Candidates for governor and attorney general have debated medical cannabis — find out where they stand before you go to the polls!

Kentucky’s general election is scheduled for Tuesday, November 5, and the candidates for governor and attorney general have all been talking about cannabis policy. Here’s a brief overview of what they’ve been saying:

In the race for governor, incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin (R) has indicated support for medical cannabis, but he has been harshly critical of Colorado and other states that have legalized for adult use. During a recent debate, he asked, “How’s that working out for Illinois?” (Illinois’ legalization law does not take effect until January 1, 2020.) The Democratic candidate, Attorney General Andy Beshear, has indicated strong support for medical cannabis, and Libertarian candidate John Hicks supports legalization for both medical and adult use.

When the two candidates for attorney general appeared on KET’s “Kentucky Tonight” on October 14, Daniel Cameron (R) said, “I think we need a discussion about medical marijuana,” but he seemed to defer to law enforcement on the issue, saying, “I think they’re a little bit leery.” Former Attorney General Greg Stumbo (D) said he strongly supports medical cannabis, and he will “push for and advocate” decriminalizing possession of small amounts. Notably, Stumbo sponsored a medical cannabis bill during his time in the General Assembly.

Finally, in the race for treasurer, challenger Michael Bowman (D) supports medical cannabis and has called for “a conversation” about legalization. A web search did not reveal any public comments on the issue from incumbent Allison Ball (R).

State legislators do not face re-election this year, but now would be a great time to remind them that you want to see Kentucky pass a medical cannabis law in 2020! Write your legislators today.

After you write your legislators, please share this message with your friends and family and remind them to vote on Tuesday, November 5!

Mid-November community conversations planned in Eden Prairie, Eagan, and Monkato

This fall, House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler is leading "Be Heard on Cannabis" community conversations across Minnesota to explore how to replace cannabis prohibition with sensible regulation. At the end of the process, Rep. Winkler plans to introduce a bill to legalize and regulate cannabis in Minnesota and shepherd it through the House.

Mark your calendars for these upcoming dates, to take part and add your voice to the conversation on how to move forward.

Bemidji "Be Heard on Cannabis" Community Conversation
When: Saturday, October 26, 11:00 a.m.
Where: Bemidji City Hall, 317 4th Street NW, Bemidji, MN 56601

Eden Prairie "Be Heard on Cannabis" Community Conversation
When: Monday, November 18, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Eden Prairie Community Center, Cambria Room, 16700 Valley View Road, Eden Prairie, MN 55346

Eagan "Be Heard on Cannabis" Community Conversation
When: Tuesday, November 19, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Eagan Community Center, South Oaks Meeting Room, 1501 Central Parkway, Eagan, MN 55121

Mankato "Be Heard on Cannabis" Community Conversation
When: Wednesday, November 20, 6:00 p.m.
Where: Gustavus Adolphus College Heritage Banquet Room, 800 W College Avenue, Saint Peter, MN 56082

For a list of the hosts and panelists who will lead each community conversation, along with other cities "Be Heard on Cannabis" will visit, check out Rep. Winkler's "Be Heard on Cannabis" webpage. And stay tuned for updates to the list. The following are expected to host community conversations: Austin, Crystal, Fridley, Hibbing, Maple Grove, New Brighton, Rochester, Spring Lake Park, and Woodbury.

Don't miss your chance to let your elected officials know it's time to stop punishing Minnesotans for a substance that's safer than alcohol. You may want to consider making a pitch for an inclusive, diverse industry, for allowing home cultivation, and for expunging past convictions.

Even if you're not able to make it, you can still make your voice heard. Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman has an online survey you can complete here. Finally, please spread the word by email or social media to help grow the chorus for reform.

Expert panel will feature a retired police captain, a nurse, and a clergy member — please attend and show your support!

Gov. Ned Lamont recently announced he will ask the Connecticut Legislature to pass a cannabis legalization bill in 2020. This is very encouraging news, but we know that Gov. Lamont can't end prohibition alone — we will need to continue building support in the legislature in order to achieve this worthy goal!

Encouragingly, since the end of session many legislators have expressed interest in learning more about the issue and in hearing more from their constituents. We are pleased to announce that two of these legislators — state Rep. Raghib Allie-Brennan and Sen. Julie Kushner — will be hosting a community conversation on cannabis legalization in Danbury on Wednesday, October 30, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The event will feature a panel of experts who support legalization, followed by audience Q&A.

This will be a great opportunity to show support and participate in the discussion. Here are the details:

WHAT: Community conversation on cannabis legalization, regulation, and taxation

WHERE: Connecticut Institute for Communities, 120 Main Street, Danbury (in the Community Room)

WHEN: Wednesday, October 30, 5:30 to 7 p.m.

WHO: Rep. Raghib Allie-Brennan and Sen. Julie Kushner; Capt. Lawrence Hunter (Retired, Waterbury Police Department); Rev. Tommie Jackson; Kebra Smith-Bolden, R.N., president, CURE-CT; Matt Simon, New England political director, Marijuana Policy Project

Please attend if you are able, and share this information with your friends in the Danbury area!

Please ask your legislators to support legalizing, taxing, and regulating marijuana for adults 21 and older!

At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session, Senate President Mike Miller and the late House Speaker Michael Busch created a legislative work group to study how to best implement the legalization of marijuana.

The workgroup is supposed to issue its report by the end of the year, but its work is progressing slower than anticipated. The workgroup has held a few meetings in the summer and fall. Its next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 13.

We need to keep the pressure up to make sure legislators know voters want them to put an end to the disastrous policy of cannabis prohibition in 2020. Here's how you can get involved:

1. Schedule a meeting with your legislators and let them know you want them to legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis for adult use in 2020. You can find out who represents you by clicking here. If you set up a meeting with your legislator(s), let us know by emailing info@marylandcannabispolicy.org. We can provide you with tips and background materials. Please also let us know how it went after.
   
   
2. Email your legislators today and ask them to support legislation to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana for adults 21 and older.
   
   
3. Write a 150-250 word letter-to-the-editor of a local or statewide paper, calling on the legislature to legalize and regulate cannabis in 2020. You can draw from points here.
   
   
4. Encourage your friends and family in Maryland to contact and meet with their legislators. Forward this message to them, and share the action link on social media.

It is important legislators hear from as many of their constituents as possible. Supporters like you can help us send a strong message to the General Assembly to end cannabis prohibition in 2020!

VOTE NO on proposed county tax that would double current local cannabis tax rate

Election Day is Tuesday, November 5, and a measure appearing before Pueblo County voters would significantly hike retail cannabis tax rates. Measure 1B would raise local cannabis sales taxes from 3.5% to 6%, and a major part of that new tax is widely expected to pay for a new jailhouse.

If you reside in Pueblo County, please vote NO on Measure 1B. We don't need another tax on lawful cannabis consumers – especially to incarcerate more people.

The proposed new tax is estimated to raise $3.5 million each year from legal cannabis consumers, and much of it is expected to help pay for a planned new $140 million county jail. Many find the tax hike insulting and a sad return to using cannabis to fuel the criminal justice system. Quite simply, cannabis should not be used to lock people up, nor should cannabis taxes.

Many voters have already received their ballots by mail and have until November 5 to turn them in. Residents can register to vote through Election Day. If you plan to mail your ballot in, please do so this week. Don't delay! For a detailed rundown of the candidates, measures, and 24-hour drop-off locations and polling centers, click here.

If you are a Pueblo County voter, please VOTE NO on Measure 1B, and please pass this message along to your network in Pueblo.

Ask your lawmakers to support a comprehensive medical cannabis program.

On Friday, November 1, the Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Advisory Board will decide whether to add PTSD as a qualifying condition under the state's low-THC medical cannabis program.

If you are a patient suffering from PTSD or a supportive medical professional, don't miss this opportunity to voice your support. You can find more information on PTSD and medical cannabis programs here.

If you can't attend the meeting, or if you want to send comments in writing, you can email your comments to the Board at medical.cannabidiol@idph.iowa.gov in advance of the meeting.

You can also attend the meeting in person. The public will have the opportunity to comment at the start of the meeting.

When: Friday, November 1, 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Where: Iowa Laboratory Facility – 2240 DMACC Blvd, Ankeny, IA 50023

Please also write your lawmakers and ask them to support a comprehensive medical marijuana program. Unfortunately, by limiting patients to low-THC cannabis, Iowa's current program is leaving the vast majority of those who could benefit from medical cannabis behind.

Together, we can help Iowa patients access the medicine they deserve.

Ask your lawmakers to support a comprehensive medical marijuana program!

The Medical Cannabidiol Advisory Board, which is charged with adding qualifying medical conditions to Iowa's low-THC medical cannabis program, will be meeting Friday, November 1.

If you are a patient suffering from PTSD, please consider attending the meeting to voice your support for adding PTSD as a qualifying condition.

When: Friday, November 1, 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Where: Iowa Laboratory Facility – 2240 DMACC Blvd, Ankeny, IA 50023

Patients, don't miss this opportunity to have your voices heard. You can find more information on PTSD and medical-cannabis programs here. Supportive medical professionals are also encouraged to attend.

Please also write your lawmakers and ask them to support a comprehensive medical marijuana program. Unfortunately, by limiting patients to low-THC cannabis, Iowa's current program is leaving the vast majority of those who could benefit from medical cannabis behind.

Together, we can help Iowa patients access the medicine they deserve.

If attendees at the Iowa State Fair were looking for a candidate to end the federal government’s failed war on drugs, they would have few choices judging from the speeches at the Des Moines Register’s Political Soap Box. 

Every four years, candidates for president flock to this quadrennial staple of the Iowa Caucuses for their 20 minutes before fairgoers for what is essentially presidential speed dating. One after the other over a few days, would-be nominees climb the stage and offer up their best opening statement to the Democratic base followed by questions during the balance of their 20 minutes before getting the hook. Everyone follows the same rules and faces a politically savvy crowd. Unlike debates, the Soap Box may be the only opportunity for voters to hear the candidates in succession — live, unfiltered, and without interruption — talk about what they feel are the most pressing issues facing the country.  

As expected, voters heard about each candidate’s position on health care, climate change, gun control, abortion, and education/student debt, which were largely just echoes of the previous candidate’s position on those same issues. Stunningly, for drug policy reform advocates, a large majority of candidates failed to mention the harms associated with the drug war. 

How is it members of Congress talk about the ‘opioid crisis’ on Capitol Hill, yet they fail to bring it up in Iowa? How is it that every candidate who is a member of Congress is either a sponsor or original cosponsor of a bill to end the federal prohibition of cannabis, yet all but one failed to mention it?

That one was Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. Gabbard has been a vocal champion and bill sponsor of marijuana policy reform and used her opening statement to talk about her efforts in Congress. Gabbard received the only ‘A’ from the Marijuana Policy Project among congressional incumbents for her opening statement and distinguished herself from the field. If fairgoers were looking for someone who will make ending reefer madness a priority, Gabbard likely won their vote. 

Only two other top-tier candidates used their opening statements to talk about the drug war: former HUD Secretary Juan Castro and former Washington Governor Jay Inslee. Both devoted considerable time to the issue of ending the federal prohibition on marijuana specifically and received top marks along with Gabbard.

A surprising bright spot was former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who failed to mention his home state’s first-in-the-nation cannabis legalization law (led by MPP) during his opening remarks, but who received an ‘A’ on the Q&A portion for turning a minimum wage question into a full-throated endorsement of Colorado’s adult-use status, a law he originally opposed. 

Pete Buttigieg received a ‘B’ for his brief mention of marijuana legalization during his response to a question on criminal justice reform, but like other candidates got a failing grade for his opening statement. 

MPP continues to be disappointed that this life and death issue fails to be a question asked in the debates. And as much as we would like candidates to raise the issue during their opening or closing statements, that’s difficult to do in a minute. But as Hickenlooper proved, you don’t need a drug policy question to give a drug policy answer. Given 20 minutes of unfiltered, uninterrupted time before Democratic voters, it is hard to understand how issues like the opioid crisis, which claims a hundred lives each day, and the war on marijuana, which still results in over a half million arrests every year, fail to get a mention.

The field is getting narrowed down, and our most vocal supporters are dropping out of the race or are unlikely to qualify for future debates.

There will be other debates, but nothing like the Soap Box. (Sadly, the September debate failed to feature any substantive marijuana policy questions.) For the remaining candidates, there will be plenty of room on the stage, and as far as this drug policy reformer is concerned, there is plenty of room for improvement.

Don Murphy, Director of Federal Policies, Marijuana Policy Project, Washington, D.C. 

New Jersey legislators tabled the state's legalization bill in March, believing it lacked the votes needed to pass the Senate. But Senate President Stephen Sweeney recently gave the effort new hope when he expressed a willingness to try to pass legislation during the "lame duck" session in late 2019.

Securing the votes needed to pass the Senate will require all hands on deck — several lawmakers who are on the fence will need to come around. Please do your part. You can send your state legislators an email using our free software. Our pre-written, editable letters make it a quick and easy process.

We also encourage you to schedule a meeting with your state senator to discuss the issue in person. You can look up your state senator's phone number here. (Your state senator is your "upper chamber" member.) Let us know if you secure a meeting, and we can help prepare you.

Please also let us know if you have a special connection to the issue that could be influential. Are you a medical professional, clergy member, former or current law enforcement, or someone who was hurt by marijuana prohibition? Let us know.

And don't forget to reach out to your state senator, and to spread the word to other New Jerseyans. Together, we can end the disastrous policy of cannabis prohibition in the Garden State.