Students in Illinois who require access to medical cannabis during school hours were granted relief earlier in August, when Gov. Bruce Rauner signed Ashley’s Law into law. This marked a major step forward for patients, including the new law’s namesake, Ashley Surin, who sought access to help manage her seizure condition.

Heading to Burning Man? Here’s what you need to know about Black Rock City’s and Nevada’s marijuana laws. If you are heading to Burning Man this year, you may be thinking about bringing cannabis to the playa, since Nevada has legalized marijuana. Not so fast! Before you head out, there are some important things you need to know: • Burning man is held on FEDERAL land, and the Bureau of Land Management will enforce federal law, which unfortunately considers all marijuana possession a criminal offense —…

Members of the public are invited to provide comments on California’s proposed rules for cannabis businesses. The Bureau of Cannabis Control and other agencies seek public comments as they consider a permanent set of rules — replacing those temporarily in place. For background, including the text of the proposed rules, summaries, and the agencies’ reasoning for seeking changes, visit the state’s website. Comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, August 27. For the most part, permanent rules…

We're pleased to announce that Steve Hawkins has been named the new executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. Steve brings three decades of experience fighting for criminal justice reform, having previously served in leadership roles at the NAACP, Amnesty International USA, and the Coalition for Public Safety. The entire MPP staff is thrilled to welcome Steve to our organization. Steve began his career as an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund challenging racial disparities in the…

Check out our updated voter guides to learn where candidates for state legislature and governor stand on cannabis regulation! The Vermont state primary election will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, August 14. If you are a Vermont resident and haven’t already voted, please check out our legislative voter guide to learn where candidates for state legislature stand on marijuana policy. Then, please read our guide on the candidates for governor. This year, we sent candidates a survey consisting of only one…

Strong contrast emerges between Democratic candidates for attorney general The Connecticut primary election will take place next Tuesday, August 14. If you're a Connecticut resident and you’re not sure how or where to vote, please visit the secretary of state’s website for more information. On the Democratic ticket, both candidates for governor and both candidates for lieutenant governor have said they support taxing and regulating marijuana. However, in the race for attorney general, there is a…

Yesterday, Mississippians for Compassionate Care filed an initiative with the Secretary of State’s office that would make medical marijuana legal in Mississippi. The group is aiming to bring an amendment to the state constitution to voters in 2020. The first step to getting it on the ballot is to collect over 100,000 signatures from all over the state. You can read the proposed amendment here. The signature collection is a huge undertaking and the campaign will need lots of volunteers to circulate…

Yesterday, the penalty-reduction piece of Oklahoma’s medical marijuana initiative became operational. Individuals possessing up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis face a reduced penalty — a misdemeanor fine of up to $400 — if they “can state a medical condition.” Meanwhile, regulators made application materials available online for patients and caregivers, along with information for businesses and physicians. It will begin accepting applications on August 25. In another encouraging development, regulators…

Early voting is already underway for the Vermont state primary election, which is scheduled for Tuesday, August 14. This year, we sent candidates a survey consisting of only one question: “Do you support regulating and taxing the production and sale of cannabis in Vermont for use by adults 21 and older?” Our voter guides include responses from candidates for state representative, state senator, and governor, in addition to public statements and incumbent legislators’ votes on the legalization bill.…

Earlier this month, the Maine Legislature overrode Gov. LePage’s vetoes of LD 238 and LD 1539, bills to improve Maine’s medical marijuana program. LD 238 allows for third-party extraction of medical marijuana. LD 1539 is the culmination of the Health and Human Services Committee’s session-long work reforming the medical marijuana program. The bipartisan omnibus reform bill: removes the qualifying condition list so that any Mainer can use medical marijuana so long as their doctor thinks it would…