On Monday, April 22nd, 2024, in a shocking turn of events, the Hawai’i Senate defeated the House-passed version of SB 2487, which would have expanded the state’s paltry decriminalization law. The Senate had previously approved an earlier version of SB 2487, 24-1. It had also passed full legalization, which died in the House Finance Committee. 

Sen. Angus McKelvey was one of the 14 senators to flip from “yes” on March 5’s vote to “no” yesterday. He claimed, “The Senate sent a very good, reasonable recreational legalization bill with guardrails over to the other chamber,” saying SB 2487 could “explode” the illicit market, “undercutting and creating all the safety hazards that the bill we sent over should have addressed.”

As a result of the Senate’s 9-15 vote, hundreds of Hawai’i residents and visitors will continue to face traumatic arrests, possible jail time, and life-altering records for personal use of cannabis. Hawai’i has the lowest threshold for decriminalization — three grams, or under 1/8 ounce. The fine is a hefty $130, which is unaffordable to many who struggle to make ends meet. Possession of over three grams can result in up to 30 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000. 

In brighter news, two state-initiated expungement bills — both of which were narrowed down in the legislative process — are headed to  Gov. Josh Green’s desk. HB 1595 would create a pilot program to wipe away arrest records that didn’t result in conviction for simple possession in Hawai’i County. Meanwhile, SB 2706 would set up a Clean Slate Expungement Task Force to look into broader state-initiated expungement. 

Ask Gov. Green to sign these important but limited expungement bills.

While this legislative session included significant setbacks, Hawai’i came the closest it has ever made it to legalization. In prior years, legalization bills did not even receive a House hearing. This year, it passed the Senate and three House committees. 

Opponents — largely in law enforcement — spent an inordinate amount of time scaremongering to defeat progress. We hope you’ll continue to fight for cannabis justice and freedom.

This is an election year. Be ready to get engaged and make your voice heard as candidates ask for your vote.

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On April 20, Delaware State University’s female lacrosse team was traveling back from end-of-season games in Florida. While driving on I-95 North outside of Savannah, the team’s bus was pulled over for driving in the left lane on the interstate. Delaware State is a Historically Black University, and the driver and most of the students were Black. 

A deputy was recorded saying, “There's a bunch of dang schoolgirls on the truck. Probably some weed.” With no probable cause, local police brought in a drug-sniffing dog and searched student bags that were stored under the bus. The 45-minute stop and search, which involved male officers rifling through the young women’s underwear and menstrual products, found no contraband and resulted in no arrests or citations. One of the student athletes wrote about the incident.

This isn’t the first time Georgia law enforcement has traumatized dozens of innocent Black young people in pursuit of marijuana convictions. 

On New Year’s Eve 2017 in the city of Cartersville, Georgia, police entered an apartment where there was a party without a warrant and found under an ounce of cannabis. They proceeded to arrest all 64 people at the party, all of whom, except nine, were people of color. They were held for between one and three days in the county jail in extremely overcrowded cells. The case was eventually dismissed, and the City of Cartersville agreed to pay $900,000 in damages.

Until the Georgia General Assembly removes criminal penalties for cannabis, humiliating and intrusive searches and life-altering cannabis arrests will continue in large numbers. Researchers have found that traffic searches disproportionately target Black Americans, despite the fact that they are less likely to result in contraband than searches of white drivers. Black individuals are also three times more likely to be arrested for cannabis in Georgia compared to white people, despite similar use rates. 

Yet, the Georgia General Assembly has refused to make sensible changes to its cannabis laws. Decriminalizing cannabis can reduce the damage that these laws inflict on otherwise law-abiding citizens. The supposed smell of cannabis is the most common pretext to search a vehicle. Legalization has been shown to dramatically reduce the number of traffic searches. 

Over 30 states have decriminalized or legalized cannabis. Let your legislators know it is past time for Georgia to join the majority of the country in decriminalizing or legalizing personal amounts of cannabis.

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Legislature to debate and vote on 17 bills!

Cannabis policy reform is on the move in Louisiana!  

Last week, seven bills to improve Louisiana’s medical cannabis program passed through committees without any objections. Those bills are scheduled for floor votes this week. Committee hearings this week will focus on criminal justice reforms.

Ask your state rep to support bills to expand the victory we achieved last year with decriminalization.

The Administration of Criminal Justice Committee will hear four important cannabis-related bills — expungement, excluding certain cannabis convictions from the habitual offender penalty enhancements, and decriminalization of cannabis paraphernalia for medical and adult use. A complete look at the schedule for this week can be found here.

Also this week, two legalization bills will be heard in the Judiciary Committee.

Now is the time to engage your legislators. The session is in high gear, and they need to hear from constituents. Pressure from constituents is the best method to get legislators to support cannabis reform in Louisiana. Here are some helpful hints for lobbying at the capital.

We will alert you this session as cannabis bills continue to move in the legislature. You can view a synopsis of pending legislation here. Be sure to share this with your friends and families in Louisiana!

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Take action to support HB 106 and HB 143!

Wyoming is one of just a few states that continues to criminalize adults and patients for possessing and using cannabis. 

Lawmakers recently introduced two proposals that would change that. HB 106 would decriminalize small amounts of cannabis for adults, while HB 143 would establish a medical cannabis program for patients with serious health conditions in the state. Both bills would reduce senseless arrests for cannabis and make Wyoming a more just state to live in.

These bills will be considered soon — please contact your state representative now and ask them to support these important reforms. 

It’s crucial that your state representative hears from you on these important issues. Public opinion surveys show that both of these issues are overwhelmingly backed by voters, but if your lawmakers don’t hear from constituents, it won’t be a priority for them. 

Please forward this email to others who support sensible cannabis policy reform and ask them to take action too. Thank you for being part of the movement to end the failed war on cannabis.

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Ask your legislators to stop jailing cannabis consumers.

While cannabis policy reform is sweeping the country, Alabama remains one of only 19 states that still imposes jail time for simple possession of cannabis. SB 160, which takes jail off the table and allows for expungements, has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and will next head to the Senate floor! Now is the perfect time to let your elected officials know you want them to catch up with the times.

Ask your legislators to support decriminalizing cannabis in Alabama!

Polling shows that 63% of Alabama voters support legalizing cannabis for adult use. Surely the margin is even stronger for decriminalization. Still, the legislature must act in order to bring about this long overdue policy change.

Thousands of people are arrested each year for cannabis possession in Alabama! Black Alabamians are 4.1 times more likely to be arrested than white individuals, and in Dekalb County, the disparity is 45 times more likely for a Black resident to be arrested, the second highest disparity in the nation. The legislature must act in order to bring this long overdue policy change to the Yellowhammer State.

After you reach out to your lawmakers, be sure to share this message with your friends and family in Alabama and encourage them to do the same!

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This is Tahir's story — Tell us yours

I’m Tahir Johnson, MPP’s director of social equity and inclusion. I’m also one of the 15 million Americans who have been arrested for cannabis possession over the past 25 years. Twice.

Just as cannabis prohibition was borne of racism, the enforcement of cannabis laws is also inherently racist. Both of my arrests represent cases in racial profiling — both times I was pulled over for non-reasons, guilty of being young, Black, and driving a nice car.

My first arrest happened in Maryland in the early 2000s, long before cannabis was decriminalized in the state. The officer who pulled me over approached my car with his gun drawn (for his safety) and said, “you look like a drug dealer.” I did have a nickel bag on me, which I admitted in the wake of threats to destroy my treasured Lexus searching for it. I was locked up and charged with possession, but thanks to my family collecting money to hire a lawyer, I was able to complete diversion and probation and have my record expunged.

My second arrest occurred several years later in D.C., again before cannabis was decriminalized there. Since I worked in the insurance industry at the time, I was driving a Benz, which the arresting officer repeatedly commented on. He searched me, found a bag in my pocket, and I was arrested and spent a scary night in jail thinking about how this arrest would impact my future. I wasn’t able to hire an attorney for this charge, but the prosecutor ended up being a fellow Howard University alum who didn’t want to destroy another young Black man’s future over something so trivial, so he dropped the charge. (Even though the charge was dropped, the arrest record would still haunt me for a while given the intense background checks in the finance industry, until the record was eventually sealed in the wake of the District’s decriminalization ordinance.)

It’s unjust and inhumane that millions of otherwise law-abiding Americans are stopped, searched, arrested, and branded criminals simply for possessing a plant that is safer than alcohol. In the end, I was blessed. In the first case, my middle-class family was able to afford a lawyer for my defense, and in the second, I was lucky to encounter a prosecutor who understood the folly — and racist nature — of our nation’s cannabis laws. If I hadn’t been so lucky, I know my life trajectory could have been very different. And I also realize that many others haven’t been so fortunate.

This is where you come in. The millions of cannabis arrests in the U.S. over the last 25 years have caused humiliation, trauma, lost jobs, evictions, deportations, derailed dreams — and even death. But far too few of the stories have been told. 

If you’re one of the millions of people who have suffered the injustice of having your freedom put in jeopardy for a plant that is safer than alcohol, we want to hear from you. We also want to hear from law enforcement, criminal defense attorneys, prosecutors, and other witnesses to cannabis prohibition who think it’s past time governments stop locking up cannabis users.

My past arrests have fueled my passion for cannabis advocacy. Despite all the progress we’ve made, there are still 19 states where a joint can land you in jail and haunt you with a criminal record. Please consider sharing your experience with us so we can tell the stories of why this war on people who use cannabis must end. And please share this with anyone you know who has endured the devastating effects of the war on cannabis.

Thanks, 

Tahir

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Tell your state legislators it’s past time they decriminalize cannabis.

Today, the Wisconsin Legislature reconvenes for the year. Because Wisconsin lacks a citizen initiative process, the legislature alone is responsible for crafting laws in the Badger State. Outrageously, Wisconsin’s cannabis laws are among the most out-of-step with voters of any state in the country.

While neighboring Michigan and Illinois have legalized cannabis for adults’ use, and Minnesota has a medical cannabis program, Wisconsin remains stubbornly behind the times. It is one of only 19 states that still imposes jail for simple possession of cannabis and one of only 14 that lacks a compassionate medical cannabis law.

Ask your state legislators to change that by supporting medical cannabis and decriminalization.

Although polling shows 66% of Wisconsin voters support full adult-use legalization, Wisconsin’s legislative leaders claimed in recent years they didn’t have the votes for even medical cannabis in their caucuses. Last April, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R) said, "We don’t have 17 votes in the [Republican] caucus for medicinal purposes or recreational purposes."

In 2019, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) said of his Assembly Republican caucus, "it’s clear that our caucus hasn’t reached a consensus." Neither chamber has moved a bill out of committee to give it a chance on the floor.

It’s crucial that lawmakers hear from their constituents that this is unacceptable. Some of the most conservative states in the county have passed medical cannabis. Suffering Wisconsinites deserve the same medical freedom.

Ask your state legislators to support medical cannabis and decriminalization, and then spread the word so that others can raise their voices for fair and compassionate cannabis policies.

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Tell your state legislators it’s time to decriminalize cannabis.

Today, the Utah Legislature came back to work for its 2022 legislative session. And so far, there’s no sign that major cannabis policy reform is on the agenda.

We are encouraged lawmakers are proposing clearer employment protections for medical cannabis patients who are state employees. But so far no lawmaker has indicated they plan to stop the draconian practice of arresting and jailing Utahans for possessing a modest amount of cannabis.

Ask your state legislators to champion decriminalization. Let them know limited law enforcement resources shouldn’t be wasted on cannabis, and that the state shouldn’t be locking its residents in a jail cell for using a plant that is safer than alcohol.

Utah is one of only 19 states that still imposes possible jail time for simple possession of cannabis. The maximum penalty for possessing less than an ounce is up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. Even for those who don’t end up in jail, the scarlet letter of a criminal conviction slams closed the door to opportunity — making it far more difficult to get a good job, housing, and an education, and resulting in hundreds of collateral consequences. Meanwhile, polling shows Utah voters want far more substantial reform: 64% of Utah voters support full adult-use legalization.

Ask your state legislators to support decriminalization, and then spread the word so that others can raise their voices for sensible and humane cannabis policies.

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Five bills to be heard Thursday, one on Friday

The New Hampshire House of Representatives kicked off the new year by narrowly voting down a 2021 bill to legalize cannabis and create a regulated market (HB 237)  and then overwhelmingly approving a different bill (HB 629) legalizing home possession and cultivation. HB 629 now heads to the far more challenging Senate.

Next week, the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee will be holding hearings on six different bills to improve cannabis policies, including proposals to kick legalization to voters.

Last year, the committee, chaired by Daryl Abbas, recommended killing legalization bills, but now Abbas has proposed his own vision of legalization, HB 1598. However, his model is unfeasible due to federal law. It would only allow cannabis to be sold through state-run stores. Until federal law changes, that’s a non-starter: states cannot require staff to commit federal felonies by selling cannabis. Doing so would be preempted.

The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee will also consider three resolutions (CACRs) to refer cannabis legalization to voters, via a constitutional amendment. They each require 60% in both the House and Senate, and then two-thirds of the popular vote.

Both the legalization bills and the three CACRs will receive hearings on Thursday, January 20 in person at the State House, Reps Hall (107 North Main Street, Concord) — with the first hearing scheduled at 9:30 a.m. on Abbas’ state-run monopoly and the last one scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m.

The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee will also hold a hearing on Friday, January 21 at 1:45 p.m. at Legislative Office Building (33 N State Street, Concord), Rooms 202-204 on prohibiting law enforcement from using the scent of cannabis as probable cause for a search. Cannabis has already been decriminalized in New Hampshire. Law enforcement shouldn’t be able to invade personal privacy — and initiate a risky and insulting stop — over the supposed scent of a plant that has been decriminalized.

If you’re not comfortable attending in person but want to make your voice heard on any or all of these bills, you can email comments to HouseCriminalJusticeandPublicSafety@leg.state.nh.us.

For the full list of bills, a short summary, and the times of each hearing, check out this summary from the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy.

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Tell your legislators it’s time to support legalization!

Earlier this week, the 2022 session for Florida’s legislature kicked off. Although this year is a short session that ends in just three months, lawmakers have already filed several cannabis-related proposals, and many remain pending from the 2021 session.

Decriminalization

While Florida voters enacted a medical cannabis program in 2014, Florida remains one of only 19 states that imposes jail time for simple possession.

Action: Let’s make this the year Florida enacts sensible cannabis reform!

In October 2021, Minority Leader Sen. Bobby Powell (D) sponsored S 470, which would reduce the penalty for possession of up to 20 grams of cannabis to a $100 fine plus court costs. The following month, Rep. Dotie Joseph (D) filed H 725, which reduces the penalty for possession of up to one ounce of cannabis to a $50 fine. And in December 2021, Rep. Mike Caruso (R) filed H 957, which decriminalizes possession up to 20 grams. Each of these bills has been refiled for the 2022 legislative session.

Legalization

Earlier this week, Sen. Gary Farmer (D) filed three measures that collectively propose a legal adult-use cannabis market in the Sunshine State. S 1658 would impose a 15% sales tax on cannabis sold at retail stores and tax sales of food or beverages containing cannabis sold by a cannabis consumption site at a rate of 19 cents per milligram of THC. The bill also provides that counties and municipalities can establish additional sales taxes of up to 3.75% of the sales price of cannabis sold at retail stores. Counties and municipalities would be allowed to impose an additional tax of up to four cents per milligram of THC on sales of food or beverages containing cannabis sold by consumption sites.

Action: Tell your legislator it’s time to support legalization!

On the other side of the aisle, S 776 was sponsored by Sen. Jeff Brandes (R) in the 2021 session. The proposal would legalize possession of up to four ounces and has also been reintroduced for the 2022 session.

Separately, there are three additional­­­ legalization measures that remain pending in the House that were introduced during the 2021 session.

Be sure to reach out to your lawmakers to let them know you want them to legalize cannabis for adult use this session! After you reach out, please urge your friends and family in Florida to do the same.

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