Prohibitionists have filed a lawsuit to overturn the legalization law passed by South Dakota voters on Election Day!

Please make a donation to South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws' legal defense fund.

Late on Friday, the Superintendent of the South Dakota Highway Patrol and a local County Sheriff filed a lawsuit to overturn Amendment A, the marijuana legalization ballot initiative that was approved by 54% of South Dakota voters on Election Day. Governor Kristi Noem is supporting the lawsuit, and she's even using taxpayer dollars to help fund it.

If the lawsuit succeeds, Amendment A will be invalidated and legalization would be repealed. This would be a disastrous outcome given that South Dakota’s existing marijuana laws are some of the harshest in the country. The lawsuit argues that the initiative covered too many subjects and required a constitutional convention to be enacted.

The good news is this: South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, the local campaign that passed Amendment A, is confident that they can defeat the lawsuit. Amendment A was carefully drafted and thoroughly vetted last year before the start of the signature drive.

But to win in court, the campaign needs to invest in a strong legal defense team...and that’s expensive.

Please consider making a contribution directly to South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws. Over the weekend, the campaign raised over $5,500 in small dollar donations, with nearly all the money coming from South Dakota residents.

Now, we need Americans across the country to help our friends in the Mount Rushmore State.

Since last year, MPP staff have played a central role in this historic campaign, in which South Dakota became the first ever state to simultaneously legalize medical marijuana and legalize marijuana for adults 21 and over.

Help ensure that this hard-fought victory is not reversed in court and donate what you can to South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws.

Thank you so much.

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Ask your state legislators to embrace reform in 2021.

The North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice has recognized that cannabis policy reform is essential to racial justice. It is recommending reducing the penalty for possessing up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis to a civil fine and expunging past convictions. It also called for a study of legalization.

Let your state lawmakers know you want them to heed this call when they reconvene next year.

The task force includes Attorney General Josh Stein, who explained, “White and Black North Carolinians use marijuana at similar rates, yet Black people are disproportionately arrested and sentenced. Additionally, it is time for North Carolina to start having real conversations about a safe, measured, public health approach to potentially legalizing marijuana.”

Under North Carolina law, possession of up to a half ounce of cannabis is a misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to $200. Possession of greater amounts up to 1.5 ounces can result in up to 45 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Criminal convictions can derail lives, making it difficult to get employment, housing, professional licenses, and an education. The racially disparate enforcement of cannabis laws means that Black North Carolinians are disproportionately likely to have to face these harsh consequences for using a substance that is safer than alcohol.

Let your lawmakers know it’s past time North Carolina stop marking cannabis users with a scarlet letter. Then, spread the word so that others can raise their voices for justice.

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I should be fired.

For the past four years, I have tried to convince my party and my president to embrace marijuana policy reform. It should have been easy. After all, it is consistent with our core beliefs of freedom, individual liberty, personal responsibility, and federalism. But I failed.

I know from personal experience as a former legislator who was the original lead sponsor of my state’s first medical marijuana law that drug policy advocacy by a Republican is not the third rail everyone reflexively assumes it to be. Either because of, or in spite of, my advocacy over the past 20 years, I was also elected by Maryland’s most partisan Republicans to be a party chair and four-time RNC convention delegate, once as delegation chair and twice for Trump.

As a candidate, Trump said he was in favor of medical marijuana… “100%.” He also said he knew sick people who use marijuana for medical purposes and that, “it really does help them.” I knew then that he was sympathetic to patients and to our cause. And he thought legalizing marijuana should be left up to the states. I was dealt a pretty good hand.

During the 2016 election, four blue states passed adult-use marijuana ballot initiatives. One in Arizona failed by two points. Arkansas, Montana, and North Dakota passed medical marijuana with 53%, 58%, and 64% respectively. In Florida, medical marijuana received 71% of the vote, besting Trump by 1.9 million votes (6,519,000 for Measure 2 and 4,618,000 for Trump).

In battleground Florida, pot was more popular than the president, and Trump apparently noticed. His vocal support for Senator Cory Gardner’s STATES Act suggested that the drug war he had inherited would be another of the endless wars that would cease under his leadership.

In 2018, battleground Michigan passed commercial cannabis with 56% of the vote. Ruby red states Utah, Oklahoma, and Missouri passed medical with 53%, 57%, and 67% of the vote respectively and cost one Republican congresswoman her seat. Surely the Trump Administration noticed. Yet they never acted.

The Democrats won the House, and with its ‘leave it to the states’ attitude the STATES Act wasn’t comprehensive enough. It died without a vote. Progressives replaced STATES with the MORE Act, which proved too heavy to get off the runway. It has yet to get a floor vote.

Knowing he agreed with the policy and could witness firsthand the value of the politics, I was just waiting for executive action. In August, in anticipation of an ‘October Surprise,’ MPP hand-delivered to the administration a list of what Trump could do to bring this civil war to an end. Yet they never acted.

When it was apparent that the Democratic nominee would be the author of the ‘94 crime bill, Joe Biden, the RNC and the Trump campaign were quick to juxtapose Trump’s criminal justice reform efforts with Biden’s “lock ‘em up” history. But it was difficult to make the case that Biden was bad on cannabis when Trump wasn’t yet good on cannabis. Trump’s vocal support of STATES was negated by his nomination of Jeff “good people don’t smoke pot” Sessions as Attorney General and Sessions’ subsequent repeal of the Cole Memo.

Finally in August, the president blamed marijuana ballot initiatives for the defeat of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker for bringing “out like a million people that nobody ever knew were coming out.” I knew then that Trump understood the benefit of being on the right side of reform. Yet he never acted.

Maybe Trump is right, maybe not. According to an analysis by Marijuana Moment, one thing is certain: sharing your ballot with cannabis will embarrass you. In the red states, in the blue states, and in the battleground states, pot is more popular than the pols. This year, medical cannabis beat the president in South Dakota and Mississippi. Adult-use bested all the Senate, House, and Gubernatorial candidates in Montana and beat both Trump and Biden in New Jersey and Arizona.

If Trump is correct, there is a certain irony that, less than three months after his remarks to Walker, cannabis got 60%, Trump 49% in battleground Arizona. His margin was razor thin. In a race where everything mattered, marijuana votes mattered. Did being on the wrong side of cannabis not only embarrass Trump (and McSally) in Arizona, but also cost him the state’s 11 electoral votes and maybe the White House? Based on his comments in Wisconsin, Trump must think so.

Either way, someone should get fired.

Don Murphy is the director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, a former Maryland legislator, and four-time Republican National Committee Convention Delegate.

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Click here to ask your member of the House to vote “yes” on the MORE Act.

Leadership in the House of Representatives recently announced plans to vote on the MORE Act in December. As we’ve reported, this will mark the first time the House has voted to end cannabis prohibition, and the measure takes other major steps toward cannabis policy reform.

This is big, and now is the time to reach out to your member of Congress. Follow this link to send a quick message asking your Representative to vote yes on the MORE Act when it is called for a vote.

In effect, the MORE Act would end the war on cannabis at the federal level by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act and ending criminal penalties under federal law. It would also take steps to reduce the harm from years of failed cannabis laws by expunging criminal histories related to marijuana and prohibiting discrimination against individuals on the basis of their cannabis use. We have a summary of many of the key provisions here.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who made the announcement, is making good on leadership’s commitment to hold a vote on the landmark bill, which was originally scheduled before the election. If the measure passes in the House, it will move to the Senate.

Please take a moment to make sure your House member knows of your support and ask for a “yes” vote on the MORE Act!

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Ask your state senator to support S.2535/ A.1897.

Good news! Yesterday, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee approved S.2535/ A.1897. The combined bills would legalize possession of up to six ounces of cannabis! The measure was approved with an 11-0 vote, with one abstention.

The bills now await a floor vote in the Senate.

Please email your state senator today to ask them to support this important step to implement the voter-enacted legalization initiative.

The amended bills would legalize possession for adults of up to six ounces of marijuana, or up to 170 grams of hashish. Distribution of up to one ounce of cannabis or five grams of hash would carry a civil penalty of $50.

Additionally, prosecutors would be allowed more discretion to dismiss some pending cannabis cases under the proposed amendments — specifically, pending cases for distribution of just under five pounds of marijuana.

Also in a surprise move, the amendments would also reduce the penalty for possession of one ounce or less of psilocybin mushrooms to a disorderly persons offense punishable by a $500 fine and potential jail time.

Finally, in other news, Senate and Assembly budget committees have delayed consideration of bills to implement the legal, regulated cannabis market — A. 21 and S. 21. As Assembly Appropriations Committee Chairman John Burzichelli (D) said, “Negotiations and fine tuning are still underway on that topic.”

After you take action, please spread the word to others so we can put an end to criminalizing cannabis consumers in New Jersey across the finish line.

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Ask your state lawmakers to support legalization, not just decriminalization, immediately, and to improve the regulatory bills!

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Ask your state senator to put an end to wrongful DUI convictions of medical cannabis patients.

It’s been four years since the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Gov. Tom Wolf legalized medical cannabis. But Pennsylvania still has an unscientific law on the books that criminalizes driving with cannabis in one’s system. Because THC can stay in the body for a week, completely sober drivers — including medical cannabis patients — can be wrongfully branded with a DUI conviction!

On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill (SB 773) that would create an exception to this unjust law for state-legal patients. Medical cannabis patients could still be convicted if they drove while impaired, but this would stop criminalizing sober patients with trace amounts of THC in their blood.

Ask your senator to support this important reform.

The Senate already passed a different version of the bill, which includes other DUI reforms. But the medical cannabis protections were added to the House in a floor amendment, so SB 773 will return to the Senate for another vote.

Check out Rep. Ed Gainey’s powerful speech in support.

In other news, a bipartisan bill was introduced to make several other improvements to Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis law. HB 2945 would remove a cap on the number of patients each caregiver can serve, allow entities (such as nursing homes) to serve as caregivers, allow more medical cannabis telemedicine, and remove a provision that sunsets the law when the federal government reschedules cannabis.

Stay tuned for updates. And don’t forget to take action and spread the word. Together, we can keep improving Pennsylvania’s cannabis laws.

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Check out the voter guide published by the Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network!

The last day to vote in the 2020 election — Tuesday, November 3 — is now less than two weeks away. This year’s election is critical in determining whether 2021 will be the year Delaware legalizes cannabis for adults 21 and older.

Our allies at Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network have published a voter guide that details where candidates stand on legalization. It includes responses to a survey, as well as cannabis voting history for incumbents.

You can look up your state legislative district here. Then, be sure to check out the voter guide for Delaware House and Senate races, as well as the gubernatorial race, to see where your candidates stand. If a candidate on your ballot has not yet taken a public position on cannabis legalization, we encourage you to ask them these questions yourself.

State legislative races are often close contests that can be decided by just a few votes. Don’t miss out on a chance to decide who will represent you in Dover and vote on Delaware’s cannabis policy in the 2021 session.

You can find out if you’re registered to vote, request a ballot to vote by mail, and check the status of your ballot here. The deadline to request a ballot by mail is Friday, October 30 (received by). You can find more information on voting by mail in Delaware — which is available to all voters — here. Absentee and mail-in ballots must be received by November 3. Polls are open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Be sure to share this information with your friends and family in Delaware!

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Tuesday, November 3 is Election Day. This year’s elections will be critical in determining whether Pennsylvania will finally legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older.

We’ve put together a voter guide on where the candidates stand on legalizing, regulating, and taxing cannabis for adults 21 and older. It includes responses to our candidate questionnaire, along with past public stances on legalization.

Despite the pandemic, the issue of legalization has been front and center in Pennsylvania throughout 2020. At the top of the year, a House bill that built on a 2019 proposal to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana for adult use in the Keystone State was introduced. In May, a poll commissioned by the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition (PCC) and conducted by Harper Polling found 62% of likely voters in Pennsylvania favor legal, regulated sales of marijuana for adults 21 and older. Additionally, Gov. Wolf and Lt. Gov. Fetterman have been vocal in their consistent call for legalization to spur economic development caused by the pandemic throughout the year.

As I’m sure you know, state legislative races are often close contests that can be decided by just a few votes. I encourage you to first look up your state legislators here. Then, check out our voter guides for Pennsylvania Senate races and Pennsylvania House races to see where the candidates stand.

After you have a chance to look at our voter guide, please spread the word. If a candidate in your district has not taken a public position, we strongly encourage you to ask them these questions yourself! We would be happy to update the voter guide with their answers; please email DeVaughn Ward with any updates.

Don’t miss out on a chance to decide who represents you in Harrisburg and will vote on Pennsylvania’s cannabis policy in the 2021 session.

The deadline to register to vote is next Monday, October 19. All voters are allowed to vote absentee, and requests must be in by Monday, October 27. You can find ballot return locations here. Absentee ballots must be postmarked or received in person by November 3. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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