If you live in Maryland, contact your lawmakers today and ask them to support HB0656 and SB0771.

This week, lawmakers introduced legislation to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older! Earlier this year, House Speaker Mike Busch and Senate President Mike Miller announced plans to create a work group to study how to best implement the legalization of marijuana. 

Delegate Eric Luedtke and Senator Will Smith have introduced a pair of bills, HB0656 and SB0771, to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana for adults 21 and older and automatically expunge convictions for possession and cultivation that would become legal under the bill. You can read a summary of the bill here. 

Meanwhile, Delegate David Moon has introduced a constitutional amendment bill, HB0632, to legalize marijuana for adults’ use, which would require voter approval in 2020.

Email your state legislators today to urge them to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana for adults 21 and older!

The majority of Marylanders support ending the failed policy of marijuana prohibition. It is time for Marylanders to pressure the General Assembly to end marijuana prohibition and expunge records for past convictions.

Please contact your lawmakers today. Then, forward this message to your friends and family in Maryland. Together, we can end prohibition!

If you live in Alaska, click here to voice your opposition to the appointment of Vivian Stiver to the board.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy shocked many last month when he sacked Marijuana Control Board Chairman Brandon Emmett and appointed Vivan Stiver to the board post. Ms. Stiver is a well-known opponent of the adult-use program in Alaska, and many see the move as an ominous attempt to undermine the voter-approved law.

Click here to send a message to your lawmakers in the House and Senate telling them that you oppose the appointment of a prohibitionist to the Marijuana Control Board.

Voters approved the state's adult-use law in 2014 by historic margins. Since then, the state has launched a program that generates jobs, revenue, and avoids much of the harm created by marijuana prohibition. The transition from prohibition to regulation has been a success.

But despite clear advances, there have been detractors, and few are as well-known as Vivian Stiver. From her failed attempt to ban businesses in Fairbanks in 2017, to opposing individual licenses, few opponents have been as notorious as Vivian Stiver. If there is a bright spot in her record, it's that she has been ineffective at imposing prohibition policies so far. That may soon change.

Alaska needs board members who support the regulatory path voters have taken, rather than oppose it. Please send a message to your lawmakers and voice your opposition to this ill-considered and harmful appointment.

Today, members of Nebraskans for Sensible Marijuana Laws submitted a constitutional amendment proposal to the Nebraska Secretary of State. The campaign, which is supported by MPP, aims to put the language on the ballot for voter approval in the November 2020 election. Read the full text of the proposal here.

Now is a critical time for the campaign to begin building resources to ensure the proposal qualifies for the ballot. Please make a contribution to support this important effort to pass a compassionate medical marijuana law in Nebraska.

If successful, the initiative would establish constitutional protections for patients who receive a recommendation from their physician or nurse practitioner to use medical marijuana. It would also lay the groundwork for the state to establish a regulated system of production and sales to registered patients through dispensaries.

After years of obstruction in the Nebraska Legislature, it is exciting to see an effort to bring this important issue to voters. If you can, please pitch in $25 or $50 to help the campaign prepare for the work ahead.

If you're an Oklahoma resident, ask your state lawmakers to stop criminalizing cannabis consumers.

Yesterday, the Oklahoma Legislature kicked off the first day of its 2019 legislative session. Let your lawmakers know it's time for Oklahoma to stop arresting and jailing cannabis consumers.

In September, the Oklahoma City Council reduced the penalty for simple possession of cannabis to a civil fine, after the reform was recommended by Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty.

Ask your legislators to take this modest but important reform to the state level.

Oklahoma has the highest incarceration rate in the nation. Let your lawmakers know there are better uses of jail space and law enforcement's time. It's time to stop derailing lives over a substance that is safer than alcohol.

Please take action and spread the word.

MPP and Clergy for a New Drug Policy are reaching out to clergy – you can help

As South Carolina considers adopting a medical cannabis program, a recent poll shows how supportive South Carolinians continue to be. This support must certainly include members of the faith community.

We are eager to identify individual clergy we might contact and work with on this important issue. If you are a member of the clergy or you know someone who is and who supports this effort, please let us know. Clergy may also sign our online statement of support.

Thirty-three states have already approved cannabis as medicine. 2019 will likely be a pivotal year in the debate in South Carolina. Sen. Tom Davis and Rep. Peter McCoy have reintroduced bills this year that would establish a medical cannabis program for seriously ill patients in South Carolina.

Clergy have spoken out for medical cannabis in other states and are raising their voices in South Carolina as well. Clergy for a New Drug Policy, our ally around the U.S, has already begun meeting with individual clergy here. For a recent post on medical cannabis as an alternative to opioids, click here.

Those who choose the safer approach should not be treated like criminals, particularly when they are under the care of a physician.

Please contact us if you are a supportive member of the clergy or know someone who is. Together, we can lay the foundation for a compassionate and regulated program for many of our state's most vulnerable population.

Thank you for your help.

We will need two-thirds majorities to overcome Gov. Sununu’s veto threat. If you live in New Hampshire, email your state legislators today!

New Hampshire’s legalization bill, HB 481, has been scheduled for a public hearing next Tuesday beginning at 1:00 p.m. Since there is expected to be a large turnout from both supporters and opponents, the hearing has been moved to Representatives Hall. Here are the details:

WHAT: Public Hearing on HB 481 in the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee

WHERE: Representatives Hall, 33 N State Street, Concord 

WHEN: 1:00 p.m., Tuesday, February 5

Members of the public are welcome to testify. If you are interested in attending the public hearing, please click here for more information on how the process works and how you can make a positive impact with your testimony. You can read a summary of HB 481 here, and the full text is available here.

If you haven’t already done so, please email your state representative(s) and senator today and encourage them to support HB 481.

If you receive a response from a legislator, it would be very helpful if you could share it with us via email.

Please forward this message to your family and friends!

We are now less than one week away from our lobby day event! The time is now to pressure the General Assembly to pass legislation to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana for adults 21 and older. If you haven't already, be sure to register today, and join us in Annapolis.

What: Maryland 2019 Cannabis Legalization Lobby Day
When: Tuesday, February 5 (7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.)
Where: House Building Room 170, Annapolis, Maryland
Register here.

Prior to meeting with your elected officials, we will provide you with an information package including appointment times and locations and suggested talking points.

It is important your lawmakers hear from as many constituents as possible. Help us send a strong message to the General Assembly to end prohibition by joining us in solidarity. Also be sure to share this message — or the Facebook event — with your friends and family in Maryland.

See you in Annapolis next week! Together, we can end prohibition.

If you're a Wyoming resident, urge your lawmakers to support HB0278.

Yesterday, House Majority Floor Leader Rep. Eric Barlow (R) introduced a bill to legalize medical cannabis in the Cowboy State! Under House Bill 0278, cannabis would be tested and regulated by the Department of Agriculture.

Please encourage your legislators to champion compassion and common sense by supporting effective medical cannabis legislation.

Unfortunately, Wyoming is one of the 18 states with no effective cannabis law, even though over 70% of Wyomingites support legalizing cannabis for medical use.

Medical cannabis is proven to be effective in the treatment of a variety of debilitating medical conditions, and seriously ill people should not be subject to arrest and criminal penalties for using a safer treatment option than opiates.

Please contact your lawmakers today to ask them to support HB 0278. Then, forward this message to your family and friends in Wyoming!

If you live in Maine, click here to reach out to your lawmakers today.

Aside from implementing Maine's new adult-use marijuana law, there are other marijuana policy bills being heard in Augusta. Four Maine legislators, from both parties, have introduced bills that would help Mainers with past marijuana convictions. You can read more the bills and sponsors here.

Earlier this month, the Portland Press Herald published an editorial in favor of these reforms, saying: "Times change, and laws need to change with them. Maine voted to put the old marijuana laws behind us, and lawmakers should complete the process."

The bills would either seal past convictions or permanently erase them from their records. The language for these bills is not available yet, butgenerally adults who have convictions on their records for crimes that are no longer illegal — home cultivation and personal possession — may apply for their records to be sealed or expunged. Please ask your lawmakers to support this commonsense criminal justice reform.

As an aside, I hope to see you at next week's Cannabis Industry Mixer in Portland on Thursday, February 7. You can see the details and get your free tickets here. See you then!

If you live in Hawaii, contact your lawmakers today and ask them to support SB686!

Tomorrow, a bill to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana for adults 21 and older will be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

What: SB686 Hearing
When: Thursday, January 31, 9:00 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
Where: Lumi ' Council 016 / Conference Room 016, State Capitol, 415 South Beretania Street, Honolulu, HI 96813

Voice your support by providing oral or written testimony! Those wishing to provide oral testimony will be limited to two minutes. If you testify, please be polite and respectful, dress in business or business casual attire, and avoid repeating points that have already been made. You can always briefly note you agree with previous supportive testimony, and ask the committee to approve SB686.

You can also provide written testimony here.

After the hearing, be sure to ask your lawmakers to support replacing marijuana prohibition with thoughtful regulation. Ending prohibition would reduce the number of marijuana-related arrests, displace the illicit marijuana market, and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

It's past time adults be allowed to use a substance that is safer than alcohol. With your help, Hawaii can take a more thoughtful approach to marijuana.