Marijuana Policy Project

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Strong results for state and local marijuana reform ballot initiatives, including an apparent all-time record vote in Nevada to end marijuana prohibition completely, demonstrate increasing voter willingness to reconsider our marijuana laws, officials of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) in Washington, D.C., said tonight.

Despite intense campaigning by officials from the White House drug czar's office, Nevadans appeared to have cast an all-time record vote for a complete end to marijuana prohibition. With 85 percent of precincts reporting, over 44 percent of Nevada voters backed Question 7, an MPP-sponsored initiative to tax and regulate marijuana much like alcohol. Meanwhile, local reform measures were heading toward victory across the country.

"Today, a record number of Nevada voters called for an end to marijuana prohibition, the highest vote ever to end prohibition, and local voters in Montana, Massachusetts, and California called for major changes in marijuana policies," said MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia. "The momentum is with us. Major social change never comes easily, but change in our failed marijuana laws is coming because prohibition does nothing but harm. Prohibition funds criminals and guarantees that teens have easy access to marijuana, and voters have begun to see through the drug czar's lies. We've made huge progress since our 39 percent to 61 percent loss on a similar ballot measure in Nevada four years ago. We plan to try again with another marijuana initiative in Nevada in November 2008 or 2010."

In Massachusetts, voters in the first and twelfth Plymouth Representative Districts overwhelmingly passed nonbinding measures urging that possession of up to one ounce of marijuana be a civil violation subject only to a $100 fine. Voters in Missoula County, Montana, passed a law directing local law enforcement agencies to make marijuana possession arrests their lowest priority by a 53-47 percent margin, while similar measures were headed toward landslides wins in Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and Santa Monica, California.

With more than 20,000 members and 120,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP works to minimize the harm associated with marijuana-both the consumption of marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit such use. MPP believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is imprisonment. For more information, see www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.