Great news! This afternoon, the Mississippi Senate voted 47-5 to restore a medical cannabis law to the Magnolia State. Now, the bill heads to the House of Representatives, where it is expected to come up in committee as soon as next week.

Yet another poll has showed that a strong majority of Utah voters support the medical cannabis ballot initiative. Salt Lake Tribune reports: Utahns continue to show broad support for a proposed 2018 ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana in the state, according to a new poll by The Salt Lake Tribune and the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics. The new survey finds 75 percent of Utah voters either strongly or somewhat support the proposed initiative, all but mirroring a July…

New Approach Missouri is closing in on its second quarter finance reporting. Having a strong financial report translates to having continued success in the campaign to create a medical marijuana program in Missouri. Additionally, New Approach Missouri has been promised $200,000 in matching funds once the organization meets its own fundraising goal of $250,000 - and NAMO is well on their way with $185,000 to be banked by Friday. Signature collection is steadily progressing with 40,000 signatures collected…

Oklahoma will vote on medical marijuana in 2018! The Oklahoma Secretary of State has certified Question 788 for the ballot, meaning Oklahomans will finally have the opportunity to vote on medical marijuana in November of next year. After collecting enough signatures to qualify for the 2016 election, the group Oklahomans for Health faced legal difficulties when the state's attorney general took issue with the ballot summary of the new law. After a hard-fought legal battle, Oklahomans for Health has…

As the winter months approach, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana in Alaska is in full swing. Currently, petitioners are working to collect 45,000 signatures by December 1 in support of a statewide initiative that would tax and regulate the production, sale, and use of marijuana for adults 21 years of age and older. To date, they have collected over 16,000 signatures from Alaskan voters and need just 29,000 more to qualify for the August 2014 primary-election ballot. Please help achieve victory at…

The past month has seen the state of Maine take some notable steps toward positive marijuana policy reform. On June 7, a bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol, LD 1229, was narrowly defeated. Despite losing this time, this marked one of the best votes in a state legislature for a legalization bill. The sponsor, Portland Democrat Rep. Diane Russell, has vowed to continue pushing for this legislation. [caption id="attachment_6653" align="alignright" width="240"] MPP's David Boyer[/caption] Even…

Last weekend, California NORML hosted Cannabis in California: Ending the 100-Year War, an inspiring conference that brought together advocates from across the state, country, and even as far as New Zealand. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the event – California will almost surely see a statewide initiative in 2016 similar to those approved in Colorado and Washington, and it appears local and national activists and organizations will be unified in the effort to get it done. On the first panel, California…

When a dedicated group of activists hoping to reform Springfield, Missouri’s punitive marijuana laws turned in thousands of signatures they had collected fair and square, they thought the next step would be for voters in Springfield to decide whether or not to support their proposal. In other words, they thought the initiative process works like common sense says it should. They were wrong. What happened next is an example of disenfranchisement so egregious it belongs in a work of fiction. The Springfield…

Yesterday, voters in Kalamazoo, Michigan and Tacoma, Washington directed local law enforcement to make marijuana possession the lowest enforcement priority. The measures passed by 2:1 margins, garnering nearly 65% of the vote in Tacoma and 66% in Kalamazoo. With only 61-66% of homicide cases in this country cleared every year, and only 12% of burglaries cleared, it’s not surprising that voters think police should have more important things to do than arresting individuals who possess a substance…

The Coalition to End Marijuana Prohibition, the MPP-backed issue committee paying for the signature drive in Colorado for the initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol, has hit a major milestone. As of today, the campaign has 100,000 signatures in hand! This puts us more than two-thirds of the way toward our goal of collecting 145,000 raw signatures by January 6, with 86,105 valid signatures needed to qualify the initiative for the November 2012 ballot. There are some amazing volunteers helping…