A television ad in support of a bill to reduce marijuana penalties in Texas will begin airing Friday, just days before the state House of Representatives is expected to vote on the measure. It can be viewed here. The 30-second spot features Nick Novello, an active duty police officer and 23-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department, and Heather Jackson of Houston, an ovarian cancer survivor who was arrested for possession of a small amount of marijuana in El Paso in 2007. “Arresting people for…

The Vermont Coalition to Regulate Marijuana released a new television ad this week, produced by the Marijuana Policy Project, featuring Vermont’s former top law enforcement official. The ad began airing statewide on Tuesday and will appear on WCAX, CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC through Sunday. In the ad, titled "Time to End Prohibition (Again)," former Vermont Attorney General Kimberly Cheney points out that "marijuana prohibition has caused a lot of the same problems" as Alcohol Prohibition.…

Last night, the first Democratic Party national presidential debates took place, and as expected, the issue of marijuana policy was addressed. Bernie Sanders stood out by becoming the first mainstream, major party presidential candidate to publicly support regulating marijuana. CNN has the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9aEEG0Km00 After hearing these responses, MPP has updated our Presidential Report Card and upgraded Bernie Sanders to "A", elevating him above Rand Paul to the head of the…

This week, we began airing a TV ad in Texas featuring Russell Jones, a retired narcotics detective and Texas Hill Country resident. Jones says that people under the influence of marijuana are much less problematic than people under the influence of alcohol, and that “law enforcement officials have more important things to do with their time.” Its primary purpose: to urge lawmakers to support HB 507, which would reduce criminal penalties for marijuana possession in the Lone Star State. The TV ad —…

This Sunday, President Obama is expected to voice his support for allowing medical marijuana and moving away from jailing people for drug abuse. The Daily Caller reports:  In a CNN special to be aired on Sunday, not only will President Barack Obama state his full support of medical marijuana, he’ll also advocate for alternative models of drug abuse treatment which don’t involve incarceration. The television special, called “Weed 3,” features CNN’s chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon…

According to CNN, outgoing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said he is “cautiously optimistic” when it comes to Colorado and Washington’s implementation of regulated and legal adult marijuana control systems. [caption id="attachment_8224" align="alignright" width="300"] Eric Holder[/caption] “We don’t want to put into the federal system, low level people who are simply there for possessory offenses,” Holder stated Monday in an interview with CNN’s Evan Perez. Last year, the DOJ chose eight enforcement…

Last week, new estimates of the tax revenue that Colorado stands to gain from legal marijuana sales were released, and they are significantly greater than originally thought. Watch MPP's Mason Tvert  discuss these revenue projections and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper's plans for the extra money on CNN:

On Monday, CNN released a new poll showing 55% of Americans support making marijuana legal. Only 44% were opposed. According to the CNN poll and numbers from General Social Survey polling, support for legalizing marijuana has steadily soared over the past quarter century - from 16% in 1987 to 26% in 1996, 34% in 2002, and 43% two years ago. The survey found interesting divides on the issue. "There are big differences on age, region, party ID, and gender, with senior citizens, Republicans, and Southerners…

Check out MPP's Dan Riffle on CNN discussing the issues facing the marijuana industry on the eve of the first legal sales of marijuana to adults in Colorado:

MPP communications director Mason Tvert recently appeared on CNN to discuss the Gallup poll that found 58% of Americans now support legalizing marijuana.