Videos are now available of the town hall forum MPP hosted Sunday in Portland, Ore., where U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR3) and MPP director of government relations Steve Fox discussed the benefits of ending marijuana prohibition and how it can be done in Oregon and in Congress. A great article about the event was featured on the front page of the state’s largest newspaper, the Oregonian.

The videos of Rep. Bluemenauer and Steve Fox are below courtesy of the Russ Bellville Show, and a full rundown on the event can be found after the jump.

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer:

Steve Fox of MPP:

November 8, 2016, may seem like calendars away, but in the world of lobbying and ballot initiatives, it’s right around the corner. Last Sunday, January 27, U.S. Rep. Blumenauer (D-OR3) joined MPP’s Steve Fox in Portland, Oregon for a town hall forum on legalizing marijuana. Unlike Washington and Colorado, Oregon wasn’t a scene of celebration during election night 2012; Measure 80, which sought to repeal the state’s marijuana prohibition and replace it with a system of taxation and regulation, was defeated 53% to 47%.

No one said the path to regulation would be easy. Rather than sulking and dreaming about what could have been, Steve and Rep. Blumenauer used their time to advise Oregonians on what they could do now to ensure that the next time a reform initiative makes its way on to Oregon’s ballot, it’s met with sweeping approval.

Rep. Blumenauer opened the meeting by discussing his growing involvement in the fight to end prohibition. It began with a two-plant legalization bill in 1972. A 61-year-old Republican hog farmer from eastern Oregon named Stafford Hansell came onto the floor of the state legislature and gave a clean, systematic comparison of marijuana of other substances, including alcohol and tobacco. By the end of Mr. Hansell’s speech, Rep. Blumenauer decided that not only was the (defeated) bill worthy of his support, the entire issue of marijuana reform was a cause he should advocate. He left the assembly concluding, “Oregonians should be allowed this choice.”

When promoting reform, Rep. Blumenauer refers to the model “directly analogous” to marijuana-related policy: alcohol. “Prohibition, depending on your point of view, was either a failure or a disaster…The federal government and the states, the political system, and civic society worked out a system where the federal government would reflect individual states decisions.” It is a model, Rep. Blumenauer concluded, that makes sense for the federal government to look at going forward.

Steve followed Rep. Blumenauer’s question-and-answer session by addressing what lessons voters in Oregon could take away from Colorado. Success was predicated on cooperation, education, timing, drafting, organizing, and advertising, six categories those hoping to replicate Colorado’s victory in the Beaver State could easily incorporate into their campaign.

In 2012 there were multiple pro-reform initiatives put forward in Oregon, resulting in a division of money that, if merged, could have been used more efficiently. “You need to move forward together,” Steve told attendees. He also suggested that Oregonians form a 2016 roundtable so that everyone who wants to be part of this effort can “share their voice.”

Education, Steve believes “changed the dynamic” in Colorado. In 2005, MPP embarked on a public education campaign fully dedicated to the fact that marijuana is safer than alcohol. The SAFER campaign combated the old and tired fear tactics oppositional groups mechanically to dismiss the idea of marijuana reform. Getting the message “marijuana is safer than alcohol” out to the public so early and so often made all the difference when it came time to vote.

The issue of timing was particularly touchy for some in the room. Years of experience have taught MPP that presidential election years make all the difference. Presidential elections give a seven to eight point bump, which can – and often do – make or break an initiative. Some attendees expressed their desire to push forward in 2014, seizing the momentum of 2012; however, Steve reminded the crowd, “You don’t know what the landscape will look like in 2014…It’s a roll of the dice.” If the 2014 initiative failed, the money put into that campaign would ultimately affect the quality of resources sponsors could put into 2016.

Drafting is another collaborative process. It requires compromise and listening to the opinions of various communities. It is not a one size fits all approach; each state needs to examine their voting bodies and decide whether or not sponsors should choose the statutory or constitutional initiative process.

In regards to organizing, it’s all about utilizing time. “Start now, find the people who are on your side,” and add their voices (and vote) to your campaign. At the grass-roots level, engage individuals across the state; build a strong emailing list; and, talk to friends and family – 12% of Colorado voters (1/8) polled post-election stated they heard positive things about the initiative from either relatives or friends.

Lastly, Steve spoke about advertising. It’s a two-part process. Early on, start with education. Inform voters about the CDC’s take on alcohol and tobacco, and let them know what doctors across the country are saying about marijuana. During the final months of a campaign, focus should be placed on the traditional argument, (i.e., crime and money). La enforcement agencies should direct their attention to combating serious crime tax revenue should benefit the state not cartels.

2013 isn’t even a month old, and already we’re seeing numerous senators and representatives across the country ride the wave of reformation that was generated in November 2012. Since Washington and Colorado put the question of marijuana regulation on the ballot, more and more state leaders have come to the realization that prohibition is not what the people want, and it’s definitely not what the country needs.

Prior to the end of 2012, Indiana Sen. Brent Steele (R-Bedford) announced plans to introduce a proposal in the 2013 session that would alter the legal repercussions associated with marijuana possession. Rather than facing jail time, individuals in Indiana caught with 10 grams of marijuana or less would be served a fine.

Iowa Rep. Bruce Hunter (D-Des Moines) has pushed for medical marijuana and declared his intention to introduce HF 2270 in the Iowa General Assembly. If passed, Iowans with qualifying conditions would be allowed to possess up to two and a half ounces of marijuana. HF 2270 also includes terms for the creation of a licensing system for eligible patients and for the creation of nonprofit suppliers to sell marijuana to those licensed to buy.

In Illinois, Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie) introduced HB 1 to protect medical cannabis patients. Mississippi Sen. Deborah Dawkins (D-Pass Christian) is seeking to add the Magnolia State, which has already decriminalized personal use marijuana possession, to the ever-growing list of states that have legalized medical marijuana. Other states actively seeking to adopt compassionate medical marijuana legislation include New York, New Hampshire, and West Virginia.

On January 17, Hawaii Speaker of the House Joseph Souki (D-8th District) took – or photocopied – a page from Amendment 64, and introduced HB150, which essentially mirrors the latest article in Colorado’s constitution. If passed, adults 21 and over would be permitted to possess and purchase up to an ounce of marijuana at a time, as well as paraphernalia. (Under current state law, paraphernalia possession is a felony and carries a maximum five-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine.)

Many of the calls for marijuana policy reforms have come out of states with the harshest marijuana laws on record. In Oklahoma, Sen. Connie Johnson (D-Oklahoma City) successfully introduced SB 710 and SB 914. Respectively, the bills call for (1) the establishment of a medical marijuana program, and (2) the reduction of penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana. Both are scheduled to receive first readings on February 4.

In Alabama, Rep. Patricia Todd (D-Birmingham) and Rep. K.L. Brown (R) pre-filed House Bill 2, which would authorize the use of medical marijuana. HB 2 will be introduced to the legislature on February 5. And, a history of rejection didn’t dissuade Sen. David Haley (D-Kansas City) from introducing SB 9 in the Kansas Senate. It turns out third time’s a charm: for the first time in three years, an introduced medical marijuana bill will be heard at the committee level in Kansas.

Even Texas jumped – or at the very least, hesitantly crawled – on the reform bandwagon. Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) has proposed decriminalizing possession of one ounce or less, instead fining users $500. Rep. Dutton’s fellow representative Elliot Naishtat (D-Austin) reintroduced a bill that would give patients with serious illnesses an “affirmative defense” against charges of possessing small amounts of marijuana.

Refusing to become complacent is one of, if not the most, important elements in the fight to end prohibition. Marijuana reform will not happen overnight, and individuals like Sen. Haley and Rep. Todd have shown us that determination does indeed yield results. Even small measures like substituting fines for jail time are a step in the right direction.

If these early weeks of 2013 can assure us of anything, it’s that this year has the potential to be one of the most significant and memorable years in reform history. With public opinion for marijuana regulation on the rise, we expect multiple states to follow suit and offer up similar legislative proposals in the months to come.

My latest piece on the Huffington Post provides a summary of what MPP has in store for 2013. In particular, it lays out our general plans to change marijuana laws in states around the country and at the federal level, and it describes how we plan to continue building public support for future reform efforts.

Unless people have been hiding under a rock this past couple months, they know that more than 55 percent of voters in Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana on November 6. As a result, many people have grand expectations of how we're going to get closer to ending marijuana prohibition in the U.S. this year.

Here is what I think we can reasonably accomplish by the end of 2013...

Check out the column at the Huffington Post to get the details, or you can find out more here on our website.

Over the past couple of months, I have been asked the following question many, many times: So which states are next? What people want to know, of course, is where MPP would like to help make marijuana legal for all adults now that we accomplished that historic goal in Colorado. While our executive director Rob Kampia has provided a public answer to that question in a national alert and blog post, I did my part to signal MPP's intentions this past weekend, with an appearance at a town hall forum in Portland, Oregon on Sunday.

I was joined by Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), who kicked off the forum by discussing the need for reform of marijuana laws on the federal level. The 100 or so attendees were greatly appreciative of Rep. Blumenauer's presence at the event, and he deserves strong praise for taking the lead on this issue in Congress. Following Rep. Blumenauer's remarks, I focused on the major opportunity at the state level. As we see it, Oregon is one of a small handful of states where it is possible to pass a ballot initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol in the next four years. We feel so strongly about the prospects for reform, we have already hired a consultant, Roy Kaufmann, to serve as our representative in the state.

During the town hall event, I provided Oregon advocates and activists with a road map to success based on what we learned in Colorado. I placed special emphasis on the need to cooperate and educate over the coming years. The marijuana reform community in Oregon has a history marked by disagreements and division. It is time to overcome those differences so that we can focus on defeating our enemies, not our friends.

With respect to education, I explained how the Colorado campaign was built upon years of work by Mason Tvert (now MPP's communications director) and SAFER to help the public understand that marijuana is a far less harmful substance than alcohol. We believe that this long-term public education campaign helped diminish the fear of marijuana previously ingrained in the minds of soccer moms and other swing voters. It made it easier, in the end, for people to vote Yes on Amendment 64.

Perhaps most importantly, I conveyed to the attendees MPP's strong belief that ballot initiatives to regulate marijuana like alcohol should be run during presidential election years when the turnout -- notably the much higher percentage of young voters -- is more favorable for this issue. The odds of winning in 2014 are significantly lower, and every dollar invested in a signature drive in 2014 is a dollar not being spent on public education efforts that will increase our chances of winning in 2016. Moreover, a loss in 2014 could diminish enthusiasm among potential funders for a 2016 campaign. As evidence of this, we need only look to California, where the Prop. 19 campaign fell short in 2010 and essentially led to the state being off the table in 2012.

Clearly, the drive to regulate marijuana like alcohol in Oregon is going to garner a significant amount of media coverage over the next four years. In fact, the day following the town hall forum, the state's largest newspaper, the Oregonian, published an article about the event on the front page!

There is much work to do in Oregon between now and November 2016. But if leaders of the marijuana policy reform community in the state can come together and steer their collective energy and resources toward a common goal, a victory in 45 months is not only achievable, it is likely.

Last weekend, California NORML hosted Cannabis in California: Ending the 100-Year War, an inspiring conference that brought together advocates from across the state, country, and even as far as New Zealand. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the event – California will almost surely see a statewide initiative in 2016 similar to those approved in Colorado and Washington, and it appears local and national activists and organizations will be unified in the effort to get it done.

On the first panel, California NORML Director Dale Gieringer explained how the California State Board of Pharmacy quietly pushed a ban on possession of “hemp, or loco-weed“ through the legislature in 1913 without it receiving any press or opposition. In contrast to that very quiet campaign to demonize and ban marijuana, reversing this failed policy will be very public, and it will undoubtedly face some opposition.

For an initiative to succeed in California, however, it’s important that the opposition doesn’t come from our base. Hence, it was particularly heartening to see so much unity at the conference and at an MPP-hosted strategy meeting on Thursday. Reform organizations, funders, and advocates overwhelmingly supported putting a marijuana regulation initiative on the next presidential ballot in 2016, rather than 2014 (when voter turnout is much less favorable) and working together to see it through. It will be some time before the details of any measure and campaign are hammered out. In the meantime, there appears to be widespread support for advancing statewide regulations on medical marijuana.

For those who are eager to start building support for 2016, we can look to the 2012 Colorado campaign’s “Talk It Up” project, which helped build support leading up to the election by encouraging people to start conversations about the issue with their friends, family members, and others. It’s these personal discussions that change people’s minds and make them more comfortable supporting an end to marijuana prohibition, so start talking it up today!

Today’s New York Times includes a feature story about California medical marijuana provider Matthew Davies, who federal prosecutors are pressuring to accept a five-year mandatory minimum as a plea agreement. Federal authorities indicted Matthew last year on charges of marijuana cultivation, calling him “one of the most significant commercial marijuana traffickers to be prosecuted in this district.” By all accounts, the two dispensaries Matthew owned were in total compliance with state law and were models of professionalism and service.

He brought graduate-level business skills to a world decidedly operating in the shadows. He hired accountants, compliance lawyers, managers, a staff of 75 and a payroll firm. He paid California sales tax and filed for state and local business permits.

“This is not a case of an illicit drug ring under the guise of medical marijuana,” [his attorney] wrote. “Here, marijuana was provided to qualified adult patients with a medical recommendation from a licensed physician. Records were kept, proceeds were tracked, payroll and sales taxes were duly paid.”

Does this sound like a dangerous criminal who we should spend federal resources to arrest, prosecute, and possibly jail? Medical marijuana providers who followed state law, like Matthew, weren’t supposed to be the targets of federal attack and provide an excellent example for others in the industry. Nevertheless, he is facing a significant amount of time in jail regardless of whether he takes the plea, which will surely take a serious toll on him and his family.

“To be looking at 15 years of our life, you couldn’t pay me enough to give that up,” Mr. Davies said at the dining room table in his two-story home along the San Joaquin River Delta, referring to the amount of time he could potentially serve in prison.

Matthew and his family are not taking this lying down. Matthew’s wife Molly published this open letter to President Obama today in the Huffington Post. You can find out more about Matthew’s case and how you can help at http://www.keepmattfree.org/.

MPP is taking issue with former Congressman Patrick Kennedy's plan to force marijuana consumers into treatment and marijuana "education" classes, which his new organization, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), is scheduled to unveil in Denver on Thursday.

"The proposal is on par with forcing every alcohol user into treatment at their own cost or at a cost to the state," said MPP communications director Mason Tvert. "In fact, it would be less logical because the science is clear that marijuana is far less toxic, less addictive, and less likely to be associated with acts of violence."

MPP is calling on Kennedy, whose family made a fortune selling alcohol, to explain why he wants to keep an objectively less harmful alternative to alcohol illegal. Specifically, MPP is asking Kennedy to address the question on SAM's website and provide facts regarding the relative harms of marijuana and alcohol. MPP also launched an online petition this morning asking Kennedy to provide an explanation or resign as chairman of SAM, which received more than 1,500 signatures within the first hour of being posted – http://chn.ge/13e9Qjl

"Former Congressman Kennedy's proposal is the definition of hypocrisy," Tvert said. "He is living in part off of the fortune his family made by selling alcohol while leading a campaign that makes it seem like marijuana – an objectively less harmful product – is the greatest threat to public health.”

"If this group truly cares about public health, it should be providing the public with facts regarding the relative harms of marijuana and discouraging the use of the more harmful product," Tvert continued. "Why on earth would they want keep a less harmful alternative to alcohol illegal? Former Congressman Kennedy and his organization should answer this question before calling on our government to start forcing people into treatment programs and throwing them into marijuana ‘education’ camps."

The organization, which claims such anti-marijuana zealots as Kevin Sabet and David Frum as members, purports to represent a moderate “third way” of marijuana policy that is supposedly a compromise between legalization and prohibition. The reality is that a well-regulated and taxed system to control cultivation and sale of marijuana is the truly moderate position between total unregulated legalization and the failed policies that constitute the government’s war on marijuana.

Leave it to prohibitionists to inaccurately frame a debate!

On Nov. 6 of last year, the state of Washington made the possession and use of marijuana legal for adults. Marijuana remains illegal in Washington, D.C., the home of the Redskins. Last week, the District of Columbia ranked ninth on a list of America’s ‘25 Drunkest Cities,’ while Seattle, home of the Seahawks, didn’t even make the list.

Is it a coincidence that the Seahawks handily beat the Redskins this past Sunday?

Perhaps. (Nevertheless, it is worth noting that both the Seahawks and the Denver Broncos have yet to lose a game at home since their respective states made marijuana legal.)

But we have to wonder why the NFL continues to prohibit marijuana use by players during the off-season, even in states that have made it legal, while simultaneously promoting alcohol use at every game. Moreover, the league continues to prohibit players in those states from using marijuana for medical purposes, despite its proven ability to ease chronic pain – a condition that affects many players.

Perhaps allowing professional athletes to make the choice to use marijuana instead of painkillers could make a difference in their performances. And so could allowing them to use marijuana instead of alcohol when they are relaxing or socializing with friends. Regardless, it is bad policy to continue punishing these athletes simply for making a safer choice.

[caption id="attachment_5638" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Photo by Mark Gail/MCT[/caption]

Singer, poet, public speaker, and talk show host Henry Rollins has joined the growing ranks of public figures who support ending marijuana prohibition.

Rollins is not a marijuana user, either. As more and more people realize that marijuana prohibition is a harmful failure, the myth that only potheads want to make it legal is continuing to fade into the hazy realm of reefer madness.

From a column he penned for last week’s LA Weekly:

Like millions of Americans, I have no interest in smoking marijuana but can't see any reason to keep someone of age from lighting up.

I don't think it is a "gateway" drug any more than alcohol. The behavior one has to engage in when utilizing a controlled substance -- the sneaking around, the hiding of the stash, etc. -- that could be a gateway to more devious activity, fueled by the resentment of authority that is potentially engendered. ….

The president and the attorney general could turn over a new leaf in America and leave all matters mary jane to the states as they see fit.

This past year was undeniably the most productive 365-day period in the history of the marijuana policy reform movement. There were a number of significant accomplishments, but here is the Marijuana Policy Project's list of the "Top 10 Marijuana Victories of 2012." As with our previous annual lists, it includes neither important scientific developments nor important international developments. Rather, this list focuses on the biggest marijuana-related policy accomplishments in the U.S. in the last year.

To read the full list, please visit The Huffington Post.