Last night, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signed a medical marijuana bill into law, officially making New Jersey the 14^th state in the nation to allow qualified patients to use medical marijuana with their doctor’s recommendation. The law allows the establishment of dispensaries around the state, but it does not make it legal for patients to grow their own marijuana.

This law means that New Jersey will no longer prosecute sick and dying patients who try to ease their symptoms with marijuana, but it apparently does not apply retroactively. On the same day Gov. Corzine signed such compassionate legislation, he also refused to pardon one of the most glaring victims of New Jersey’s old marijuana laws—John Wilson, a 37-year-old multiple sclerosis patient who faces 10 years in prison for growing marijuana plants to ease his condition.

When asked for comment, Wilson’s lawyer said he was “deeply disappointed” that the governor did not grant Wilson clemency before leaving office.

Me too.

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Pete Holmes, the newly elected Seattle city attorney, is already making good on his campaign promise to dismiss any marijuana possession charges that come through his office, the Seattle Times reported last week. Holmes dismissed two marijuana-related cases on his first day on the job, and several others are about to be dismissed, including cases taken up by the previous city attorney.

According to the Times, Holmes’ predecessor, Tom Carr, had continued to prosecute low-level marijuana arrests even after city voters passed a referendum in 2003 making marijuana the lowest law-enforcement priority for local officials.

This is just the latest in a whole string of good news coming out of Washington state in recent weeks.

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A new poll released by Survey USA found that 54% of Washington voters support taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol, and selling the natural plant in state-run liquor stores. When asked broadly if voters “think legalizing marijuana is a good idea,” support was even higher at 56%.

Last month two Washington state legislators submitted a bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol. A few days later Seattle Mayor-elect Mike McGinn came out publicly in support of ending marijuana prohibition in The Evergreen State.

A bill more likely to pass is the decriminalization bill introduced last year, which would turn possession of small amounts of marijuana into an infraction similar to a speeding ticket. The Washington State Bar Association has endorsed both bills.

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Back in October, the British government fired its chief drug adviser, Prof. David Nutt, for saying that marijuana is less dangerous than many legal drugs and that British laws should be changed to reflect this reality. Many other members of the United Kingdom’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs resigned in protest

Then this week, Les Iversen, a former pharmacology professor at the University of Oxford, was announced as Nutt’s interim replacement as the council’s chairman. And guess what? He’s also said that the UK’s marijuana laws should change.

British media are reporting that in 2003, Prof. Iverson gave a lecture in which he said marijuana use should no longer be criminal “because it is comparatively less dangerous than legal drugs alcohol and tobacco.” Iverson has tried to distance himself from those comments somewhat (perhaps so he too does not get fired!) but it seems evident that as a distinguished academic and scientist who has examined the evidence, Iversen—like Nutt—knows it is wrong to impose harsher penalties on those who use a safer substance.

Meanwhile, Nutt today announced the creation of his own, independent committee, which The Guardian reports “has the potential to embarrass the [British] government, due to its determination to make public the evidence on the relative risks and harms of drugs without regard to political sensitivities.”

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MPP California Policy Director Aaron Smith is seen here on CBS Sacramento talking about the passage of AB390 through the California Assembly's Public Safety Committee. This event marks the first time any legislative body has approved a bill to remove all penalties for adult use of marijuana, and to tax and regulate it like alcohol. 01/12/2010

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MPP Arizona spokesperson Andrew Myers discusses the initiative to put a medical marijuana bill on the ballot in 2010 with KSAZ Fox 10. This bill would allow medical marijuana patients to purchase medicine in state-licensed dispensaries. 01/14/2010

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Yesterday, the California Assembly's Public Safety Committee voted 4-3 in favor of legislation that would make marijuana legal, taxed, and regulated throughout the state. Before the vote, committee members heard supportive testimony from me and the Drug Policy Alliance's Stephen Gutwillig. Not surprisingly, A.B. 390's opponents were mostly entrenched law enforcement officials who make their living waging war on marijuana consumers.

A.B. 390 isn't likely to make it further this year due to a legislative deadline, but that shouldn't diminish the historical significance of this vote. Marijuana has been illegal for nearly 100 years in California and it's no small achievement for the first proposal to reform that arcane policy to be approved by a key legislative committee.

A.B. 390's author, Asm. Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), is committed to introducing similar legislation again in the near future. And, the looming November ballot initiative is also likely to be giving California lawmakers a reason to prioritize the regulation of marijuana in California.

You can watch the full hearing here.

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Yesterday, the New Jersey state legislature passed a bill allowing seriously ill patients with certain qualifying conditions to use medical marijuana with their doctor’s recommendation. Gov. Jon Corzine has said he will sign the bill into law before he leaves office Jan. 19, at which point New Jersey will become the 14^th state in the nation to stop treating sick and dying patients as criminals, simply because they try to relieve their conditions through marijuana.

This vote is the latest victory along the path to reforming our nation’s cruel and ineffective marijuana laws, but there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done. Thirty-six states have yet to pass urgently needed medical marijuana laws that would treat patients with compassion and dignity. To find out how to contact legislators in those states, click here.

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Tomorrow, I’ll be testifying before the California Assembly’s Committee on Public Safety during a hearing on A.B. 390 – legislation that would remove criminal penalties for personal adult marijuana use and tax and regulate its sales comparably to alcohol. After hearing testimony, the committee is very likely to vote on this landmark bill, which has been introduced by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), the committee's chair.

Regardless of the outcome, tomorrow’s hearing will mark a historic milestone in the road toward bringing the era of prohibition to a close. This is the first time in U.S. history that any state legislative committee will be voting on making marijuana legal, taxed, and regulated – and we actually have a chance of winning!

California residents: Please take a few minutes today to call your assemblymembers in support of A.B 390. MPP’s online action center couldn’t make calling any easier: Just enter your information and you’ll be provided with a phone number for your assemblymember and a script to help guide you through your call.

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MPP Director of Communications Kurt A. Gardinier appears on Press TV to discuss changing attitudes in the general public regarding marijuana and the rising support for reform of marijuana laws. Apologies for the poor video quality. 01/03/2010

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