We are pleased to announce that Portland is on its way to becoming the first city on the East Coast to legalize marijuana for adults! 

With 80% of precincts reporting, 70% of city voters have approved Question 1, eliminating all legal penalties for possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana by adults 21 years of age and older within city limits.

Thank you to everyone who took part in this historic campaign! This was truly a grassroots effort and required a lot of hard work over the past several months. Needless to say, it all paid off.

This is not just a major victory for Portland, but for all of Maine. It will surely provide a huge boost to our efforts to pass a statewide measure to regulate marijuana like alcohol in 2016.

One of the many predicted benefits of regulating marijuana is to allow police to focus on solving violent crimes, and an investigation into the Oakland Police Department shows just how imperative that focus is. In 2012, OPD solved only 28% of homicides, a figure that is largely due to an incredible backup of untested evidence.  The OPD’s crime lab has yet to test evidence pertaining to 659 homicide cases, some of which are 10 years old. Furthermore, the crime lab has no idea which of the cases with outstanding evidence have even been adjudicated or closed, meaning cases are being settled before the evidence has even been tested.

What makes all of this even more outrageous is that the OPD crime lab has processed evidence for 95% of all suspected drug cases within 24 hours of receiving it and has no backlog of evidence for drug cases. They have prioritized drugs over murder.

There is no excuse for allowing homicide evidence to go untested while pouring precious resources into testing evidence for every single drug case. We need to focus the resources of our criminal justice system on violent crimes.

[caption id="attachment_7061" align="alignright" width="132"] Rep. Lou Lang[/caption]

Rep. Lou Lang recently introduced SB 1955, which would amend Illinois’ brand-new medical marijuana law. It would add important new protections for veterans and for patients who use non-smoked forms of marijuana, though it would also make some negative changes.

Many patients rely on non-smoked forms of medical marijuana, including edibles, tinctures, and topicals. These products use extractions from the marijuana plant, and SB 1955 would clarify that “resin extractions” are included in the protections of the law.

Meanwhile, veterans who receive treatment from the VA may not be able to qualify under the current law because the federal government doesn’t allow its physicians to make medical marijuana recommendations. SB 1955 would allow veterans to register as patients without including their physicians' written recommendations.

Unfortunately, SB 1955 would also remove two qualifying medical conditions – RSD and CRPS – which opponents believe might allow for abuse. However, causalgia would remain as a condition. Also, EMTs would be prohibited from becoming patients. While we oppose these restrictions, as a whole, we feel the bill would do more good than harm.

Last Sunday, the New York Times published an editorial that compared marijuana and alcohol use, particularly the relative harms of the two substances and the influence people substituting marijuana for alcohol could have on road safety. 

But assuming the argument that alcohol and marijuana are “substitutes” bears out, that could be good news, especially for road safety. Of the two substances, alcohol is far more hazardous.

For the most part, marijuana-intoxicated drivers show only modest impairments on road tests. Several studies have suggested that drivers under the influence of marijuana actually overestimate their impairment. They slow down and increase their following distance. The opposite is true of drivers under the influence of alcohol. [MPP emphasis added]

It should be noted that no one should drive under the influence of any impairing substance, including marijuana. Still, the overall impact on public safety due to making marijuana legal will certainly be positive.

The New York Times has a rapidly growing readership and can have a tremendous impact on public opinion. For a paper of this magnitude to recognize and discuss the respective effects of marijuana and alcohol shows real progress in the changing attitudes towards marijuana.

This Wednesday, head coach of the Florida Atlantic University football team, Carl Pelini, was forced to resign from his position in the dawn of his second season. It wasn’t Pelini’s 5-15 record or past personal issues that forced his hand, but the reaction to rumors of a party he attended. According to these rumors, Pelini and one of his assistants attended a party where marijuana was present.  That’s it. The university told Pelini and his assistant that it would be best for them to step down immediately.

While there are rumors that there was marijuana present, there is no doubt that there was alcohol available at this party, as it is at almost every other social event in college or elsewhere. Alcohol is far more toxic to the human body and dangerous to our society than marijuana. Yet, there would have been no repercussions for Carl Pelini for attending a party where alcohol was present, or even for drinking it.

Prohibiting marijuana use while allowing, and often encouraging, alcohol consumption is a hypocrisy that needs to stop. Pelini never would have had to resign for drinking alcohol, so he certainly shouldn’t have to for attending a party where some people were making a safer choice.

While public opinion is rising in support of ending marijuana prohibition and politicians are starting to step up on the issue, it seems that some lawmakers are still way behind the curve.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted 11-7 against recommending the passage of HB492, a bill to regulate and tax marijuana like alcohol, despite a new poll showing strong public support for the measure.

According to a new WMUR Granite State Poll released October 25 by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, 60% of New Hampshire adults support HB492. Just 36% said they are opposed. The poll of 603 randomly selected New Hampshire adults was conducted October 1-7 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4%. The entire poll is available at here.

"Marijuana prohibition has been just as big of a failure as alcohol prohibition," said Matt Simon, a New Hampshire-based legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project. "New Hampshire voters are clearly ready for a more sensible approach. It appears some legislators are still less evolved than their constituents on this issue."

Support for ending marijuana prohibition in New Hampshire reflects growing public support nationwide. A Gallup poll released earlier this month found a record-high 58% of Americans now support making marijuana legal.

On November 5, voters will decide whether to approve a local ballot initiative that would remove all penalties for possessing up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana by adults 21 and older. Portland is the most populous city in Maine – where we intend to run a 2016 statewide initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol – and a victory on November 5 would provide a dramatic boost to our efforts.

It's going to be a very close election, so we need your help. You do NOT need to live in Maine to lend your support in one of the following ways:

1. Call Portland voters using our online phone bank. Our allies at Just Say Now have created an easy-to-use system that provides voters' phone numbers, instructions, and a simple script.

2. Email anyone you know in Portland. We've created a page with a pre-written email to send to your friends and relatives. It also includes tools for sharing this message on Facebook and Twitter.

3. Make a donation to MPP. If you support our work to pass local initiatives in Portland and elsewhere, please donate today in order to move the ball forward in Maine and other states.

By taking just a little time out of your day to call some voters, send an email, or make a financial contribution, you can help us make history next week!

Last Sunday’s Washington Post included an editorial supporting civil fines for marijuana use, particularly in D.C. The article comes after a similar proposal to the D.C. Council and support from Mayor Vincent Gray. The proposal would remove criminal penalties associated with possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and replace them with a civil fine. After considering public opinion polls, a report by the ACLU, and criminal justice statistics, the Post agrees: possessing marijuana should not make you a criminal.

An all-around better policy, long championed by District lawyer Paul Zukerberg, would be to slap small-time users with a civil fine, which is a measured way to send a message that the government does not condone or tolerate marijuana use. No one’s life would be permanently marred by getting caught with a joint.

…

Of all the official reactions to changing mores on marijuana, decriminalization is the best.

While we know that simple decriminalization will not solve the problems caused by keeping the marijuana market illegal, the fact that such a major newspaper is coming around is a sure sign of progress.

MPP communications director Mason Tvert recently appeared on CNN to discuss the Gallup poll that found 58% of Americans now support legalizing marijuana.

[caption id="attachment_7039" align="alignright" width="300"] Mayor Vincent Gray[/caption]

On Wednesday, D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray stated that he supports decriminalizing marijuana, or removing criminal penalties associated with possession of under one ounce. Currently, those caught with less than one ounce of marijuana in D.C. can be sent to jail for up to six months and fined up to $1,000, and evidence suggests that the laws have had harsh consequences for D.C. residents. According to a study published in June by the ACLU, black residents in D.C. are eight times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than their white neighbors.

Mayor Gray’s announcement gives more weight to a proposal made by Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) that seeks to remove the harsh criminal penalties associated with marijuana possession and replace them with a civil fine of $100. The proposed bill has the support of a supermajority on the council, and two hearings have been scheduled this week to discuss the measure further.