as addiction and death. Regulation and taxation would provide greater control over purity, potency labeling, health warnings and age restrictions then the ineffective current 'war on marijuana' approach."
— Ralph Nader
"In 1992, I was found to have testicular cancer. My chemotherapy put me in the hospital for five days at a time, once a month, for four months. But midway through my treatment I could tell that Zofran, then a hot new drug prescribed to combat nausea, was losing its effect. For the remainder of my chemotherapy I turned to marijuana to keep my head out of the toilet." — Richard Brookhiser, senior editor of National Review, historian
"The federal government should use its power to help terminally ill citizens, not arrest them. And states deserve to have the right to make their own decisions regarding the use of medical marijuana." — Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Congressman (D-OH)
"I am absolutely in support of legalizing marijuana. It doesn't make any sense to me to keep it illegal when there is little argument that alcohol and tobacco are clearly far more deadly." — Margaret Cho
