Rhode Island Passes Medical Marijuana Compassion Centers Law

Rhode Island became the first state ever to expand an existing medical marijuana law to establish state-licensed "compassion centers" to provide medicine to qualified patients. The state legislature overrode the governor's veto June 16 by an overwhelming 35-3 in the Senate and 67-0 in the House. Learn more here.

MPP-TV VIDEOS
	Bruce Mirken on CNBC Reports Rob Kampia on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 Arizona Family Advocates Medical Marijuana MPP's Party at the Playboy Mansion Tax and Regulate Marijuana Aaron Houston Testifies Before Congress Charles Lynch On 20/20 With John Stossel

In the News

Editorial: New Hampshire Governor Should Sign Medical Marijuana Bill
[For] chronically ill individuals suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV or other diseases – who can’t stomach the side effects of heavy-duty painkillers such as OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin – there is no legitimate reason why they shouldn’t be able to find a little comfort in their less than comfortable existence. ... Governor, the time has come to do the right thing. Supporters of this bill have done everything you have asked. There is only one thing left to do. Sign the bill. (July 1, 2009)

New Hampshire Medical Marijuana Bill Before Legislators, Then Governor
People with debilitating conditions who use pot as medicine may finally see the threat of criminal charges go up in smoke, as the state's altered medical marijuana bill is expected to receive a final review in the Legislature today. The changes a conference committee made to the bill will be put to the test, as a vote to approve the new language of the bill is scheduled in the New Hampshire House and Senate, before being sent for final endorsement from Gov. John Lynch. The original bill passed in both the House and the Senate before Lynch told members of the House he would veto it if there weren't changes made. (June 24, 2009)

Delaware Medical Marijuana Bill Part of Growing Trend
Delaware legislators don't necessarily have to stick out their necks politically to legalize medical marijuana use here. Since California passed a law legalizing medical marijuana in 1996, 12 more states have followed suit. An advocate of the Delaware proposal says that tally is more significant than it might seem. ... "They've been passing at the rate of one a year since 1996, even with intense opposition from the federal government. In most places, there's very intense opposition from law enforcement combined with, frankly, timidity on the part of legislators who don't understand how popular this issue is. They're more afraid of the issue than they need to be," [said Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project.] (June 22, 2009)

Rhode Island Compassion Center Law Reignites Medical Marijuana Push in Connecticut
Rhode Island approved "compassion centers" — places where chronically ill Rhode Island residents who are registered with the state's health department and have a prescription from a doctor may buy pot to ease their pain. ... [Penny] Bacchiochi said that compared with the new Rhode Island law, Connecticut's proposal "was a baby step." It would have allowed patients with conditions such as cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis or AIDS to grow up to four marijuana plants in their homes with a doctor's prescription. (June 19, 2009)

Delaware Medical Marijuana Bill Gaining Support
If a bill before the state Senate is passed, Delaware soon could join 13 other states that have legalized the possession of marijuana for medical use, but while there appears to be significant popular support for the measure, some legislators and physicians aren’t quite ready to jump on the bandwagon. ... Noah Mamber, a legislative analyst with the Washington D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, said his group wants to reassure doctors that a medical marijuana law would not usurp their authority to work with their patients in the best way they see fit. ... “We trust doctors a lot in our society. We trust them to prescribe very serious drugs like opiates, which can cause overdoses that can lead to death,” he said. “Clearly, if we can trust doctors to prescribe these much more serious and dangerous drugs, we can trust doctors to do the right thing and have the right judgment in prescribing medical marijuana to patients who need it.” (June 17, 2009)

MPP Blog

Could Medical Marijuana Have Saved Michael Jackson?

Okay, let me say right up front that a) I know that headline is provocative, and b) neither I nor anyone can answer the question with any certainty given what we know and don’t know so far about Michael Jackson’s death. But the question needs to be asked. It needs to be asked because suspicions that [...]

Published: Jul 02, 2009 04:10 PM CDT

Speaking of Drugs More Dangerous Than Marijuana…

An FDA panel just recommended reducing the maximum dose of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. Taken by millions of Americans every day as either a stand-alone medication or as an ingredient in various over-the-counter cold remedies, acetaminophen is the leading cause of liver failure in the U.S., resulting in hundreds of deaths by overdose [...]

Published: Jun 30, 2009 02:59 PM CDT

The Red Line between Love and Hate

Steve Fox, MPP’s new director of state campaigns (who was also MPP’s federal lobbyist from 2002-2005), sends in the following dispatch: While riding the Metro’s Red Line yesterday, I spotted former drug czar John Walters entering the train. When he ended up standing right beside me, I realized I couldn’t pass up the chance for a [...]

Published: Jun 30, 2009 10:30 AM CDT

Booze Kills. Really.

From time to time we get some flack for pointing out that as a “recreational” substance, marijuana is safer than alcohol. Anyone who doubts that claim might want to look at this new study from The Lancet, one of the world’s top medical journals. Researchers reviewed information on deaths in three major Russian cities from 1990 [...]

Published: Jun 26, 2009 03:42 PM CDT

Your Bill, Your Decision, Gov. Lynch

Today the New Hampshire Legislature approved a medical marijuana bill custom tailored to addresses the governor’s concerns in hopes of avoiding a veto that would leave the state’s medical marijuana patients vulnerable to arrest, even if they have their doctor’s recommendation. Gov. John Lynch told lawmakers that he would veto the bill in its original form, [...]

Published: Jun 24, 2009 04:49 PM CDT

Woman Dies in Jail While Serving Two and a Half Weeks For Marijuana Possession

From time to time drug warriors tell us that no one goes to jail for marijuana possession. Tell that to Cynthia Prude, whose daughter Theresa died in a Houston, Texas jail over the weekend while serving a two and one-half week jail sentence for marijuana possession. Thus far, officials aren’t revealing the circumstances or the cause [...]

Published: Jun 24, 2009 03:54 PM CDT

Israel to Have 1,200 Medical Marijuana Patients by September

Here in the U.S., medical marijuana is still routinely branded as some sort of sinister “drug legalizer” conspiracy. In Israel, according to a fascinating article in the newspaper Haaretz, the leading conspirator appears to be the Ministry of Health. Officials have authorized over 700 patients to use marijuana for medical purposes, and expect the number to [...]

Published: Jun 22, 2009 05:02 PM CDT

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MPP tracks marijuana policy in all 50 states and at the federal level.

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Victims

The Naulls Family

Ronald Naulls already had two successful careers when he established the Healing Nations Collective in Corona in 2006 to save fellow patients the hours-long drive to Los Angeles for medicine. Although it was widely considered a model medical marijuana dispensary, DEA agents invaded the Naulls family's home and businesses on July 17, 2007. They arrested Ronald and turned his three young daughters over to county child protective services, which charged him and his wife with child endangerment.

Kathryn Johnston

Members of a Georgia narcotics investigation team shot and killed 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston during a drug raid in her Atlanta home November 21, 2006.

Tyrone Brown

Tyrone Brown served 17 years of a life sentence for testing positive for marijuana while on probation for a $2 stickup committed when he was 17. No one involved was ever able to explain the severe penalty.

Carter Singleton

65-year-old Carter Singleton was arrested for cultivating marijuana in 2003. Carter, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2001, was using medical marijuana to stimulate his appetite, after chemotherapy treatments caused him to lose 80 pounds in 5 months.

Suzanne Pfeil

Suzanne Pfeil is a paraplegic who suffers from severe pain and muscle spasms linked to post-polio syndrome. On September 5, 2002, more than 20 armed federal agents raided her medical marijuana hospice, holding assault rifles to the heads of patients and their caregivers. When Pfeil was unable to stand, the agents handcuffed her behind her back and left her on the bed for several hours.

Gary Silva

Medical marijuana patient Gary Silva, who suffers from degenerative disk disease and nerve damage, was asleep in his Sky Valley, California home, when he heard a knock on the door. When Gary, who cultivated marijuana in his home on behalf of his patients' collective, went to undo the deadbolt, DEA agents kicked in the door. The force sent Gary sprawling to the floor, dislocating his shoulder and causing lacerations to his face.

Unnamed Florida college student

On June 6, 2003, a 19-year-old Alachua County, Florida, college student was raped by his cellmate as he served the first of four weekend sentences for delivering marijuana, a felony offense. The student's cellmate was a violent offender in jail awaiting trial on sexual battery charges; the two men shared a cell because of jail overcrowding.

Alberta Spruill

On May 16, 2003, 57-year-old Alberta Spruill died of a heart attack shortly after police mistakenly raided her Harlem, New York, apartment for drugs. The office of the city medical examiner attributed her death to "the stress and the fear that she experienced" during the raid.

Lester Siler

In July 2004, Lester Eugene Siler, 42, was brutalized by five rogue police officers in his Tennessee home. Siler, who is illiterate, was beaten and threatened with shooting and electrocution and had his head held underwater in a toilet after refusing to sign a search consent form that he could not read. Siler's wife caught the incident on an audiotape which was later used to convict all five officers.

Donald Scott

On October 2, 1992, 61-year-old Donald Scott was shot and killed by county sheriff's deputies on his ranch in Malibu, California. The deputies had a warrant claiming that Scott was growing thousands of marijuana plants on his property, but no marijuana plants were found. The federal government and Los Angeles County later settled a wrongful death lawsuit from Scott's family for $5 million.

Robin Prosser

Robin Prosser, of Missoula, Montana, used medical marijuana to treat an immunosuppressive disorder similar to lupus. Despite spending years in a successful fight to help establish a medical marijuana law in her state, federal authorities continued interfering with her access to medicine. On Oct. 18, 2007, after spending months in excruciating pain and unable to acquire the type and quality of medical marijuana she needed, Prosser took her own life.

Palm Beach County, Florida, school raid

Fifteen high school students in Palm Beach County, Florida, were arrested in January 2005 for selling drugs on school property. Some of the teens had sold as little as $10 worth of marijuana to undercover police officers who had befriended them. The teens, who will be tried as adults, face up to 15 years' imprisonment.

Don Nord

Though he was licensed in Colorado to use marijuana for medical purposes, 57-year-old Don Nord was arrested by DEA agents in 2003 and had his marijuana seized. Charges against Nord were eventually dismissed, but a federal court held in July 2005 that the DEA was not required to return his marijuana.

Cheryl Noel

In January 2005, 44-year-old Cheryl Noel was shot and killed by police officers raiding her Maryland home for drugs. Noel, who had been asleep when the raid started, came to her bedroom door with a gun — presumably in self-defense — and was shot and killed. Noel's husband, son, and a family friend staying in the house were charged with possession of a small quantity of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Jimmy Montgomery

Paraplegic medical marijuana patient Jimmy Montgomery was given a life sentence (later reduced to 10 years) for possessing two ounces of marijuana with intent to distribute. Evidence that he intended to distribute the marijuana came from a sheriff's deputy who was later convicted of embezzling seized property and assets.

Jonathan Magbie

Twenty-seven-year-old Jonathan Magbie died while serving a 10-day sentence for marijuana possession in a Washington, D.C., jail. Magbie, a quadriplegic since age 4, used his chin to operate a motorized wheelchair and required a ventilator to help him breathe. The jail could not provide the medical help he needed, and by the time he was taken to a hospital, he was dead. Magbie was a first-time offender who told the judge that marijuana made him feel better and that he didn't think there was anything wrong with using it.

Rhiannon Kephart

In January 2005, 18-year-old Rhiannon Kephart received second- and third-degree burns to her chest and stomach when police set off a stun grenade during a drug raid. Kephart was not a target of the investigation.

Esequiel Hernandez

On May 20, 1997, 18-year-old Esequiel Hernandez was shot in the back by U.S. Marines patrolling the Texas-Mexico border for drug smugglers. Hernandez, who was tending his family's herd of goats, bled to death. He was the first U.S. civilian to be killed by U.S. armed forces since the 1970 political protests at Kent State University.

Clayton Helriggle

On September 27, 2002, armed police officers raided a rural farmhouse in West Alexandria, Ohio, based on a tip from a convicted felon that there were drugs in the house. Nearly 30 officers, clad in body armor and riot shields, stormed the house with a battering ram and detonated stun grenades to disorient the occupants of the house. Awoken from his nap by the noise, 23-year-old Clayton Helriggle walked downstairs — allegedly with a gun — and was promptly shot in the chest by police. Two minutes later, he was dead in the arms of a roommate.

Goose Creek, South Carolina, School Raid

In November 2003, police officers with guns drawn swept through Stratford High School in South Carolina. Officers held guns to the backs of 130 students — a majority of whom were black though the school population is only 25% black — who were ordered to lie on the floor or kneel against lockers while police dogs sniffed for drugs. No drugs were found and no arrests were made.

MPP in the News

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.

February 1, 2009 — MPP's Bruce Mirken discusses th benefits of marijuana policy reform on CNN.

March 26, 2009 — MPP's Troy Dayton criticizes the DEA's raid on a San Francisco medical marijuana facility despite U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement that federal law enforcement would not target state-legal facilities on CBS affiliate KPIX.

February 11, 2009 — MPP's medical marijuana bill passes Minnesota Senate health committee 8-3.

December 10, 2008 — MPP's Dan Bernath discusses recent changes in Amsterdam's marijuana coffee shop zoning on G4's "Attack of the Show!"

December 17, 2008 — MPP's Aaron Houston discusses the future of marijuana policy in the Obama administration, on Russia Today news.

May 13, 2008 — MPP's Rob Kampia and Montel Williams discuss marijuana law reform on Fox Business News' "Happy Hour".

October 6, 2007 — Medical marijuana patient Clayton Holton asks GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney if he would end federal raids targeting patients in medical marijuana states during a forum in Dover, New Hampshire. Romney refused to answer Holton's question and walked away.

June 5, 2008 — MPP's Aaron Houston discusses the financial savings and potential revenue that could be generated by taxation and regulation of marijuana, on FOX Business News channel.

August 24, 2007 — MPP executive director Rob Kampia appeared on the Austin, Texas, ABC affiliate KVUE to discuss a new law allowing police the option of citing -- rather than arresting -- minor marijuana offenders. Each marijuana arrest costs Texas taxpayers an estimated $2,000 and takes a police officer off the street for four- to-six hours to book that nonviolent offender.

August 8, 2008 -- MPP's Dan Bernath discusses the portrayal of marijuana users in films and television on CNN Headline News' "Showbiz Tonight."

April 16, 2008 -- MPP's Neal Levine on CBS affiliate WCCO in Minneapolis, urging Minnesota lawmakers to pass a law protecting qualified medical marijuana patients from arrest.

Jan. 24, 2008 - Bruce Mirken appears on FOX affiliate KTVU in San Francisco, discussing the California Supreme Court decision giving employers the right to fire legal medical marijuana patients in the state.

Jan. 27, 2008 - Bruce Mirken appears on KRON in San Francisco, discussing the California Supreme Court decision giving employers the right to fire legal medical marijuana patients in the state.

March 9, 2007 – MPP's Rob Kampia appears on Fox News Channel's "The Big Story" to discuss dispensing medical marijuana to high schoolers who have doctor's recommendations and parental consent

July 30, 2007 — MPP's Bruce Mirken discusses the safety and efficacy of medical marijuana on the Comcast Network's "Art Fennell Reports."

December 19, 2006 — MPP's Rob Kampia appears on MSNBC to discuss a new study identifying marijuana as the top cash crop in the U.S.

May 4, 2005 — Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (D-CA) presents MPP's Public Face of Reform Award to TV host and medical marijuana patient Montel Williams at MPP's 10th anniversary gala in Washington, D.C.

Celebrities

"[A] marijuana grower can land in prison for life without parole while a murderer might be in for eight years. No rational person can defend this; it is a Dostoevskian nightmare and it exists only because politicians fled in the face of danger." — Garrison Keillor, radio personality

In March 2006, more than 700 MPP supporters attended MPP's party at the Playboy Mansion, raising more than $170,000 for MPP's work to reform marijuana laws. - Pictured: Hugh Hefner after receiving Pioneer Award from MPP's Rob Kampia.

"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

MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia and award-winning news correspondent John Stossel

Montel Williams called for passage for New York's medical marijuana bill at an MPP-organized press conference in Albany in May 2004 (pictured here with New York health officials and legislators).

Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman -- shown here with MPP's Rob Kampia -- was a lifetime member of MPP and a staunch advocate of marijuana policy reform.

"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

Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) received MPP's Legislative Leadership Award at MPP's June 2006 Awards Gala in New York City.

"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

"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

Marijuana Policy Project

Rhode Island Passes Medical Marijuana Compassion Centers Law

MPP-TV VIDEOS

In the News

MPP Blog

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Member Center

Victims

The Naulls Family

Kathryn Johnston

Tyrone Brown

Carter Singleton

Suzanne Pfeil

Gary Silva

Unnamed Florida college student

Alberta Spruill

Lester Siler

Donald Scott

Robin Prosser

Palm Beach County, Florida, school raid

Don Nord

Cheryl Noel

Jimmy Montgomery

Jonathan Magbie

Rhiannon Kephart

Esequiel Hernandez

Clayton Helriggle

Goose Creek, South Carolina, School Raid

More Victim Stories

MPP in the News

Celebrities