MPP  released a video last week listing the country's "Worst State Legislators of 2013" on marijuana policy issues. The seven state representatives and one state senator were selected based on their legislative efforts to maintain or expand marijuana prohibition policies, as well as statements they made, during the 2013 legislative sessions. Watch the video countdown below.  The Huffington Post reports: The video counts down the MPP's top eight marijuana policy offenders, alongside some direct quotes…

Last week, the grassroots organization People United for Medical Marijuana filed a petition to allow medical marijuana for seriously ill patients in Florida. The petition proposes an amendment to the Florida Constitution that would permit the cultivation, purchase, and use of marijuana to treat a number of specified and severe diseases, including cancer, AIDS, and Crohn’s disease. Petition-gatherers will need to collect 683, 149 signatures from registered voters in order to make it onto next year’s…

What’s older than Florida’s senior population? The Florida Legislature’s mindset when it comes to marijuana. Last Friday, the state Senate voted 31-2 in favor of a bill that would ban the sale of assorted pipes, bongs, and hookahs. House Bill 49 passed in the House days earlier by a vote of 112-3. [caption id="attachment_6350" align="alignright" width="120"] Sen. Jeff Clemens[/caption] Sen. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth), one of the few dissenting voices in the Senate, argued that marijuana is far safer…

On Tuesday, reported in the New Times Broward-Palm Beach, the Florida State Attorney’s office in Manatee Country dropped all charges against Cathy Jordan’s husband, Robert, once it was established that Cathy needs marijuana for medical reasons. Law enforcement officers raided the Jordan home on February 25 after a state employee who was visiting a neighbor spotted some marijuana plants on their property. After confiscating the plants, deputies referred the case to prosecutors, listing Robert for…

[caption id="attachment_6140" align="alignright" width="214"] Rep. Lou Lang[/caption] Medical marijuana bills are circulating in Illinois and Florida. In Illinois, HB1, authored by Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), will soon be voted on in the House. According to Rep. Lang, the bill is just "one or two" votes short of passage. As for Florida, the Health Policy Committee has been assigned “The Cathy Jordan Medical Cannabis Act,” named for the president of the Florida Cannabis Action Network, who has ALS.…

Earlier today, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that temporarily halted the enforcement of a Florida law requiring that all welfare recipients be drug tested in order to receive benefits. We have addressed this issue in the past on this blog, and it is good to see the 11th Circuit supporting the lower court’s decision. Drug testing in this fashion is an invasion of privacy, and in most cases ends up costing the taxpayers far more than is saved by denying benefits…

According to a recent poll conducted by Hamilton Campaigns on behalf of People United for Medical Marijuana, 70% of Florida voters support a plan to mend the state constitution to allow the medical use of marijuana. Those are great numbers, but analysts say that this level of support could actually have an impact on the gubernatorial race in Florida if it makes the ballot in 2014!  From the Miami Herald: “Supporters of the proposed amendment are less certain to cast ballots in the 2014 governor’s…

Today is a notable occasion. It is the 30th anniversary of a Florida man gaining the ability to use marijuana for medical purposes and of the beginning of a bafflingly hypocritical stance by the federal government. One of the strangest ironies in the government’s war on marijuana is demonstrated by a man named Irv Rosenfeld. The federal authorities still officially maintain the legal fiction that marijuana has no accepted medical use; the substance is still classified in Schedule I, and medical…

I just returned to D.C. from a conference in Palm Beach, where I briefly spoke with Gov. Rick Scott (R) about medical marijuana. When I told him I was representing the Marijuana Policy Project, he responded by saying that he had received only one communication about medical marijuana during these first 14 months of his governorship. (It's likely that he meant to say that he had spoken with only one constituent personally, as opposed to having received only one email message or one phone call from…

Last week, the political blustering of federal lawmakers once again resulted in a law that unfairly targets marijuana users without any proof of effectiveness. On Friday, Congress reached a payroll and benefits deal that allows states to drug test any person applying for unemployment benefits if that person is looking for work in a field where drug testing is commonplace. Thankfully, states have the option to not take part in this plan. The recent surge in states considering such policies, however,…