Since our formation in 1995, MPP has worked tirelessly to reform marijuana policies around the country and put an end to the harms caused by marijuana prohibition. It’s been a difficult struggle that does not appear to be getting any easier, but despite powerful opposition, we’ve made great strides. Here are just 17 of the things we’ve helped accomplish in the last 17 years:

June 2011 — The first bill to end federal marijuana prohibition was introduced by Rep. Barney Frank, Rep. Ron Paul, and a handful of other courageous Members of Congress. The “Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2012” (H.R. 2306) would treat marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol under federal law and would allow states to determine their own marijuana policies. MPP was instrumental in lobbying support for this bill, which now has 20 co-sponsors in Congress.

May 2011 — The Delaware Legislature passed and Gov. Markell signed SB 17, which will allow qualified, registered patients to obtain three ounces of marijuana every 14 days from state-regulated compassion centers. Initially, one center will be allowed in each of Delaware’s three counties. MPP led the two-year grassroots and lobbying efforts to pass the bill, which is based on MPP’s model bill.

May 2011 — The Vermont Legislature approved S. 17, which will add four non-profit dispensaries to the existing law. MPP played an instrumental role in passing this legislation, including by funding a two-year lobbying effort and helping elect a governor who supports sensible marijuana policies.

April and May 2011 — The Maryland General Assembly approved and Gov. O’Malley signed an affirmative defense bill, removing criminal penalties from qualifying patients who possess up to an ounce of marijuana and establishing a work group to study a more comprehensive law. The bill improves upon a sentencing mitigation bill the legislature enacted in 2003, following four years of lobbying by MPP. MPP also played a leading role in the 2011 victory, including in-person lobbying, working with patients, and testifying before legislative committees.

November 2010 — The Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project, a ballot initiative campaign backed by MPP, successfully passed a ballot initiative making the use and possession of medical marijuana legal and establishing approximately 120 non-profit dispensaries around the state. This made Arizona the 15th state (plus the District of Columbia) to adopt a medical marijuana law.

December 2009 — MPP successfully lobbied for the removal of the so-called “Barr Amendment” from the D.C. appropriations bill. MPP led the fight to end Congressional interference, which, for over 10 years, blocked the District of Columbia from implementing a medical marijuana initiative that passed with nearly 70% of the vote. MPP even retained the amendment’s namesake, former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr, to lobby for the amendment’s removal after he reversed his position in 2007. Following the removal of the amendment, MPP successfully lobbied the District Council to improve the language they were considering to implement the initiative and lobbied the executive branch for reasonable regulations. The regulations’ went into effect on April 15, 2011.

November 2009 — The American Medical Association rescinded its previous support of classifying marijuana alongside LSD, PCP, and heroin under federal law. This was the result of nearly three years of behind-the-scenes work, whereby MPP worked with key advocates to persuade lower-level medical associations to bring the issue to the full AMA.

November 2008 — MPP’s ballot initiative to remove the threat of arrest and jail for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana passed overwhelmingly in Massachusetts. The successful initiative — the first statewide decriminalization initiative ever — replaced the threat of arrest and jail with a $100 fine.

November 2008 — Michigan passed MPP’s ballot initiative to permit terminally and seriously ill patients to use medical marijuana with their doctors’ approval, making Michigan the 13th medical marijuana state and the first in the Midwest.

January 2006 — The Rhode Island Legislature overwhelmingly overrode the governor’s veto of MPP’s bill to protect medical marijuana patients from arrest — making Rhode Island the 11th state where medical marijuana use, possession, and cultivation is legal. This was the first state medical marijuana law to be enacted over the veto of a governor.

November 2005 — The MPP grants program funded a successful initiative to make the adult possession of up to one ounce of marijuana legal under city ordinances in Denver, Colorado.

November 2004 — MPP funded and ran the campaign that succeeded in passing a statewide medical marijuana initiative in Montana with 62% of the vote — the highest margin of victory for any of the medical marijuana initiatives that had passed in eight states since 1996.

May 2004 — At the conclusion of MPP’s intensive, three-year lobbying campaign, Vermont became the ninth state to enact a medical marijuana law — and only the second state to do so through its legislature, rather than through a ballot initiative.

May 2003 — Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R) became the first Republican governor to sign medical marijuana legislation. MPP lobbied the Maryland Legislature for four years to pass the bill, which protects medical marijuana patients from imprisonment.

June 2000 — Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano (D) signed MPP’s medical marijuana legislation into law, making Hawaii the first state to pass a medical marijuana law through its legislature, rather than through a ballot initiative.

December 1997 — The American Medical Association’s House of Delegates voted to adopt a report that (1) recognized the existence of scientific research showing marijuana’s medical value, (2) recommended that doctors and patients should not be punished for discussing marijuana as a treatment option, and (3) urged the federal government to expedite medical marijuana research. MPP worked for months to persuade the AMA to adopt these improvements to a policy that had been fairly hostile to medical marijuana.

April 1995 — The U.S. Sentencing Commission voiced its unanimous approval of an amendment to the federal sentencing guidelines, which established shorter sentences for people convicted of cultivating marijuana. MPP was helpful in persuading the commission to vote 7-0 in favor of the penalty reduction, which took effect on November 1, 1995. A subsequent 7-0 vote on September 6 made the change retroactive, resulting in the early release of an estimated 950 federal marijuana prisoners.

For a more complete list of our history, please go here.

MPP is dedicated to continuing the fight to end marijuana prohibition, and we couldn’t do it without the support of our members and passionate activists.

Here are 17 things you can do to help end the government’s war on marijuana users.

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We’re seeing it in Arizona with Gov. Jan Brewer’s egregious lawsuit to interfere with her state’s voter-approved medical marijuana law, which even the federal government thinks is a waste of time. We’re seeing it in Oregon, where a local sheriff is so hellbent on denying the 2nd Amendment rights of medical marijuana patients that he is willing to use state funds to take his case all the way to the Supreme Court.

Now, long-time medical marijuana foe Bill Schuette, attorney general of Michigan, has announced his plans to  introduce legislation this fall that would supposedly stop the abuse of the medical marijuana system there.

Hold on a minute. Aren’t law enforcement supposed to enforce the laws, not make them? That’s a topic for another time.

The main focus of the as-yet-unfinished bill will be curbing the amount of “drugged-driving” accidents by severely limiting the ability of medical marijuana patients to ever drive a car.

From the press release:

“Schuette noted confusing inconsistencies between the Michigan Motor Vehicle Code and the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act must be eliminated to preserve safety on Michigan roadways.  A longstanding safety provision in the Michigan Motor Vehicle Code prohibits driving with any amount of marijuana in your system.  In contrast, the MMMA references driving “under the influence of marijuana,” a term which is not defined in state law or by uniform scientific standards, and creates a different standard for medical marijuana users. …

Schuette cited statistics recently released by the Michigan State Police which indicate that marijuana-related fatalities remain the most common drug-related automobile fatality, and that such fatalities are on the rise in Michigan.

“Driving with marijuana in your system is unsafe and jeopardizes the safety of our roadways,” said Schuette.  “If you take drugs, don’t take the wheel.”

It is never a good idea to get behind the wheel while impaired by any substance. That being said, the statements of the attorney general can best be described as baseless fear-mongering.

First of all, multiple studies and mountains of anecdotal evidence have proven that merely having marijuana in one’s system is not an indicator of impairment, or even intoxication. Marijuana metabolites can stay in one’s system for up to a month after using it, and THC can stay in one’s system for a week. Yet the effects wear off within a few hours. The Michigan Medical Marihuana Act recognizes this by changing the wording of driving restrictions for medical marijuana patients to driving “under the influence,”, meaning that the patient has medicated recently and is still experiencing some intoxicating effects. Despite Schuette’s claim, “under the influence” is used in the provision of Michigan’s DUI laws that apply to all other prescription medications — MCL 257.625 (1)(a).

Under the changes proposed by Schuette, this difference would be removed, making it illegal for patients to operate a car with any marijuana in their system whatsoever. Most medical marijuana patients always have marijuana in their system. Even those who only use occasionally may have to use large amounts that can leave traces in the body for some time.

Basically, this amounts to saying that if a person finds that marijuana is the best medicine to treat their condition, he or she must forfeit their driving privileges or wait weeks after medicating to drive. This restriction is not applied to any other medicine in Michigan. This is medical bigotry, plain and simple. Patients are already dealing with trying to live normal lives and treat their conditions. They have it hard enough as it is. And Bill Schuette wants to make their lives even harder.

Secondly, the assertion that marijuana is involved in more automobile related fatalities than any other drug is completely false, unless one uses the definition that the Attorney General would like to apply to medical marijuana patients. The study cited in the press release used just that definition, however, and counted every fatal accident in which the driver had any marijuana in his or her system! This means that if someone smokes a joint, and three weeks later gets in a car (maybe after a few cocktails) and kills someone, it is a marijuana-related auto fatality.

It sure is easy to scare people when you don’t care about science.

This is illustrative of the need to get away from chemical intoxication testing and go back to physical impairment tests in driving situations. It should not matter what is in someone’s bloodstream, particularly for medical marijuana patients. Whether or not they are impaired should be the primary concern for law enforcement, and they don’t need fancy blood tests or saliva swabs to determine that. They’ve been doing just fine since the invention of the automobile.

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Whether or not you are a patient, you can ask your legislators to support this sensible bill, S.B. 17, by visiting this page.

Although we need supporters from all over Delaware, we especially need people in the following areas:

* Western Newcastle county, northeast of Newark, Stanton, Marshallton, Dunlinden Acres, Hyde Park, Arundel, Sherwood II, Greenwood, Northpointe, Mendenhall Village, North Star, Meadowbrook, Milford Crossroads, Chanterelle, Paper Mill Park, Deacon’s Walk, Linden Way

* Southeastern Newcastle county, Newport, Dunleith, Wilmington Manor, Castle Hills, Collins Park, Penn Acres, Jefferson Farms, Newcastle, near Newcastle Airport, Bear

* Southwestern Newcastle county including Middletown, Wiggins Mill, Townsend, Blackbird, Delaney Corner, Clayton

* Dover and areas east, west, and southwest, including Rodney Village, Wyoming, Camden, Chaplecroft, Little Creek

* Northern Sussex county coast: Milford, Slaughter Beach, Argo Corners, Sandy Hill, Harbeson, Cave Colony, Zoar, Mt. Joy, Morris Mill, Long Neck, Hollymount, Fairmount, Angola, Marshtown, Jimtown, Belltown, Nassau, Carpenters Corner, Lewes, Lewes Beach, Green Hill, Broadkill Beach

Delaware’s carefully crafted medical marijuana legislation, S.B. 17, is expected to receive a Senate floor vote on March 31. S.B. 17 would allow the compassionate use of medical marijuana for chronically ill Delaware patients with their doctors’ recommendations. It would include tightly regulated, extremely limited distribution of medical marijuana by licensing three not-for-profit compassion centers, one in each of the Delaware counties.

We have a real chance at passing medical marijuana legislation in Delaware this year, but we can’t do it without your help. Delaware is a very small state where folks know each other. The best way to pass this legislation is to get more Delawareans involved! Delaware legislators need to hear from those whom this compassionate legislation would affect. Please share your stories, experiences, and support today!

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Bear in mind that TV news schedules are always subject to last-minute change if there’s breaking news, but they are pre-taping the interview even as I post this.

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The story quotes John Lovell, lobbyist for several California police groups and the major voice for maintaining prohibition: “We get revenue from alcohol,” he said. “But there’s way more in social costs than we retain in revenues.”

If that’s the best they can do, the debate is over. The main social cost of alcohol comes from its tendency to promote violent and aggressive behavior, something marijuana simply doesn’t do, as explained in this article from the journal Addictive Behaviors. Not long ago, an independent panel of experts rated alcohol as significantly more dangerous than marijuana, in an article published in the prestigious journal The Lancet (unfortunately, the summary of the article you can read online for free doesn’t include the chart ranking various drugs).

If we want to reduce the social costs associated with booze, evidence suggests giving adults a safer, legal alternative makes sense. Mr. Lovell, meet reality.

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On Wednesday, MPP began airing two new TV ads around New York state in support of medical marijuana legislation. The spots feature real patients talking about the severe pain they suffer every day and how medical marijuana helps them. Amazingly, these serious and sober ads were rejected by three New York City TV stations.

The Daily News found it all quite amusing: “Just say yes! That’s the message a national pro-pot group is taking to New York’s airwaves,” the paper wrote. After quoting me about why we did the campaign, the story concluded, “The city’s ABC, CBS and Fox affiliates harshed the group’s buzz by declining to run the ads, Mirken added.”

Uh, no, I actually didn’t say anything remotely like that. But what I really said wasn’t nearly as cute.

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Gov. John Lynch told lawmakers that he would veto the bill in its original form, which passed both chambers last month, if eight specific concerns of his were not addressed.

A special legislative committee spent the past month revising the bill according to those eight concerns, which you can view here, along with how the revised bill that the Legislature passed today addresses them.

The question now is whether the governor was sincere about finding a workable compromise that meets the needs of medical marijuana patients. In the next couple weeks, we’ll be reminding the governor of the seriously ill who are depending on him to do the right thing by purchasing radio and TV ad time highlighting the patients whose lives hang in the balance.

If you’re a New Hampshire resident, you can let Gov. Lynch know it’s time for him to allow this much-needed reform and stop the prosecution of patients for simply trying to relieve their pain with a proven safe, effective medicine.

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I don’t normally blog about my own TV appearances, but Thursday night on CNBC, debating medical marijuana with former prosecutor and Drug Watch International board member Terrence Farley, I found myself almost feeling sorry for him. Not because I’m such a hotshot debater — watching the encounter later, I could easily spot a dozen things I could have done better — but because I suddenly saw what it was like to be on the losing end of history.

Now I think I know what it must have been like to be, say, the last premier of East Germany, standing guard over the fading embers of an empire in irreversible decline. It’s a little sad. Like them, the Terrence Farleys of this world no longer have a real case to make or a reason to justify their existence. They just cling to what they do because, well, it’s what they do and they don’t know anything else.

Still, those last rulers of East Germany hurt — and sometimes killed — an awful lot of people whose only crime was to seek freedom. The Terrence Farleys of the world hurt a lot of people too, so I won’t shed too many tears when they end up on the ash heap of history next to those who ruled the last remnants of the old Soviet empire.

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This marks the second time the Rhode Island Legislature has expanded the medical marijuana law it established in 2006, which indicates the law’s successfulness as well as its popularity. It also marks the third time they had to override the governor’s veto in order to pass a medical marijuana law.

Are you governors out there paying attention?

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