"The sole tangible way in which pot is a gateway to other illegal drugs is that it is illegal. The best way to end this easy path to worse narcotics is to legalize it and take it out of the hands of criminals and gangs."

"MPP is the most effective and influential cannabis policy driver in the U.S."

"What is most fascinating about the marijuana legalization debate is how long it has taken us to get to this point. The potential harm associated with smoking marijuana pales in comparison with the harm suffered by the millions who have been arrested, jailed and branded criminals simply because they were caught with the drug."

"I want to change the bias toward marijuana. I want to educate America that it’s not a drug, it’s medicine. The real reason I’m not in the NFL is that I’d rather be out here saving lives."

"Our federal marijuana laws perpetuate our broken criminal justice system, impede research, restrict veterans’ access, and hinder economic development."

"For decades, the failed war on drugs has locked up millions of nonviolent drug offenders — especially for marijuana-related offenses — at an incredible cost of lost human potential, torn-apart families and communities, and taxpayer dollars."

"Evidence of MPP's effectiveness? Of the 11 states with some form of legalization law on the books, the organization led the political campaigns for eight."

"It's not just the over $8 billion that we would be saving in law enforcement; it's also the over $8 billion that we would be making by taxing marijuana... We are filling our jails with nonviolent drug offenders ⎯ predominantly young, predominantly African American... It's a great beyond left and right issue. It has support across the political spectrum and also the support of the majority of the American people."