Make sure you’re registered to vote, so you can help elect a better legislature next year.

Yesterday was the last day of Minnesota’s legislative session, and, sadly, important cannabis policy reforms fell short.

An array of legalization proposals died without receiving floor votes, including House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler’s 222-page bill. HF 4632 reflected extensive input from stakeholders and a statewide listening tour. Rep. Winkler had intended to pass it through the House this year, but the coronavirus derailed his plans.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka vowed legalization wouldn’t pass the Senate because his Republican caucus remains opposed. Under Gazelka’s and Sen. Michelle Benson’s leadership, the Senate killed even a modest, House-passed proposal to allow whole plant, raw medical cannabis late Sunday night. Without this reform, the costs of medical cannabis will remain out of reach for many Minnesotans.

On a bright note, our allies at Sensible Change Minnesota were able to extend eligibility for reduced fees to individuals who qualify for veterans or railroad disability, and to extend the reduced fee for patients who transition from SSDI to retirement benefits.

While it’s possible the legislature will return for a COVID-related special session, there is very little chance that cannabis policy reforms will be taken up. But there is still ample opportunity to make a difference this year: Elections are just around the corner.

The entire state House and Senate will be on the ballot. If you’re eligible to vote, make sure you’re registered. You can also sign up to vote early by mail.

Relatively few voters take an active role in state legislative races, so even a handful of advocates can have an outsized influence. We hope you’ll reach out to candidates in your area and consider volunteering for and/or donating to supporters. The best way to ensure champions are in St. Paul is to help elect them. Stay tuned for voter guides.

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Stores will be open for curbside delivery only — thanks to all who contacted the Baker administration and their elected officials!

Today, Gov. Charlie Baker announced that adult-use cannabis retailers will be allowed to reopen on May 25. The stores, which had been ordered to cease operations on March 23, will be allowed to serve customers by curbside delivery only during the first phase of the commonwealth’s reopening.

Thanks to everyone who contacted Gov. Baker and other elected officials and stressed the importance of regulated cannabis businesses! The shutdown has been a major setback for businesses and an inconvenience for many consumers, so it is a great relief that things can finally start getting back on track.

In other positive news from the Bay State, applications for delivery licenses are expected to become available in late May. These licenses will be reserved for social equity and economic empowerment applicants.

Please share this excellent news with your family and friends!

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Ask your state senator to support home delivery and allowing medical cannabis for all debilitating conditions.

We have good news and bad news from the Louisiana State Legislature.

The good news is the House overwhelmingly approved bills to allow medical cannabis for any debilitating condition (HB 819) and to permanently allow regulated home delivery (HB 792). The bad news is that the bill to allow raw, flower cannabis has still not gotten a hearing (HB 385) after its sponsor pulled the bill from a committee agenda. If HB 385 isn’t scheduled for a hearing today, it will die.

Please email your state senator today to ask them to support HB 819 and HB 792.

To go the extra mile, consider writing Rep. Ted James, who sponsors HB 385, to respectfully urge him to ask that it be scheduled for a hearing. Rep. James has been a longtime champion, so please be sure to be polite and respectful. He also recently survived a life-threatening bout of coronavirus and is not personally going to the capital due to public health concerns.

However, even if Rep. James is not present, the bill can be heard with another representative presenting it. Louisiana is one of only two medical cannabis states that continue to ban cannabis in its natural, plant form. Because extracts are far more expensive to produce, this drives up costs and results in a program that is out of reach to most of the state’s residents.

After you take action, please spread the word to other compassionate Louisianans, so that they, too, can raise their voices.

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Visit the Secretary of State’s website to register or verify your registration and request an absentee ballot — the primary election is scheduled for June 9!

In the wake of yet another disappointing legislative session for cannabis advocates in West Virginia, the 2020 election season presents an important opportunity to replace prohibitionists with public officials who are serious about legalizing cannabis. The primary election is scheduled for June 9, but you may also choose to vote early or by absentee ballot — in light of COVID-19, the state has announced that all voters are eligible for absentee ballots.

West Virginia’s voter registration deadline is Tuesday, May 19. If you’re already registered to vote, please take a moment to verify your registration on the Secretary of State’s website and, if you desire, request an absentee ballot.

And if you aren’t registered yet, now would be a great time to register!

In one race that is of particular interest, the Democratic Party’s primary features several candidates seeking the nomination to run for governor against the Republican incumbent, Gov. Jim Justice, who signed the medical cannabis bill in 2017 but later declared himself to be “adamantly, adamantly, etched in stone, adamantly against recreational marijuana.”

At least two of the three leading Democratic candidates for governor would certainly be much better on cannabis policy than Gov. Justice:

• Stephen Smith has repeatedly indicated his support for cannabis legalization throughout the campaign, including at a debate in March.
• State Senator Ron Stollings spoke in favor of medical cannabis legislation in 2017 as a medical doctor and chairman of the Senate Health Committee, and in 2020 he sponsored a bill seeking to add home cultivation to the law.
• Ben Salango is not known to have publicly expressed a position on cannabis policy.

Finally, voters may be interested in the statewide election for West Virginia Supreme Court, where three of five seats will be up for grabs. The candidates include Justice Tim Armstead, who vigorously opposed medical cannabis during his time as Speaker of the House, and former Justice Richard Neely, who has penned several op-eds in support of cannabis legalization, such as this one.

Please share this message with your friends and family and encourage them to register and vote!

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Tell your state lawmakers you support allowing the sale of adult-use cannabis.

We hope you and your loved ones are well during these challenging times.

A recent poll commissioned by the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition shows Pennsylvania voters support allowing adult-use cannabis sales, particularly to meet anticipated budget challenges due to COVID-19. Voters polled in each region of the state preferred to see the state control, regulate, and tax the sale of adult-use cannabis instead of raising taxes. The poll also showed should cannabis be legalized, residents prefer licensed dispensaries over state-controlled stores.

Let your lawmakers know you want them to listen to voters and end Pennsylvania’s senseless war on marijuana.

Although many legislatures have adjourned due to concerns related to the coronavirus, Pennsylvania has adopted rules to allow remote voting. Early this year, Rep. Jake Wheatley introduced House Bill 2050, which improves on prior proposals to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana in the state. Although the bill is not expected to pass this year, Rep. Wheatley’s bill adds to a rapidly developing conversation in support of legalization.

As the momentum continues to build for legalized, regulated sales of cannabis to adults in Pennsylvania, please take a few minutes to email your state lawmakers to add your voice to the growing number of Keystone residents who support marijuana legalization. With primary elections coming up, stay tuned for voter guides and other opportunities to get engaged as the election approaches.

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Ask Senate leadership to put patients first.

Exciting news! The Minnesota House included a provision to allow raw, whole plant medical cannabis in its version of the Health Policy Omnibus bill.

But the only way for this provision to make it past the finish line is if the Senate concurs. With only one day left to pass bills, we need you to contact Senator Michelle Benson (R) and Senator Paul Gazelka (R) NOW to concur with the House and put #patientsfirst.

You use our free advocacy software to send a quick email to both senators here. Then, consider following up with a call to Sen. Benson at 651-296-3219 and to Sen. Gazelka at 651-296-4875. To make a public plea, Sen. Gazelka’s Twitter handle is @paulgazelka and Sen. Benson’s is @SenatorBenson.

Be sure to be polite and respectful. We want to persuade, not alienate, Senate leaders. And consider sharing your personal experience if this bill would help you or a loved one.

Minnesota is one of only two medical cannabis states that forbid cannabis in its natural, flower form. This drives up costs, threatens the financial viability of cannabis businesses, and deprives patients of access to the form of medicine that works best for many.

The medical cannabis provision was offered by Rep. Pat Garofalo (R) and adopted with bipartisan support. The Senate can either concur (agree and pass the bill as amended, with the provision adding raw cannabis) or go to conference committee to remove the provision.

If you want to see this provision become law, call Sen. Benson and Sen. Gazelka as soon as possible and ask them to put #patientsfirst and concur with the House! Then, spread the word to other compassionate Minnesotans.

Many thanks to our friends at Sensible Minnesota for leading the charge on this effort!

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Call your Senator and urge them to include cannabis banking reform in the next relief package.

Yesterday, House leadership released a coronavirus relief bill that includes provisions to protect banks that service cannabis businesses from being penalized by federal regulators.

MPP has advocated for cannabis reform to be incorporated into COVID-19 legislation, including by sending a letter to House leadership and signing onto a letter with allies urging Congressional lawmakers to add the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act — or similar language — into the next pandemic relief package.

Due to current federal laws and financial regulations, most banks are unwilling to take the risk of prosecution or sanction to work with state-legal cannabis businesses. At a time when public health and safety are at the forefront of national consciousness, many businesses in the cannabis space are still forced to operate entirely in cash, thereby increasing the risk of virus transmission. Allowing state-legal cannabis businesses access to banking would improve both the safety and transparency of the industry, in addition to eliminating barriers to entry that prevent Americans from communities hit hardest by the war on cannabis from starting businesses.

The banking section of the new relief package, the HEROES Act, would “allow cannabis-related legitimate businesses, that in many states have remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic as essential services, along with their service providers, to access banking services and products, as well as insurance.”

While we expect this legislation will pass the House, which could have a floor vote on the relief package as early as this Friday, the fate of the bill in the Senate remains much more uncertain. Please call your Senator now and urge them to support inclusion of cannabis banking provisions in the HEROES Act.

We hope you and yours are staying safe and in good health during this time.

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Ask your lawmakers to vote to override the governor’s veto when they reconvene session!

Yesterday, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) acted on hundreds of bills that the legislature approved during its shortened session.

Sadly, the governor vetoed HB 83 — a modest bill that would automatically shield past cannabis charges occurring before October 1, 2014 in which possession was the only charge in the case. This is not a full record expungement. If enacted, it would simply shield nearly 200,000 past cannabis possession charges from public view on the Judiciary’s “Case Search” website.

While the governor’s veto is disappointing, the legislature can override it if three-fifths of both chambers agree. Contact your lawmakers and ask them to override the governor’s veto on HB 83!

Unless a special session is called, the legislature will take up vetoes when they reconvene for the 2021 session in January.

You can also let Gov. Hogan know how disappointed you are in his action on Twitter or by phone (410-974-3901) or email. It makes no sense to continue stigmatizing and embarrassing Marylanders for being cited for possessing a substance that is safer than alcohol. This is all the more true given that cannabis has been decriminalized since 2014, and most Marylanders support legalizing it.

In some encouraging news, the governor allowed HB 617/ SB 604, “Conner and Raina’s Law,” to become law without his signature. This legislation will provide for the administration of medical cannabis to qualifying pediatric patients during school hours and events.

Don’t miss the opportunity to voice your support for commonsense cannabis policy reform by asking your lawmakers to override the governor’s veto of HB 83! Please also help us keep up the pressure to end prohibition in the Free State by asking your lawmakers to support legalizing cannabis for adult use.

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Ask your legislators to support easing access to medical cannabis.

While many state legislatures have adjourned due to the coronavirus, the Louisiana State Legislature is back in action — with social distancing precautions — and is considering a series of bills to expand the state’s medical cannabis program.

On Wednesday, the House Health and Welfare Committee unanimously advanced bills sponsored by Rep. Larry Bagley (R) that would allow physicians to recommend medical cannabis for any debilitating condition (HB 819) and allow regulated home delivery permanently (HB 792). Next Wednesday, the committee is scheduled to consider several other reforms, including removing the prohibition on raw cannabis (Rep. Ted James’ HB 385).

Louisiana is one of only two medical cannabis states that continue to ban cannabis in its natural, plant form. Because extracts are far more expensive to produce, this drives up costs and results in a program that is out of reach to most of the state’s residents.

Let your lawmakers know these bills will improve the lives of suffering Louisianans.

Never doubt the impact constituent feedback can have on medical cannabis policy. The two bills that advanced out of committee are sponsored by a lawmaker who evolved from an opponent to a champion after hearing from constituents.

Rep. Bagley told Marijuana Moment he’d voted against previous medical cannabis bills. “But now, constituents in my area, they come to me and they ask me for help because they’re having pain, they can’t find things to cure the pain. …Now their personal physician can write them a script for [cannabis] and they can get it. Who knows you better than your personal physician? I thought it made perfect sense,” said Bagley.

After you write your lawmakers, please spread the word to other compassionate Louisianans, so that they, too, can raise their voices.

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New Approach Montana, the political campaign working to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana in the state, announced the launch of a statewide signature drive starting this Saturday in support of two complementary marijuana legalization ballot initiatives.

“The ballot initiative process is an integral component of democracy for half of all the states,” said Matthew Schweich, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project, which is supporting the campaign. “Campaigns across the country did the responsible thing by delaying and pausing signature drives earlier this year. But the economy is reopening, and now we have the opportunity to responsibly resume our efforts and give voters the opportunity to make important policy decisions at the ballot box this November,” Schweich continued.

The campaign is instituting a set of public health protocols to limit contact between circulators and petition signers, including wearing masks, providing single-use pens and gloves, supplying disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer, and maintaining the six-foot distance requirement, among other measures. Joan Miles, a public health professional who served as the director of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services under former Gov. Brian Schweitzer, reviewed the protocols and endorsed the campaign’s plan.

New Approach Montana is supporting two ballot initiatives this year. The first, I-190, is a statutory initiative that would legalize marijuana in Montana for adults and establish a regulatory framework for cultivation and sales. The second, CI-118, is a constitutional initiative that would set the legal minimum age for purchasing, consuming, or possessing marijuana at 21.

To qualify for the November 2020 ballot, the campaign must gather 25,468 signatures for I-190 and 50,936 signatures for CI-118. Under state law, all signatures must be submitted to county clerks by June 19.

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