Late last week, Gov. Kim Reynolds vetoed HF 732, a bill that would have dramatically improved Iowa's medical marijuana program, including by allowing patients to use cannabis with the amounts of THC that works for them. The bill originally passed overwhelmingly in the House and Senate.

Patients in Iowa are suffering, and Gov. Reynolds has exacerbated their pain. It's inexcusable to withhold medicine that we know helps patients.

Contact Gov. Reynolds today and tell her "Shame on you for hurting Iowa patients!" You can shoot her an email through our automated system, or post to her Twitter or Facebook page. Remember not to say anything that is abusive, as that will only hurt our efforts.

After contacting the governor, email Speaker of the House Linda Upmeyer. Speaker Upmeyer refuses to bring the legislature back in session to override the governor's veto. Click here and tell Speaker Upmeyer to "Bring the legislature back to help Iowa patients."

Take action and then forward this email to your friends and family. It's time for Iowa to have a comprehensive medical marijuana program.

Earlier this week, the Texas Legislature adjourned after its 140-day legislative session. This year's session brought successes and setbacks. Prohibitionists went to great lengths to keep the status quo and some of their reefer madness unfortunately worked.

What Passed:

Industrial Hemp Legalization – HB 1325 legalizes industrial hemp in Texas and establishes a regulatory structure so that Texans may soon start growing hemp.

Limited Low-THC Medical Cannabis Expansion – HB 3703 removes the two-physician requirement for a medical marijuana card and expands the qualifying conditions to include: epilepsy, seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis, spasticity, ALS, autism, terminal cancer, and incurable neurodegenerative diseases. It does not change the 0.5% THC cap. HB 3703 is currently on Gov. Greg Abbott's desk.

What Fell Short:

Marijuana Decriminalization – HB 63, which would have replaced possible jail time with a fine, passed in the Texas House but stalled in the Texas Senate after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made it his mission to kill the bill.

Comprehensive Medical Marijuana Expansion – HB 1365 would have expanded qualifying conditions for medical marijuana, increased the number of dispensaries, and established a research review board that could allow different amounts of cannabinoids. This bill passed in the Texas House but did not receive a hearing in the Senate.

Unfortunately, the Texas Legislature won't be back in session until 2021. That means two more years of patients suffering and needless arrests. We want to congratulate everyone who worked so hard to make progress, including Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy.

Support for marijuana reform is at an all-time high so let's keep our chins up and keep pushing. Together, we can change marijuana laws in Texas.

If you live in Delaware, write your lawmakers today and ask them to support HB 110.

The House Revenue and Finance Committee has scheduled a hearing for HB 110, legislation to legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis for adults 21 and older. The hearing will take place on Wednesday, June 5 at 2:30 p.m. in the House Chamber of Legislative Hall – 411 Legislative Ave, Dover, DE 19901.

Please ask your legislators to support legalizing, taxing, and regulating cannabis for adults 21 and older.

You can voice your support at the hearing by providing written or oral testimony. We particularly encourage testimony from supportive law enforcement, clergy, substance abuse and medical professionals, educators, and those who have been harmed by marijuana prohibition.

For more information on HB 110, you can read our summary here. Here you can find more information on providing testimony. If you provide oral testimony, you will be limited to two minutes. Please be polite and respectful, dress in business or business casual attire, and avoid repeating points that have already been made.

Written testimony can be submitted by emailing it to Chairman John Viola beforehand or by providing 11 copies to the committee staff in person at the hearing.

In other news, the Delaware Cannabis Policy Coalition is in the process of growing our network of supporters. If you are a member of an organization that might be interested in joining our coalition, we would love to hear from you.

Help us send a strong message to the General Assembly to end cannabis prohibition in the First State! Please show your support at the upcoming bill hearing, contact your lawmakers, and forward this message to your friends and family in Delaware.

Cannabis hospitality, delivery, and other improvements are coming soon!

Great news! In the past week, Gov. Jared Polis (D) has signed several bills to improve Colorado's cannabis laws — including to allow delivery and hospitality (cannabis cafés), to make investment easier, and to allow patients to use medical cannabis for anything a prescription opiate could be prescribed for.

The new laws include:

• HB 1234, which will allow home delivery in cities and counties that allow it. Medical cannabis deliveries can begin as soon as January 2, 2020, and deliveries to adult consumers can start in January 2021;
• HB 1230, which allows businesses like hotels or restaurants to set aside a location for patrons to consume cannabis — also in cities and counties that opt in. It will also allow licensed retail locations to sell small amounts of cannabis for use on-site;
• HB 1090, which allows publicly traded companies to invest capital in cannabis businesses; and
• SB 13, which allows patients to register to use medical cannabis (which is taxed at a much lower rate than adult-use cannabis) for any condition for which they could be prescribed prescription opiates. It also makes it easier for minor patients to qualify, by allowing any kind of physician (rather than just certain specialists) to sign their certification.

Colorado continues as a leader in cannabis policy, and these new laws are yet another step forward. Our hearty appreciation to the bill sponsors, governor, and all those who worked to get these measures through a difficult process!

If you live in Illinois, ask your state rep to vote yes to end cannabis prohibition in the Land of Lincoln.

The Illinois Senate just voted (38-17) to legalize and regulate cannabis for adult use! Now the bill moves to the House, which could vote at any time. There's no time to waste: the legislature adjourns on Friday.

Make sure your state rep is on the right side of history. Send an email or make a phone call today!

State lawmakers really do listen to voters, and just a handful of calls and emails per district can make all the difference. The vote is expected to be close.

In New Jersey, hopes of legalizing marijuana in 2018 or 2019 were dashed when the vote count came up a few votes shy. Efforts also stalled in New York and Connecticut.

Don't let this chance to end prohibition in Illinois slip away: Write your state rep today. You could also look them up on social media and politely ask them to stand up for justice there. And don't forget to rally your friends to do the same: Share this on social media or by email.

We have known for years that marijuana prohibition laws disproportionately harm communities of color. A 2013 ACLU report analyzing FBI arrest data found that black Rhode Islanders were nearly three times more likely to be arrested than whites for marijuana possession from 2001 to 2010.

State Representatives Anastasia Williams and Marcia Ranglin-Vassell have introduced legislation (H 5795, H 6069, H 6070, and H 6073) to address the disparate impacts of marijuana prohibition, and tomorrow afternoon, the House Finance Committee will hold a hearing to discuss their proposals. Collectively, the bills would direct regulators to study the disproportionate harms of marijuana arrests, establish programs to assist business applicants who have been affected, create an economic opportunity fund for reinvestment in communities most harmed by prohibition, and require marijuana business licenses to be distributed more equitably.

You can find details about the hearing and links to each of the bills here. If you are able to attend, please consider testifying in support of cannabis equity in front of the committee. The committee will meet at roughly 4:30 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday, May 29) in Room 35 of the State House (82 Smith Street, Providence).

Thank you.

If you live in Illinois, ask your lawmakers to end prohibition in the Land of Lincoln.

With only three days left until the legislature adjourns, the Illinois House and Senate could vote on legalizing marijuana any day. This would be the first time ever that a state legislature (as opposed to voters) legalized adult-use marijuana sales.

Make sure your legislators are on the right side of history. Write them today!

State lawmakers really do listen to voters, and just a handful of calls and emails per district can make all the difference. The vote is expected to be close.

Not only would Senate Bill 7 legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older, it would create the best legalization law so far in terms of addressing the harms inflicted by cannabis prohibition. Senate Bill 7:

• Includes robust expungement provisions to stop derailing dreams of those with past cannabis convictions;
• Directs a significant amount of the tax revenue to communities that have been hard-hit by the drug war; and
• Includes groundbreaking measures to ensure an inclusive, equitable industry. Equity applicants — those directly harmed by cannabis prohibition or from communities most harmed by it — will pay lower fees, be eligible for low-interest loans, and will get points on their applications.

Although the votes weren’t there to allow home cultivation for all adults, the bill also includes home cultivation for medical cannabis patients. Patients would also be exempt from all adult-use taxes.

In New Jersey, hopes of legalizing marijuana in 2018 or 2019 were dashed when the vote count came up a few votes shy. Don’t let this chance to end prohibition in Illinois slip away: Write your lawmakers today. Then, rally your friends to do the same: Share this on social media or by email.

Please join me and other members of the Regulate Rhode Island Coalition today at 3 p.m. in the State House (82 Smith Street, Providence) as we urge legislators to enact sensible and just cannabis laws. Prior to the floor session (which usually begins a little after 4 p.m.) is a great time to have one-on-one conversations with lawmakers, and we will be talking with them about the importance of legislating responsibly and legalizing marijuana the right way.

If you are unable to make it, you can still help move sensible policy reform forward: Send a message to your state representative and senator using our email action tool.

Parking is available across the street from the capitol building at the Department of Health and in the Providence Place Mall garage. After you enter the State House and proceed through the metal detector, you will find a Regulate Rhode Island volunteer coordinator immediately to your left next to the Civil War-era cannon display. The coordinator will provide you copies of our talking points document, which you can view here.

We need all of you to be part of this effort to end prohibition, protect cannabis patients, and promote social equity for victims of the war on marijuana. Cannabis laws won’t change themselves. Let’s continue to raise our voices and call for action.

It’s crunch time for the legalization bill — contact your representatives and senators today!

Our coalition has made great progress on cannabis policy in Connecticut this year, but now we are up against the clock. The legislative session is scheduled to end on June 5, and it remains unclear whether there will be enough support in the legislature to pass a bill to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis before the session concludes.

Many representatives and senators are saying they are still undecided, so it is critically important that you contact them today. Please email your state representatives and senators right now and urge them to support ending marijuana prohibition!

Three companion bills to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis have already been approved by legislative committees, and legislators are in the process of combining those bills into one final package. The details remain a work in progress, but you can read summaries of the bills that are currently being considered.

We’re within a few votes of seeing Connecticut become the first state to legalize and regulate cannabis by legislation rather than by voter initiative, but we really need your help to get across the finish line. After you write your legislators, please “like” our coalition on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and share this message with your family and friends!

With just over a month remaining in this year’s legislative session, supporters of sensible and just cannabis policies must make their voices heard. Article 20 of Gov. Raimondo’s proposed budget is still in play, but the legislation needs important amendments around home cultivation, social equity, and other important issues.

We need your help to urge our lawmakers to end prohibition, protect patients, and legalize with equity. Please join us in calling for sensible cannabis policy reform:

When: Thursday, May 23 at 3:00 p.m.

Where: The Rhode Island State House (82 Smith Street, Providence)

Parking is available across the street from the capitol building at the Department of Health and in the Providence Place Mall garage. After you enter the State House and proceed through the metal detector, you will find a Regulate Rhode Island volunteer coordinator immediately to your left next to the Civil War-era cannon display. The coordinator will provide you copies of our talking points document, which you can view here.

Please RSVP and help us spread the word by sharing our Facebook event.

For far too long, legislative leaders have kicked the can down the road on marijuana policy reform. The best way to show our lawmakers the importance of this issue is to show up and speak with them directly.

See you there!