The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to prevent the federal government from interfering with state laws regulating marijuana for all purposes, including adult use.

"Today's vote is the most significant step Congress has ever taken toward ending federal marijuana prohibition."

- Steven Hawkins, MPP Executive Director

Yesterday in the U.S. House of Representatives, an extraordinary milestone was achieved when the body approved a measure by a 267-165 vote to prevent the Department of Justice from using funds to interfere with the implementation of state laws that have legalized marijuana for adults. Since 2014, Congress has renewed a provision that prevented federal interference in states' medical marijuana programs, but this goes further and includes adult-use legalization, too.

The significance of this development cannot be overstated. As MPP Executive Director Steve Hawkins put it this vote means "Congress is recognizing that the federal government must let the states decide on cannabis legalization — and not the other way around." But this win was only made possible with your support.

Please help MPP continue to achieve victories like this by making a contribution to the effort today.

The bipartisan amendment, offered by Reps. Tom McClintock (R-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) to the House version of the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, prohibits the Justice Department, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, from using funds to interfere in the implementation of state laws that allow the use, possession, cultivation, and distribution of marijuana. The measure is broader than previous amendments, which applied only to medical marijuana laws.

We should all take a moment to savor this seminal achievement and to appreciate how far we've come as a movement. But we can't afford to rest on our laurels, to count on momentum alone to drive future progress, or to assume others will step up to support ending marijuana prohibition nationwide.

Your gift of support today is critical to ensure that MPP has the resources it needs to keep on fighting and winning. Click here to donate now.

The Senate is expected to take up companion legislation in the coming weeks, and it's going to take all the efforts of MPP's policy experts, allies, and coalition partners to push this bill forward. Most importantly, strong and active support from people like you, who know firsthand the injustice and illogic of marijuana prohibition, will be key to moving this legislation across the finish line.

Thank you for all you've done to help us get this far. The MPP mission to end marijuana prohibition has never been so close to being realized, and with your support, we will make that vision a reality.

If you live in Delaware, contact your state rep and tell them to vote YES on HB 110!

There are less than two weeks left in Delaware's legislative session to advance the legalization bill. The bill needs a three-fifths supermajority (25 votes) in the House to advance to the Senate, and several representatives have not yet taken a position on legalization. (The bill will pick up where it left off in 2020.)

Here's how you can take action and help advance HB 110:

1. Join us in solidarity at lobby day on Tuesday, June 25.

When: Tuesday, June 25, 12:00 p.m.
Where: Legislative Hall 411 Legislative Avenue, Dover, Delaware 19901 (meet us in the lobby)
Details on how to RSVP here.

2. Volunteer to help generate phone calls to legislators in key districts! We have a system that allows you to volunteer from home. Please email info@delawarecannabispolicy.org for details on how to get started.

3. If you haven't done so already, contact your state rep now and urge them to vote YES on HB 110.

4. Help us spread the word! Forward this message to your friends and family in Delaware. You can also share the Facebook event for lobby day and our action link on social media.

It is important legislators hear from as many of their constituents as possible. Join us for lobby day June 25 to help us send a strong message to the General Assembly to end cannabis prohibition in the First State!

If you live in Rhode Island, contact your state representative and ask them to oppose these provisions in the budget.

This Friday, the Rhode Island House will debate H 5151 Sub A, the budget bill for the coming fiscal year. As written, Article 15 of this legislation would make two significant changes to undermine the state's medical marijuana program.

First, the House budget would require all patients who wish to grow for themselves to register as their own caregiver. Then, it empowers the Department of Business Regulation to establish criteria for caregivers, which may include "eligibility" and "a demonstration of need." Depending on how the department uses this authority, it could effectively eliminate home cultivation for all but a few patients.

Second, while the current budget proposal would increase the number of compassion centers from three to nine, it also raises the annual licensing fee for these facilities to $500,000 a year, which is 10-100 times more than what most other states require for medical marijuana business licenses. This fee will ensure that only people with deep pockets can enter the market, and the increased costs will be passed down to patients in the form of increased prices.

Please take action right now and send an email to your state representative asking them to oppose these changes to the medical marijuana program.

Limiting patients' ability to grow their own medicine while simultaneously increasing costs for patients at the compassion centers is a cruel and unnecessary way to balance the budget. Enough is enough.

Thank you for taking action!

Take action and ask your Representative to protect state marijuana laws.

Later this week, we have a chance to make a major breakthrough in reforming marijuana policy at the federal level. We need your help to make it happen.

The House is expected to vote on the McClintock-Blumenauer amendment, which would prevent the Department of Justice from using funds to interfere with the implementation of state laws that have legalized marijuana for adults. Since 2014, Congress has upheld a rule preventing federal interference in states' medical marijuana programs, but this goes further and includes adult-use legalization, too.

Please contact your Representative in Congress right now, and ask them to support the Blumenauer-McClintock amendment.

With Illinois' recent victory, 11 states have ended marijuana prohibition, and more than 25% of the U.S. population lives in a jurisdiction where marijuana is legal for adults. We must protect these state laws and prevent federal arrests for people operating legal marijuana businesses.

Thank you.

Contact the governor now and ask that he sign HB 1383!

A bill to stop arresting and jailing Hawaiians for small amounts of cannabis was sent to Gov. Ige's desk before the legislature adjourned on May 2. Unfortunately, the governor remains undecided on the bill, and there's a risk he could veto this extremely small step forward.

Ask Gov. Ige to decriminalize small amounts of cannabis in the Aloha State by signing HB 1383!

The bill would make possession of three grams or less of cannabis punishable by a $130 fine. Under current law, possession of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

While three grams would be the smallest possession limit of any decriminalization or legalization state, and $130 is a steep fine that can be a hardship for low-income residents, this legislation is still an improvement.

Signing HB 1383 into law will save Hawaiians from arrest, possible jail time, and a life-altering criminal record for possession of a substance that is safer than alcohol. Twenty-five states and D.C. have already stopped jailing their residents for possessing small amounts of cannabis. Hawaii is lagging behind.

Gov. Ige has until July 9 to sign HB 1383. Please contact the governor today and ask him to sign the decriminalization bill, then forward this message to your friends and family in Hawaii and encourage them to do the same.

The legislature adjourns tomorrow, so call or email your senator TODAY!

Your state senator could be the deciding vote to push legalization over the finish line. With the legislature adjourning tomorrow, it is very imperative they hear from you TODAY.

Please call your senator to ask them to vote to legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis for adults 21 and older. Our automated system makes it quick and easy — it'll look up your state senator when you type in your address and provide talking points.

It is important your senator hears from as many constituents as possible. If you're not comfortable calling, you can send an email here.

After you contact your senator, please forward this message to other supportive New Yorkers and share our action link on social media.

It's time to make history!

Last week, HB 110 — a bill to legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis for adults 21 and older — advanced to the full House of Representatives for a vote. The bill needs a three-fifths supermajority (25 votes) to advance to the Senate, and several representatives have not yet taken a position on legalization.

We need your help to advance HB 110! Here’s how you can get involved:

1. Volunteer to help generate phone calls to legislators in key districts! We have a system that allows you to volunteer from home. Please email info@delawarecannabispolicy.org for details on how to get started.

2. Encourage others to contact their state reps and urge them to vote YES on HB 110. Forward this message to your friends and family, and share the action link on social media.

There are just two weeks left before the legislature adjourns on June 30.

It is important representatives hear from as many of their constituents as possible. Supporters like you can help us send a strong message to the General Assembly to end cannabis prohibition in the First State!

Action has been delayed on legalization, but we're still doing everything we can to pass the medical cannabis home cultivation bill — please call Gov. Chris Sununu today and urge him to sign HB 364 into law!

The New Hampshire Senate has delayed action on the legalization bill, but several cannabis-related bills have been approved by both chambers of the legislature, and they will soon land on the desk of Gov. Chris Sununu.

Most of these bills passed with strong support in both chambers, but the fate of one critical bill remains uncertain. HB 364, which would allow registered patients and caregivers to cultivate a limited supply of cannabis at home, passed the House today in a final voice vote. Unfortunately, the margin of support in the Senate was only 14-10, so we would have to gain two votes in the Senate in order to override a potential veto.

Please call Gov. Sununu right now and urge him to sign HB 364!

Here are the other cannabis-related bills that appear to be on track to become law:

• HB 399 would allow people who received misdemeanor possession convictions prior to decriminalization to apply to have their records annulled. It passed both chambers in a voice vote. We are very grateful to our allies at ACLU-NH and Americans for Prosperity for their work to help get this bill passed.
  
  
• HB 350 would allow physician's assistants to certify patients. It passed both chambers in a voice vote.
  
  
• SB 88 would eliminate the three-month waiting period for provider-patient relationships. It has already passed the House (263-90) and the Senate (17-7) and awaits a final vote in the Senate.
  
  
• SB 145 would allow alternative treatment centers to reorganize as for-profit businesses. It passed both chambers in a voice vote.

After you call Gov. Sununu and urge him to sign HB 364, please share this important update with your friends and family!

Ask your lawmakers and Gov. Cuomo to pass legislation to legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis for adults 21 and older.

Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes and Senate Finance Chair Liz Krueger have introduced a bill to legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis for adults 21 and older. But, there are just days left to get it passed this legislative session, which ends June 19.

Urge your legislators to legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis for adult-use this session!

The bill was introduced after months of debate between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature on how the state will approach legalization. Gov. Cuomo has said that he would sign the bill, but it does not yet have the 32 votes needed to pass the Senate.

The bill provides that an Office of Cannabis Management will be created and charged with regulating both adult-use and medical cannabis — which was adopted from Gov. Cuomo's earlier proposal. It would also expunge records of those previously convicted of possessing small amounts of cannabis, and 50 percent of the tax revenue would go toward establishing grants to fund programs serving communities that were disparately impacted by cannabis prohibition.

New Yorkers deserve a just, equitable cannabis policy. Contact your lawmakers and Gov. Cuomo today to get legalization across the finish line this session! Then, share the action link with other thoughtful New Yorkers, so that they, too, can raise their voices.

P.S. It saddens us to inform you that Doug Greene, a lifelong cannabis activist who worked tirelessly to reform cannabis policy in New York, passed away last week. His funeral service will be held on Thursday, June 13, 2019 at 1:15 p.m. at Knollwood Park Cemetery — 57-80 Cooper Avenue, Ridgewood, NY 11385.

Lawmakers make major improvements to cannabis policy in 2019.

Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) signed into law three notable bills to improve cannabis policies this year. Here is a quick overview and why they are so important:

AB 132 prohibits most employers from denying applicants a job if cannabis shows up on a pre-employment drug test. This bill addresses a big concern — cannabis use can be detected for weeks after ingestion, meaning drug screens in no way correlate with impairment. So far, states have been generally unwilling to change employment standards, even when cannabis use is legal outside work hours. This bill is a major development for Nevadans, and MPP wants to see other states take notice.

SB 430 was signed into law last week and expands the list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis. The bill adds forms of autism, anxiety, and chronic pain — in addition to severe pain, which was already included. A key addition were those individuals who are "dependent upon or addicted to opioids," making medical cannabis an alternative to anyone at risk while taking prescription narcotic medication. This is part of a trend we see around the country, and it's great to see Nevada added to the list of states offering this important alternative.

AB 192 allows individuals to have their past convictions sealed if the conduct — such as marijuana possession — has been legalized or decriminalized. While this is not as expansive as completely removing the conviction, sealing can significantly reduce the stigma and collateral consequences lingering from the failed war on cannabis.

MPP is proud to have led Nevada's legalization initiative in 2016 and important improvements to the medical cannabis law in 2013. Today, lawmakers are making sensible improvements to those programs, and more importantly, the medical and adult-use programs continue to serve the state and its residents.