Ask your lawmakers to support legalizing and regulating marijuana for adults.

I have some encouraging news to share with you. Last week, a majority of Senate Democrats authored a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf arguing that adult-use marijuana legalization should be immediately pursued to make up revenue losses from the coronavirus pandemic.

The letter, which was signed by 18 Senate Democrats in total, argues that legalizing adult-use cannabis can protect Pennsylvanians from harmful tax hikes and spending cuts by raising new revenue to continue providing vital services. During the current 2019-2020 fiscal year, the Independent Fiscal Office estimated the General Fund would lose $3.9 billion due to COVID-19, including $2.1 billion that would be shifted to the next fiscal year. It also projected a $1.8 billion permanent revenue loss from a contraction of economic activity.

A 2018 Auditor General report found Pennsylvania could generate $581 million annually by regulating and taxing adult-use marijuana. The senators argue that legalizing adult-use cannabis would also serve as a revenue saving tool in agencies such as the Department of Corrections.

The letter builds on a rapidly developing conversation in the Keystone State in support of legalization, including a listening tour by Lt. Gov. Fetterman and a poll that showed support for the issue among Republican voters. Earlier this year, Rep. Jake Wheatley introduced House Bill 2050, which improves on prior proposals to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana in the state. You can check out a summary of the bill here.

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 just four months until Election Day, stay tuned for voter guides and other opportunities to get engaged as the election approaches.

Share your story to help add ADHD, insomnia, and anxiety to Minnesota's medical cannabis program!

The Minnesota medical cannabis program is once again accepting petitions to add new qualifying medical conditions. This year, our allies at Sensible Minnesota — in partnership with MinnMed — are petitioning to add ADHD, insomnia, and anxiety.

Letters of support from healthcare professionals; individuals with ADHD, insomnia, or anxiety; and parents or guardians of minors with these conditions are needed! If you fall into one of these categories, share your perspective with our allies at Sensible Minnesota by sending them an email here. Sensible Minnesota will be submitting these letters of support along with the petition.

When Minnesota’s medical cannabis law passed in 2014, its list of qualifying conditions was among the most restrictive in the country — leaving behind huge numbers of patients. But, through several petitions, the program has expanded, allowing tens of thousands of additional patients to qualify. On August 1, chronic pain will be added to the program, thanks to last year’s petition that Sensible Minnesota spearheaded. In prior years, PTSD, intractable pain, autism, and obstructive sleep apnea were added by the health department.

Please forward this message to any of your friends, family, doctors, nurses, or others who may be interested in helping out. The deadline to submit petitions is July 31, so the clock is ticking! Act now to help expand Minnesota’s medical cannabis program.

Exciting news! Last Thursday, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana submitted over 182,000 signatures to the Secretary of State in support of their initiative to legalize medical cannabis for patients with serious health conditions. The campaign needs roughly 121,000 valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

Donate now to support the medical cannabis campaign in Nebraska!

Since last year, the Nebraska team recruited hundreds of volunteers who gathered over 33,000 signatures — including 14,000 collected in just the last two and a half weeks. MPP staff played a central role in the effort and contacted over 35,000 voters to ask them to sign in the final days of the signature drive!

We’re confident the campaign collected enough signatures to qualify the initiative for the ballot, but we expect a well-funded opposition effort to emerge, led by politicians like Gov. Pete Ricketts. Patients and families in Nebraska need our help:

Can you contribute $25, $50, or $100 to help support families and patients in Nebraska?

Let’s make sure the Nebraska team has what they need to see this through and pass a compassionate medical cannabis law in November.

Tell your state lawmakers you support SB 1206.

Good news! Last month, Sen. Camera Bartolotta sponsored legislation (SB 1206) that would reform Pennsylvania’s DUI laws to stop criminalizing medicinal marijuana patients for driving long after any impairing effects of cannabis have worn off.

Urge your state lawmakers to sign on as a cosponsor for SB 1206.

Pennsylvania legalized the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes in 2016. However, state law continues to criminalize drivers for having any amount of THC in their system. THC can stay in a regular consumer’s system for days after last use, meaning patients are criminalized for driving well after impairment wears off. SB 1206 would provide that, for medical marijuana patients, it is only a crime to drive when impaired — not to simply have THC in one’s system. The bill currently awaits a referral to a committee for a hearing. You can read a copy of the bill here.

In other marijuana-related news, early this year Rep. Jake Wheatley introduced House Bill 2050, which improves on prior proposals to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana in the state. For more details, check out our bill summary. Although the bill has not gained traction as of yet, 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 just four months until Election Day, stay tuned for voter guides and other opportunities to get engaged as the election approaches.

This afternoon, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, a 2020 ballot initiative committee, will deliver over 182,000 signatures gathered from all 93 counties in the state in support of their ballot initiative to establish legal protections for medical marijuana patients with serious health conditions. If approved by a majority of voters in November, the initiative would allow patients to access and use medical marijuana as recommended by their physician or nurse practitioner.

To qualify for the ballot, the campaign needed to submit over 121,000 valid signatures, representing over 10% of the voters in the state. The campaign also had to collect signatures from at least 5% of voters in a minimum of 38 counties across Nebraska.

Since last year, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana has recruited hundreds of volunteers who gathered over 33,000 signatures for the campaign, including 14,000 collected in just the last two and half weeks.

In the coming weeks, state and local officials will tally the signatures collected by the campaign to confirm that enough valid signatures were submitted to qualify the initiative for the November 3 general election ballot. A decision is expected by mid-August.

More information about the initiative can be found at www.nebraskamarijuana.org.

Contact your lawmakers and urge them to end cannabis prohibition.

In May, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed a decriminalization bill — SB 2/ HB 972 — into law, making Virginia the 27th state to decriminalize simple cannabis possession. Today, the new law officially goes into effect!

Starting today, possession of one ounce of cannabis or less is punishable by up to a $25 fine — the lowest fine of any decriminalization state. You can read a full summary of the new law here.

While this reform is long overdue in Virginia, broader reform — legalizing and regulating cannabis for adults — is needed to further reduce cannabis-related arrests, remove cannabis as a justification for police interactions, and displace the illicit market by providing adults safe, regulated access.

Just last week, the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus included legalization on its list of priorities for a special session set for August. The decriminalization law also creates a work group to study legalization in Virginia and make recommendations by November 30, 2020.

Now is a great time to reach out to your lawmakers and urge them to support legalizing, taxing, and regulating cannabis for adults 21 and older.

In other news, several improvements to Virginia’s limited medical cannabis program also go into effect today. Patients are now legally protected from prosecution (not just conviction) for possessing their medicine, and a greater variety of products and more dispensary locations will also be available to patients when products are available for purchase.

Please take a minute to reach out to your lawmakers in support of legalization, and be sure to share this news with your family and friends in Virginia!

Gov. Chris Sununu said “every idea should be put on the table” — submit written testimony urging the commission to recommend cannabis legalization as part of police reform!

Last week, a new state commission began meeting to consider issues related to criminal justice policy reform in New Hampshire. Created by executive order by Gov. Chris Sununu, the Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community, and Transparency has been tasked with considering several issues including “the current state of relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve, and potential steps that can be taken to enhance these relationships.”

Clearly, legalization of cannabis is one reform that would dramatically improve police-community relations. We need to make sure the commission members hear this message loudly, clearly and convincingly from Granite Staters. Please click here to learn more about the commission and for information on how you can submit testimony as a member of the public.

Here, for reference, is a copy of the testimony I submitted to the commission on behalf of MPP.

Please pass this message along to anybody you know who might be interested in sharing their thoughts on cannabis policy and other criminal justice policy reform issues with the commission!

On Monday, Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed HF 2589 into law, expanding the list of medical conditions that qualify for Iowa’s Medical Cannabidiol Program, revising the amount of THC that can be possessed, and making other changes — both good and bad — to the program.

The new law, which took effect today, makes the following changes:

• Revises the 3% THC cap to instead allow products with a total of 4.5 grams of THC every 90 days, with exceptions for cases where providers specify a specific, greater quantity is needed
• Adds post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the list of qualifying conditions
• Allows any patient with “chronic pain” to qualify, thus greatly expanding the number of pain patients who qualify (Currently, only patients with “untreatable pain” qualify.”)
• Allows podiatrists, physicians' assistants, and advanced practice nurses to recommend cannabis, in addition to doctors
• Removes the Department of Transportation’s role in ID cards
• Allows property owners and employers to ban medical cannabis use and provides that workers' compensation and health care do not have to cover medical cannabis

For more details about the law, as amended, check out our summary. We are disappointed that Gov. Reynolds stood in the way of a higher cap on the 90-day supply. Last year, the legislature sent her a bill capping THC at 25 grams every 90 days. The 4.5 gram caps is insufficient for many patients, who will not be allowed access to a sufficient amount of their medicine unless their providers are willing to sign a waiver.

Exciting news! Yesterday, Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration took another important step to preserve safe access to medical cannabis during COVID by issuing a waiver that would allow home delivery of medical cannabis to patients and designated caregivers. The waiver implements one of the key provisions contained in Jake Honig’s Law that was signed into law in 2019.

At the onset of the COVID public health emergency, Gov. Murphy’s administration issued waivers providing for curbside pick-up, remote consultations, and expedited employee on-boarding.

Ask your lawmakers to decriminalize or legalize cannabis before they adjourn!

On June 15, the Georgia Senate Democratic Caucus proposed the Georgia Justice Act — a broad measure that includes more than a dozen provisions to address police brutality and racism. One of those provisions is reducing the penalty for simple possession of marijuana to a fine with no jail time.

The legislature is expected to adjourn tomorrow, so the clock is ticking.

Contact your lawmakers NOW to let them know it’s past time Georgia stop arresting cannabis consumers.

Georgia’s cannabis policy is grossly out of step with public opinion: Two-thirds of Georgians believe cannabis possession should be legal. Yet, more than 40,000 Georgians are arrested every year for marijuana possession. And a recent report by the ACLU shows staggering inequality in the enforcement of marijuana laws. Although Blacks and whites use marijuana at nearly identical rates, Black Georgians are three times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana possession.

Ask your lawmakers to put an end to Georgia’s unjust, unequal criminalization of marijuana consumers. Then, spread the word so that others can raise their voices, too.