At a press conference Wednesday, Rhode Island State Rep. Edith Ajello (pictured at right) and State Sen. Donna Nesselbush announced the introduction of a bill to make marijuana legal for adults 21 and older and establish a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol. So far the bill has 19 sponsors, including Republican House Minority Leader Brian Newberry. RIFuture.org reports: Under the Marijuana Regulation, Control and Taxation Act, criminal penalties for the private…

There’s some big news coming out of Washington, D.C.: On Tuesday, congressmen from Oregon and Colorado introduced two historic federal marijuana reform bills to Congress. Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) introduced the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013. If passed, the bill would remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act and institute a system similar to the alcohol regulatory structure that federally regulates marijuana. It would also transfer jurisdiction over marijuana…

In what is surely a sign that serious change is on the horizon for marijuana policy across the nation, the magazine for the National Conference of State Legislatures featured a long cover story about reform efforts in their latest issue. Given that lawmakers have traditionally lagged far behind public opinion on this topic, this is a pretty big step toward educating them about the need or alternatives to marijuana prohibition. So far this year, more than 20 states have introduced marijuana reform…

MPP executive director Rob Kampia is interviewed on "The Agenda," a popular political show on the Las Vegas NBC affiliate. In particular, he discusses the prospects for legalizing marijuana in Nevada and the growing public support for ending marijuana prohibition nationwide.

MPP director of government relations Steve Fox was interviewed on CNBC’s Power Lunch on Wednesday about the implementation of Washington State’s new legal marijuana market regulations. Here's the clip: It is interesting that despite voters in two states making marijuana legal for adults, and with over 20 states considering marijuana reform legislation in the 2013 session, some folks in the mainstream media simply cannot stop making jokes about this serious policy issue. The time for puns is over.…

A national poll released this week by Reason Magazine found that a majority of adults want to see marijuana reform, and that they want the federal government to respect state laws concerning marijuana. Some highlights, courtesy of Katie Hooks: - 72 percent of Americans say the federal government should not arrest marijuana users in states like Colorado and Washington that have legalized the drug. - 68 percent of Americans say the federal government should not arrest marijuana growers in states that…

Videos are now available of the town hall forum MPP hosted Sunday in Portland, Ore., where U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR3) and MPP director of government relations Steve Fox discussed the benefits of ending marijuana prohibition and how it can be done in Oregon and in Congress. A great article about the event was featured on the front page of the state’s largest newspaper, the Oregonian. The videos of Rep. Bluemenauer and Steve Fox are below courtesy of the Russ Bellville Show, and a full rundown…

2013 isn’t even a month old, and already we’re seeing numerous senators and representatives across the country ride the wave of reformation that was generated in November 2012. Since Washington and Colorado put the question of marijuana regulation on the ballot, more and more state leaders have come to the realization that prohibition is not what the people want, and it’s definitely not what the country needs. Prior to the end of 2012, Indiana Sen. Brent Steele (R-Bedford) announced plans to introduce…

My latest piece on the Huffington Post provides a summary of what MPP has in store for 2013. In particular, it lays out our general plans to change marijuana laws in states around the country and at the federal level, and it describes how we plan to continue building public support for future reform efforts. Unless people have been hiding under a rock this past couple months, they know that more than 55 percent of voters in Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana on November 6. As a result, many…

Over the past couple of months, I have been asked the following question many, many times: So which states are next? What people want to know, of course, is where MPP would like to help make marijuana legal for all adults now that we accomplished that historic goal in Colorado. While our executive director Rob Kampia has provided a public answer to that question in a national alert and blog post, I did my part to signal MPP's intentions this past weekend, with an appearance at a town hall forum in…