New Hampshire lawmakers met Thursday to discuss medical marijuana legislation. The House Committee on Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs heard four hours of testimony from supporters of H.B. 573, a bill that would allow patients with debilitating medical conditions to obtain and use medical marijuana upon receiving recommendations from their doctors. The bill permits up to five centers to dispense marijuana to patients, and it states that patients would be allowed to grow small amounts of…

[caption id="attachment_5911" align="alignleft" width="180"] Del. Curt Anderson[/caption] The Maryland House of Delegates will debate whether or not the state should permit the establishment of a legal market for businesses to sell marijuana to adults 21 and older. Delegate Curt Anderson (D-Baltimore City) introduced H.B. 1453 on Thursday. If passed, the bill would make marijuana legal for adults 21 and older and establish a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed like alcohol. The proceeds…

Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Maine unveiled the details of a new bill that would make Maine the third state in the nation to make marijuana legal for adults 21 and older and establish a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed like alcohol. If approved during this session, the “Act to Tax and Regulate Marijuana,” formulated by state Rep. Diane Russell (D-Portland) and supported by Rep. Aaron Libby (R-Waterboro), will be referred to voters in the upcoming November election. If the…

Things are looking good for a medical marijuana bill introduced in the New Hampshire legislature. The Concord Monitor reports: In advance of a hearing this week on a bill to legalize medical marijuana, a UNH-WMUR poll shows that 79 percent of New Hampshire adults support allowing doctors to recommend marijuana for patients suffering from serious illnesses. [emphasis added] This year's bill, H.B. 573, is similar to a medical marijuana measure that passed last year with bipartisan support. Unfortunately,…

The Boston Herald reported today that lawmakers in New England have been emboldened by the 2012 victories in Colorado and Washington. Rhode Island, Maine, and Massachusetts are addressing the prospect of taxation and regulation of marijuana. Vermont is considering decriminalization, and New Hampshire is pushing to legalize medical marijuana. While the reform discussion isn’t entirely new in the northeast – Rep. Ellen Story (D-MA) has submitted multiple bills in the past – MPP is optimistic about…

Yesterday, conservative political blog The Daily Caller published a story about an industrial hemp bill introduced by Kentucky Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, with a number of bipartisan co-sponsors. This bill would allow American farmers to grow hemp, which is the non-psychoactive cousin of marijuana, without fear of arrest. In a digest email sent to subscribers, Daily Caller senior editor Jamie Weinstein opined: Why not go all the way and push to legalize the drug variety of the cannabis…

Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Alcohol causes violent behavior and deaths by liver cirrhosis and alcohol poisoning. People die every day from overdoses of heroin, cocaine, meth, and even legal prescription drugs. Nonetheless, Rep. David Howard (R-Park City), Chairman of the Montana House Human Services Committee, thinks marijuana — a substance that has never caused an overdose fatality — is “the most dangerous drug there is.” That’s right folks,…

Velký – that’s ‘great’ in Czech. [caption id="attachment_5863" align="alignright" width="285"] Pres. Vaclav Klaus[/caption] On January 30, by a 67-2 vote, the Czech Senate approved a bill allowing for the medical use of marijuana. The measure affirms the decision reached by the country’s lower house of parliament. On Friday, the bill was signed into law by President Vaclav Klaus. The Czech Republic now joins a number of other European countries that allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The…

In the wake of the introduction of federal marijuana reform bills on February 5, the national media has started paying closer attention to the possibility of change in the coming years. One example is this interview with MPP’s director of government relations, Steve Fox: Such bills have come before Congress in the past with less fanfare, but it seems like this time they are being taken more seriously. Perhaps the fact that voters in Colorado and Washington decided they were sick of marijuana prohibition…

Last week, Delegate Mike Manypanny (D-Taylor) introduced a medical marijuana bill for the third time in the West Virginia Legislature, and this time it looks like people are taking a lot more notice. It is certainly positive to see the media covering both sides of the issue, including MPP communications director Mason Tvert being quoted in the Charleston Gazette: "There is no reason this should not be discussed. It is an issue taken up in dozens of states. It is time for it to be discussed in West…