Ask Gov. Murphy to ensure safe access for medical cannabis patients.

On March 21, Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration took an important step to preserve safe access to medical marijuana by declaring New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program an essential service. Later that month, his administration issued waivers providing for curbside pick-up, remote consultations, and expedited employee on-boarding. While MPP applauds Gov. Murphy’s decisive emergency action, there is still a need for additional pathways to medical marijuana that comport with social distancing guidelines.

Heeding the advice of COVID-19 experts that the elderly and immunocompromised use a delivery service if possible, several states have authorized home delivery through executive order, including Louisiana and neighboring Delaware. Prior to COVID-19, 18 states already allowed for home delivery of medical cannabis.

In 2019, the New Jersey Legislature authorized home delivery in a bill that made improvements to the state’s medical marijuana program. Unfortunately, the Murphy administration has yet to issue regulations for the delivery provisions of the statute.

We urge Gov. Murphy’s administration to immediately promulgate regulations for home delivery to medical marijuana patients. As New Jersey amplifies its focus on limiting the spread of the virus, it is increasingly vital to offer medical cannabis patients the option of home delivery.

Please join us by writing Gov. Murphy in support of home delivery. You can go the extra mile by spreading the word to others, calling his office at 609-292-6000, or making an appeal on Twitter.

We wish you and your loved ones well during these difficult times.

Ask your legislators to stand up for medical cannabis patients.

On Tuesday, the North Carolina General Assembly convened in Raleigh for its 2020 legislative session. But — due to the coronavirus — it will operate very differently from prior years. Only about 20% of lawmakers were present. Committee meetings will be held online, and floor votes will be staggered to allow social distancing.

While the legislature’s operations have changed to protect public health, there’s no reason it can’t do the people’s business. One of the bills awaiting action is Rep. Kelly Alexander’s medical cannabis bill — H 401.

Let your lawmakers know you want North Carolina to join the 33 other states with compassionate medical cannabis laws.

It’s simply wrong to force patients to choose between their health and abiding by state law. Medical cannabis has been shown to relieve pain, seizures, nausea, and other serious symptoms. It’s allowed thousands of patients to reduce or eliminate their use of dangerous opiate medications.

Urge the legislators who represent you to listen to the 80% of voters who support allowing this safe, effective treatment.

After you take action, please spread the word by email or social media. The more North Carolinians that raise their voices for compassion, the more elected officials will heed the call.

Legislature approves medical cannabis improvements.

During an unprecedented one-day session — where delegates convened under a canopy and senators met in the Virginia Science Museum — the legislature considered Gov. Ralph Northam’s amendments to legislation — SB 2/HB 972 — to decriminalize simple cannabis possession in Virginia.

The legislature rejected two of the governor’s proposed amendments to the bill — an amendment to push back the due date of a legalization study and an amendment to remove the legislature’s provision that would treat the $25 civil citation as a misdemeanor for purposes of criminal procedure, including allowing those accused to demand a jury trial.

The legislation will now head back to the governor’s desk for final action. Help get decriminalization across the finish line by contacting the governor today and asking that he sign the bill into law!

If the bill is ultimately enacted, beginning on July 1, 2020, possession of one ounce of cannabis or less will be punishable by a civil fine of up to $25 instead of a criminal penalty and potential jail time. This is the lowest fine of any decriminalization law in the country.

You can check out a full summary of the legislation here.

In other news, Virginia made several improvements to its medical cannabis program this year — including formally legalizing CBD and THC-A products, expanding the definition of products a patient can possess, and expanding the number of dispensing facilities allowed in the state from five to 25. The changes will go into effect on July 1, 2020. A full summary of Virginia’s medical cannabis program can be found here.

Be sure to share the news with your friends and family in Virginia!

Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, advocates were working with lawmakers to push significant reforms to improve Rhode Island’s medical marijuana program and lower costs for patients. Now, with a serious economic downturn in the state, many patients are struggling with even greater financial hardships.

Due to public health concerns, the General Assembly has suspended its session, and it is unclear if or when legislators will reconvene. Under normal circumstances, the legislature would be holding public hearings and providing an opportunity to advocate for reforms at this time. This year, however, that may not be possible.

The Medical Marijuana Patients Coalition, led by two members of the medical marijuana legislative oversight committee, is coordinating with state regulators, compassion centers, and others involved in the medical marijuana program to find ways to help patients during these difficult times.

The group is circulating an anonymous survey for patient cardholders to gather information on how the COVID-19 situation is affecting them. The results will help identify which issues are impacting patients, which will guide advocacy efforts. If you are a medical cannabis patient, please consider responding to the survey. You can also help by sharing the survey with others on social media or forwarding them this email.

It’s encouraging to see patients finding ways to organize and help others despite the challenges caused by the pandemic.

Thank you.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many aspects of our lives, including our democratic institutions and processes. Traditional methods of gathering voter signatures for ballot petitions are unsafe, and as a result, ballot initiative campaigns have been forced to search for alternative ways to meet petition gathering requirements without jeopardizing public health.

New Approach Montana, which is working to put two marijuana legalization initiatives on the November ballot, recently filed a lawsuit seeking a legal remedy that would allow the campaign to gather signatures through a secure, online system.

The right of Montanans to petition their government and enact laws approved by voters is enshrined in the state constitution. The campaign is hopeful that state courts will agree that electronic signatures are the best way to protect both the safety of Montana residents as well as their democratic right to self-governance.

We will continue to provide updates as the situation develops. We hope you and your family remain safe and healthy during these difficult times.

Thank you.

By Steve Hawkins, executive director, Marijuana Policy Project

The coronavirus crisis has abruptly forced all Americans to reexamine our priorities. Entire sectors of the economy have been shuttered as we reduce contact between people to flatten the curve and reduce the death toll. Elected officials and regulators, in particular, must reevaluate a wide range of government policies to ensure a swift, coordinated, and appropriate response to the pandemic.

One public policy that offers no benefit whatsoever during this time of crisis is our nation’s failed prohibition of cannabis. As governments work to minimize the negative impacts of COVID-19, it’s clear that punitive cannabis laws and unnecessarily strict regulations serve as far more of a hindrance than a help.

Some police departments and prosecutors have already determined that prosecuting low-level offenses such as cannabis possession is counterproductive and puts police, prosecutors, and the public at risk. For example, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby ordered her staff to dismiss pending criminal charges against anyone arrested for drug possession and several other nonviolent offenses.

Meanwhile, news reports from other jurisdictions indicate that arrests for cannabis possession have continued, increasing the risk of exposure to coronavirus both for cannabis consumers and enforcement personnel and undermining health experts’ advice regarding the need for social distancing.

It would be a disaster if the coronavirus becomes prevalent in America’s overcrowded jails and prisons. Criminal justice reform organizations have called for the release of low-risk inmates such as those convicted of cannabis offenses. This step should be taken as swiftly as possible to protect all staff and inmates at correctional facilities.

In the 11 states where cannabis is already legal for adults, interaction among law enforcement and consumers has already dropped considerably, so fewer steps are likely to be needed. The other 39 states should immediately suspend enforcement and prosecution of cannabis laws for the duration of the national emergency. Not only does it protect public health, it also avoids wasting limited law enforcement and court resources during a crisis.

We must also consider the challenge faced by roughly three million medical cannabis patients across the U.S. Many have vulnerable immune systems due to age or a serious medical condition, putting them in the high-risk category with regard to COVID-19.

Although medical cannabis is legal in 33 states, many states have restrictive policies that frustrate patients who are seeking to avoid exposure to the coronavirus. For example, some states forbid deliveries of medical cannabis and others maintain criminal penalties against home cultivation.

Fortunately, several states have already adopted emergency measures to ensure that patients are protected. New York, Iowa, and other states have designated medical cannabis dispensaries as 'essential services' to ensure their continued operation during the crisis. Louisiana took swift action to allow deliveries, and Michigan is allowing curbside pickup at dispensaries so patients do not have to enter the building. A few states have begun allowing patients to renew their certifications via telemedicine rather than continuing to require a visit to a doctor. These are all worthy reforms that should be enacted in all states that have legalized medical cannabis.

Finally, as we dare to look beyond the crisis, it seems clear that states with legal cannabis markets will have a significant advantage over other states as the economy recovers from this pandemic. More than 200,000 Americans already work in the state-legal cannabis industry, demonstrating that cannabis can be an important job creator and driver of economic development in addition to being sensible public policy and a source of substantial tax revenue.

As we all take time to reevaluate our nation’s public policy priorities, cannabis and criminal justice should be important parts of the conversation. Policymakers, including state legislators, governors, and members of Congress, should take advantage of this opportunity to acknowledge that cannabis prohibition does not protect public health and safety, and they should support enacting reasonable policy alternatives on both a temporary and permanent basis.

There will be many policy lessons that emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. One should be that we can achieve better health, safety, and economic outcomes if we replace cannabis prohibition with a thoughtfully regulated system of sales to adults and take other steps to reduce the number of low-risk offenders who become entrapped in our criminal justice system.

We hope you and your family are safe and well.

Public health guidelines and safety concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic have made traditional methods of gathering voter petitions impossible. As a result, signature drives for ballot initiatives all across the country have been severely impacted.

Though the chances of success were slim, leaders with Missourians for a New Approach explored a number of legal avenues that would allow the campaign to resume, including the possibility of electronic signatures. However, no option proved feasible, and with the May 3 deadline approaching, the effort to put legalization on the ballot in 2020 has come to an end.

Though the outcome is disappointing, public support for reform will remain strong, and the groundwork for a future push to legalize and regulate marijuana for adults in Missouri has been laid. National groups, including MPP, are committed to redoubling our efforts to pass a legalization law in Missouri at the next available opportunity.

We are grateful to each person who supported, volunteered, or worked for this campaign, and we're proud of what it accomplished. These are challenging times, and it may take longer than we had hoped, but sensible marijuana policy reform will prevail in Missouri.

Thank you.

Medical cannabis delivery and curbside pickup will be available to registered D.C. patients!

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, these measures went into effect today and will expire either August 12 or 45 days after D.C.’s public health emergency order is lifted.

Under the emergency rulemaking announced by Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Department of Health, D.C.’s seven licensed dispensaries, under a series of regulations, are permitted to:

• Deliver medical cannabis to registered qualifying patients and caregivers at a D.C. residential address between the hours of 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
• Dispense medical cannabis through curbside pickup or at-the-door pickup to a registered patient or caregiver.

You can find a list of licensed dispensaries in D.C. here.

These actions are critically important to ensure patients can access their medicine while promoting social distancing. A number of states with medical cannabis programs have already implemented these measures in response to coronavirus.

Thank you to everyone who took action to encourage Mayor Bowser to implement these measures. Be sure to share this exciting news with your family and friends in the District!

On Saturday, Gov. Ralph Northam approved legislation, SB 2/HB 972, which would decriminalize cannabis possession — but requested several amendments.

Before the bill is enacted, the legislature must consider the governor’s proposed amendments, which include pushing back the due date for a legalization study by a year and deleting a provision that would end driver’s license suspensions for marijuana possession. The legislature is set to reconvene and consider the amendments on April 22.

If the bill is ultimately enacted, starting July 1, possession of up to an ounce of marijuana will be punishable by a civil fine of $25 instead of a criminal penalty and potential jail time. This is the lowest fine of any decriminalization law!

Here are a few details about the bill:

• Reduces the penalty for possession of marijuana to a modest civil fine of $25. The current penalty for a first offense is up to 30 days in jail and/or up to a $500 fine.
• Creates a rebuttable presumption that a person who possesses no more than one ounce of marijuana possesses it for personal use. (This will make it far less likely that a person will be convicted of possession with intent to distribute when the cannabis is actually for their personal use.)
• Reduces the use of stigmatizing records and prohibits employers from requiring applicants to disclose marijuana possession charges.
• Creates a workgroup to study legalization. (The original bill required the work to be completed by November 30, 2020, but Gov. Northam’s change would delay it until November 30, 2021.)

You can check out a full summary of the bill here.

This important victory will dramatically reduce needless cannabis arrests across the state, saving thousands of residents from life-altering criminal records for simple marijuana possession.

Be sure to share this exciting news with your family and friends in Virginia!

Take action and send a message to the governor now.

Thankfully, Gov. Mike DeWine and state regulators have taken responsible steps to protect access to medical cannabis during the COVID-19 pandemic, including deeming medical cannabis businesses “essential” and allowing telemedicine consultations between doctors and patients.

Several medical cannabis states are allowing home delivery for patients to minimize the health risks for an already vulnerable population. Gov. DeWine recently said he is considering allowing medical cannabis deliveries during the crisis.

Take action now and ask Gov. DeWine to permit home delivery.

You can also help by forwarding this call to action to others, contacting the governor's office at (614) 644-4357, and making an appeal on Twitter.

It’s crucial that Ohio maintains a system of safe access to medical cannabis while also promoting social distancing during the pandemic.

Thank you.