During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Marijuana Policy Project is continuing to fight for safe access to cannabis and policies to roll back the devastating war on marijuana.

Today, MPP — along with the Last Prisoner Project, Law Enforcement Action Partnership, Clergy for a New Drug Policy, Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, National Cannabis Industry Association, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) — sent a letter urging law enforcement officials to dramatically curtail arrests for non-violent crimes, including ceasing arrests for cannabis offenses. In addition to curtailing arrests, we are also calling for officials to release or grant clemency to those incarcerated for cannabis offenses along with dramatically reducing the number of incarcerated non-violent prisoners, whether sentenced or un-sentenced.

Public health experts have warned that the coronavirus poses an extreme threat not only to inmates, but also to the staff that serve them, along with their families and communities. Conditions in prisons and jails are known to cause disease and infection to run rampant, and these institutions are already seeing a spike in confirmed COVID-19 cases. As a result, several localities have already begun to release inmates incarcerated for nonviolent, drug-related offenses.

Likewise, since asymptomatic individuals can spread the virus, any law enforcement-civilian interaction includes a risk of transmitting coronavirus to either party. Thus, arrests for nonviolent offenses should be curtailed until the country is better able to prevent the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, last week, MPP and allied organizations sent letters urging governors and legislative leaders in states with medical cannabis and adult-use programs to take necessary actions to ensure continued safe access to cannabis in a way that is consistent with public health. We’re also tracking state-level measures being taken to preserve safe access as states rapidly respond to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Sign our petition urging governors to ensure safe access to cannabis during the pandemic.

MPP will continue fighting for safe and sensible criminal justice and cannabis-related policies, both during and after the critical COVID-19 situation. There is no justification for arresting and jailiing individuals for marijuana offenses during this crisis, and our primary priority must now be reducing opportunities for transmission of the virus in order to save lives.

Sending best wishes for your health and safety.

On Tuesday, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice signed SB 339, a bill that authorizes rulemaking by the Department of Health and Human Resources. The final version of the bill included an amendment adding “dry leaf or plant form” to the list of acceptable forms of medical cannabis. As a result, it appears that when dispensaries open, they will be able to sell cannabis flower to patients!

Thanks to all who contacted their legislators and helped secure this important victory. The legislature is no longer in session, so further progress on cannabis policy will have to wait until 2021. Fortunately, 2020 is an election year, so there will likely be many opportunities to replace elected officials who have opposed sensible cannabis policies with candidates who are supportive of reforms.

We will send more information on candidates’ positions in advance of the primary election, which is scheduled for May 12. Until then, please stay safe, and be sure to forward this good news to any patients you know who are waiting for legal access to medical cannabis.

Contact Gov. Baker and your state legislators and tell them cannabis businesses must be designated as essential!

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has ordered that all nonessential businesses cease operations until April 7. Medical cannabis dispensaries and package beverage stores have been designated as essential services, but adult-use cannabis businesses have not.

Please join with us in asking Gov. Baker to ensure that cannabis businesses are allowed to continue operating during the crisis. Click here to send a message to the governor to ask him to reconsider.

Please also send a message to your state legislators and urge them to push for adult-use cannabis businesses to be designated as essential services.

Every other legalization state where regulated sales have begun — Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington — is allowing adult-use cannabis businesses to continue operating, even as other businesses are closed under stay-at-home orders.

Many adults in Massachusetts rely on cannabis for their well being. Some are patients who are not registered for the medical cannabis program, and others depend on cannabis as an alternative to alcohol or other more dangerous substances. Shutting down adult-use cannabis businesses will also be crippling for businesses, especially economic empowerment applicants, and it will deprive state and local governments of tax revenue that could be used to mitigate the COVID-19 crisis.

After you send a message to Gov. Baker and email your state legislators, please share this message with your family and friends.

Encourage Gov. Dunleavy to maintain and extend good cannabis policies.

As governments today respond to COVID-19, it’s critical that medical patients maintain access to cannabis for medical use. This is particularly true in Alaska, and we are asking for your help.

Please join with us in asking Gov. Mike Dunleavy to ensure that cannabis businesses, which serve patients along with adult consumers, are included as essential businesses. Click here to send a message to the governor to thank him for keeping businesses open so far and to ask for his support on behalf of patients all around the state.

As of today, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, California, Illinois, Michigan, Maine, Maryland, and Nevada, along with a long list of medical-only states, have declared that retail cannabis establishments are “essential services.” That designation helps ensure access even if there is a stay-at-home order. Alaska’s governor has not yet extended that protection to cannabis businesses, leaving patients and consumers vulnerable. Without a home delivery option, patients and consumers would simply be cut off if retail shops closed. That should not be acceptable, and the governor should hear that message. Help us get word to his office.

The flip side is for all of us in the cannabis movement to remember that in many ways, we are also stewards of health. Businesses should consider measures to help ensure the well-being of their patients and customers through social distancing and good business practices.

Some resources:

• Our own letter to the governor is available here.
• The Alaska Marijuana Industry Association’s great letter and recommendations for businesses is here.
• A chart we put together that compares different state approaches in response to COVID-19 is here.
• The link to get word to the Alaska governor’s office on this issue is here.

Please stay safe, and mind your health and the health of this community.

Urge governors of medical cannabis states to ensure access in times of social distancing.

In the past week or two, our lives have changed dramatically.

As we strive to “flatten the curve,” schools have shuttered their doors. Those workplaces that can switch to remote work, including MPP, have done so. Hundreds of thousands of workers are newly unemployed. Tens of thousands of Americans have been diagnosed with the virus, and healthcare professionals are making heroic sacrifices.

Our hearts go out to each of you for all you are going through as we come together to reduce the death toll.

As some states roll out “Safer at Home” policies, they are recognizing people still need access to essentials, including medicine. MPP and allied organizations are working to make sure they do not lose sight of the fact that millions of Americans depend on cannabis as part of their treatment regimens.

We are urging governors and legislative leaders in states with medical cannabis and legalization laws to ensure access in a way that keeps everyone as safe as possible.

You can sign our petition here to add your voice to the plea for safe access. 

Among the recommendations — which are similar to ones put out by our friends at Americans for Safe Access — are declaring cannabis businesses an essential service (keeping them open in case of a stay-at-home order), allowing delivery, allowing telemedicine, and relaxing bureaucratic requirements that could interfere with access.

We’ve also compiled a list of what measures states currently have in place for safe access in these uncertain times.

We wish you and your loved ones well. We’re all in this together.

From Politico:

With Washington consumed by figuring out how to respond to the coronavirus, few lawmakers or their aides have time for anything else.

Cannabis lobbyists on Capitol Hill are changing strategies as lawmakers leave town and staffers work from home. Politico's Natalie Fertig reached out to a few lobbyists to hear what they expect as Washington enters an unprecedented new way of working for the foreseeable future. Here are the main takeaways:

Early adjournment leaves decrim fix bill up in the air — take action to keep it alive.

Good news! Both chambers of the General Assembly have approved HB 83, a bill that would automatically shield past cannabis charges occurring before October 1, 2014, in which possession was the only charge in the case. The bill now heads to Gov. Larry Hogan’s desk for final approval.

If enacted, HB 83 would shield nearly 200,000 cannabis possession charges from public view on the Judiciary’s “Case Search” website. Unfortunately, this is not a full record expungement. Full record expungement of marijuana possession is available by application after four years. You can find more information on expungement here.

Del. David Moon’s initial version of HB 83 included automatic expungement. However, it was amended in committee due to the complexity and costs involved. Our plan is to push for the stronger bill as part of legalization next year.

In light of the coronavirus, the General Assembly will adjourn its session tomorrow and will hold a special session the last week of May.

The decision leaves the fate of another important cannabis reform bill — HB 550 —uncertain. The bill would increase the amount of cannabis decriminalized in Maryland from 10 grams to one ounce, which would save thousands of Marylanders from arrests and criminal charges for simple possession.

Please take a minute to urge your senator to take up HB 550 before the legislature adjourns. Then, forward this message to other Marylanders and encourage them to do the same.

Ask your state representative to support this compassionate bill.

Yesterday, the Alabama Senate approved the state’s medical cannabis bill — SB 165 — in a 22-11 vote! The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, where the speaker has not yet committed to letting it receive a vote.

Write your state rep today to ask them to support patients and to urge leadership to let it get a vote. To have even more impact, you can give your state representative a call after sending your email.

Senators debated SB 165 for hours and considered numerous amendments — accepting some and rejecting others.

The bill, which is sponsored by a physician, Sen. Tim Melson (R), would allow qualifying patients to use and safely access medical cannabis preparations. While it is more restrictive than most medical cannabis laws — and does not allow smoking or vaporization — SB 165 would still be a dramatic improvement from current law. For more details, check out our summary.

After you reach out to your own representative, spread the word to other compassionate Alabamians so that they, too, can raise their voices for compassion.

See below for the first email from South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, the campaign working to legalize marijuana for adults and establish a medical marijuana program in the state! Click here to sign up for their campaign email alerts. And please consider donating today. This campaign is crucial to our goal of passing landmark federal marijuana reform through Congress.

Thanks, 

Matthew Schweich
Deputy Director
Marijuana Policy Project

 

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws <info@southdakotamarijuana.org>
Date: Fri, Mar 13, 2020 at 3:21 PM
Subject: Together, let's legalize marijuana in South Dakota

Hello friend,

My name is Drey Samuelson, political director for South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, and this is our first official campaign email! Although I know a fair amount of the folks on this list, I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself as one of the leaders of our historic campaign to pass two marijuana reform ballot initiatives (one for medical marijuana and the other for full legalization) in South Dakota this November.

A little about me: I spent three years as a Sioux Falls field representative for then-Congressman Tom Daschle, and then a few years later, in 1986, I ran the successful congressional campaign for then-South Dakota State Senator Tim Johnson. Following the election, Tim hired me to be his Chief of Staff. In all, I spent 28 great years on Tim’s team as we worked to deliver results for the people of South Dakota.

(Photo: H. Darr Beiser / USA Today)

Following Tim's retirement, I returned to South Dakota to co-found TakeItBack.Org, a nonpartisan nonprofit that used ballot initiatives to advance anti-corruption reforms that advocates could not pass through South Dakota’s conservative state legislature. I had learned the power of ballot initiatives earlier in my life, having served as campaign manager for an anti-corporate farm campaign in Nebraska in 1982. Despite being heavily outspent, we won. 

And that's why I'm here, working on these two initiatives. It is quite clear that getting these two initiatives through the South Dakota legislature would be virtually impossible, so advocates of sensible marijuana policy reform were left only one option: taking our case directly to the people of South Dakota. Thankfully, through a great deal of hard work and generous funding, we were able to qualify both initiatives for the general election ballot, and we're now in position to put together a campaign to pass both of them. I have no illusions that either is a slam dunk, but I have seen the polling and am convinced that if we run smart, well-executed campaigns, we'll win them both. The fact is the people of South Dakota are ready to adopt medical marijuana and full legalization. The purpose of this campaign is to effectuate the will of the people.

And that's where you come in. We are determined to run an energetic and highly-organized grassroots campaign, one that isn't top-down but bottom-up, which relies on many hundreds of volunteers across the state. 

Right now, here are a few quick ways you can help us win!

• Donate to the campaign!
• Sign up to volunteer: use this sign up form or simply reply to this email.
• Forward this email to your friends and family and encourage them to sign up for email updates through our website: https://www.southdakotamarijuana.org/sign-up
• Follow or Like us on Facebook – we need to build our audience and reach more voters!

Urge your senators to support HB 550.

Exciting news! Yesterday, the House of Delegates approved (93-44) a bill that would increase the amount of cannabis decriminalized in Maryland from 10 grams to one ounce. It now heads to the Senate.

Contact your senator today and ask them to support HB 550!

The bill — HB 550 — would make possession of up to an ounce of cannabis punishable by a civil fine of $100 rather than a criminal penalty that carries possible jail time. Also, a person could no longer be charged with possession with intent to distribute based solely on possession of an ounce or less.

At just 10 grams, Maryland currently has one of the lowest thresholds for possession of any of the 26 states that has decriminalized or legalized cannabis. Most states have decriminalized or legalized up to one ounce, and several states have decriminalized larger amounts.

This is an important reform that will reduce the number of arrests and criminal charges for marijuana possession. Arrests for simple possession can be traumatic, and a criminal conviction can hinder one’s ability to obtain a job, housing, or a college education.

While the legalization workgroup did not recommend moving forward with legalization this year, help us make sure this important reform is achieved in the meantime.

Please take a minute to email your senator and ask them to support HB 550. Then, forward this message to your friends and family in Maryland and encourage them to do the same.