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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Please email the senators below to let them know you oppose LB 1275.

Opponents of medical cannabis are attempting to undermine the 2022 ballot campaign led by Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana. We need your help to stop them.

Last month, medical cannabis advocates pointed out in the Lincoln Journal Star that LB 1275 is a “poison pill” bill, a medical cannabis bill with no cannabis. The fact that the proposal has received praise from SAM — a lobbying group that has fought for years against medical cannabis — tells you all you need to know: LB 1275 is NOT a true medical cannabis bill. 

LB 1275 is designed to be a stumbling block for the 2022 ballot initiative campaign. We need you to take action right now to help us defeat this bill.

Please send a short email to each of the state senators below (the list includes the sponsor of LB 1275 and members of the Judiciary Committee). Your message should be clear, polite, and only 2-5 sentences long.

• Sen. Lathrop: [email protected]
• Sen. Pansing-Brooks: [email protected]
• Sen. Brandt: [email protected]
• Sen. DeBoer: [email protected]
• Sen. Geist: [email protected]
• Sen. McKinney: [email protected]
• Sen. Slama: [email protected]
• Sen. Groene: [email protected]

You can read the full text of LB 1275 here. The Marijuana Policy Project has provided a summary here. Suggested points to make in your email:

• LB 1275 is an attempt to undermine the 2022 ballot initiative effort for medical cannabis. The state legislature has had years to act and has failed to do so. The voters of Nebraska deserve a chance to enact the policy they want.
• Despite being labeled a “medical cannabis bill,” LB 1275 would not create access to medical cannabis for anyone in Nebraska.
• Even if the bill is amended to provide for the production of medical cannabis in the state, the provisions are far too strict. Healthcare practitioners will be discouraged from participating, and the vast majority of patients who need access to medical cannabis will not be allowed to participate in the program envisioned by LB 1275.

Thank you for taking action. We need to send a clear message to state senators that LB 1275 is not supported by the medical cannabis community. Please forward this message to others and share the word on social media so others can take action, too.

And if you haven’t signed up to support Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, please visit the campaign website to get involved.

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Ask your state lawmakers to legalize cannabis this year.

Great news! Earlier today, the Judiciary Committee advanced an amended version of Gov. Lamont’s proposal to legalize cannabis for adults over the age of 21 in a 22-16 vote.

Please email your state lawmakers and ask them to support legalization.

Here are some key features of the bill, as amended:

• Social equity applicant status is defined as an applicant with 51% ownership or control by one or more persons with an immediate family member with a cannabis-related conviction, a resident of a disproportionately impacted area for five of the last 10 years, or a resident of tribal land.
• Awards new licenses only to social equity applicants until January 1, 2024.
• Allows existing medical businesses to become licensed on September 1, 2021, after paying a hefty conversion fee.
• In addition to allowing adults to possess up to one and a half ounces on their person, it also allows up to five ounces in a locked location in one’s home.
• Decriminalizes possession up to four ounces.
• Creates a free erasure process for cannabis possession and sale convictions up to four ounces or six mature plants.
• Eliminates law enforcement’s ability to initiate a search on the basis of odor of cannabis or burnt cannabis.
• Establishes a Cannabis Control Commission to establish guidelines for the issuance of licenses.
• Establishes a 12-member Social Equity Council to further develop equity criteria, priority in licensing, and direct cannabis revenue.
• In first two years, all cannabis revenue would be directed to the general fund. In year three of legal sales and every year thereafter, 55 percent of the revenue would be directed to the Cannabis Equity and Innovation Fund, 15 percent to prevention and recovery services, and 30 percent to the general fund.
• Creates a cannabis business accelerator program.

It’s anticipated that the bill will now head to the Senate for a floor vote. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as the bill makes its way through the legislative process. In the meantime, please spread the word by writing your legislators and urging them to support legislation to regulate and tax the sale of cannabis to adults in the 2021 session.

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The Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on LB 474 this Wednesday. Click here to contact your senator and follow the steps below to take action!

Earlier this year, Sen. Anna Wishart introduced LB 474, which would establish a well regulated, compassionate medical cannabis program in Nebraska for patients with serious health conditions. This Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. CT, the Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the bill.

It’s critical that supporters of medical cannabis take action now to support passage of this legislation to help seriously ill patients. Here’s how you can help:

1. Click here to email and call your state senator and urge them to support LB 474.
2. Visit the legislature’s webpage for LB 474, click “Submit Comments Online for LB 474,” and write a short statement in support of the bill. Each senator will see how many supportive comments are submitted from constituents in their district.
3. Write a position letter on the bill and email it to [email protected] before 12 p.m. CT tomorrow. Click here for more details on writing and submitting position letters.

You can tune in and view the Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, too. The event will be streamed live on this webpage.

Patients and their families are counting on you and other Nebraskans to urge their state senators to pass LB 474. Please take action now and forward this email to others so they can take action, too.

Thank you.

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Ask your state lawmakers to legalize cannabis this year.

The Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Gov. Lamont’s bill S.B. 888 – An Act Responsibly and Equitably Regulating Adult-Use Cannabis, tomorrow, Friday, February 26 at 10:00 a.m. You can watch the hearing on YouTube Live.

If you’d like to testify, the deadline to sign up is today (Thursday) at 3:00 p.m. To testify by Zoom, sign up using this On-line Testimony Registration Form. If you’d like to testify in writing, please email it in Word or PDF format to [email protected] by 3:00 p.m. today.

MPP will implore the committee to advance the bill, but to first make revisions to make it stronger and more explicit on equity. Here are some tips for testifying that I encourage you to review. Also, feel free to check out our summary of the bill here.

Speakers are limited to three minutes. The first hour of the hearing will be reserved for comments from state and local officials. The rest of the speaking order will be randomized and will be posted on the Judiciary Committee website tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. under Public Hearing Testimony.

All witnesses should clearly state their name and the bill number (S.B. 888). The Committee encourages witnesses to submit a written statement and to have their oral testimony be a condensed summary.

Please spread the word, and be sure to write your legislators urging them to support legislation to regulate and tax the sale of cannabis to adults in the 2021 session.

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Ask your state lawmakers to legalize cannabis this year.

The Judiciary Committee recently announced that the public hearing for S.B. 888 – An Act Responsibly and Equitably Regulating Adult-Use Cannabis – is scheduled for Friday, February 26 at 10:00 a.m.

The public hearing can be viewed via YouTube Live. In addition, the public hearing may be recorded and broadcast live on CT-N.com.

If you wish to testify, you must register using the Online Testimony Registration Form. Registration will close on February 25 at 3:00 p.m. Speaker order of approved registrants will be listed in a randomized order and posted on the Judiciary Committee website on February 26 at 8:00 a.m. under Public Hearing Testimony. If you do not have internet access, you may provide testimony via telephone. To register to testify by phone, call the Phone Registrant Line at (860) 240-5255 to leave your contact information. Please email written testimony in Word or PDF format to [email protected].

Testimony should clearly state testifier name and related bill number. The first hour of the hearing will be limited to constitutional officers, state agency heads, and chief elected municipal officials. Speakers will be limited to three minutes of testimony. The committee encourages witnesses to submit a written statement and to condense oral testimony to a summary of that statement. All public hearing testimony, written and spoken, is public information. As such, it will be made available on the CGA website and indexed by internet search engines.

MPP will be imploring the committee to advance the bill, but to first make revisions to make it stronger and more explicit on equity. We’ll post some tips for testifying shortly. In the meantime, feel free to check out our summary of the bill here, and be sure to write your legislators urging them to support legislation to regulate and tax the sale of cannabis to adults in the 2021 session.

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Ask your state lawmakers to legalize cannabis this year.

Good news! Last week, Gov. Lamont released his 2021 adult-use legalization bill. As you may recall, last year Gov. Lamont drafted a legalization bill but the effort was upended when the legislative session was suspended due to the onset of the coronavirus.

Gov. Lamont’s 2021 proposal — S.B. 888 — would legalize possession of up to one and a half ounces for persons over 21, with legal sales beginning on May 2, 2022.

An Equity Commission would issue recommendations by November 15, 2021 on a number of issues, including qualifications for equity applicants and distribution of a portion of tax revenues to support residents in communities disproportionately harmed by cannabis prohibition.

Additionally, the bill would decriminalize possession of up to two and a half ounces. Persons with convictions for cannabis possession under four ounces prior to October 1, 2015 would have their records automatically expunged. Persons with possession convictions for less than four ounces after October 1, 2015 would be allowed to petition the court for expungement at no cost. Gov. Lamont’s bill also provides important public health and safety protections, such as labeling standards and preventing advertising to minors.

Lastly, the bill would levy a wholesale tax of $1.25 per dry weight gram of cannabis flower, $.50 per dry weight gram of cannabis trim, and $.28 per wet weight gram of cannabis, in addition to the state sales tax of 6.25%. Municipalities could also levy up to a 3% point of sale tax. To learn more, you can check out our bill summary here.

The bill now heads to the Judiciary Committee for a hearing. We will urge the committee to advance the bill but to first make some revisions to make it stronger and more explicit on equity. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on how to offer testimony on the proposal. In the meantime, please urge your legislators to support the legislation to regulate and tax the sale of cannabis to adults in the 2021 session.

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Contact your state senator and ask them to support SB 107!

I have some encouraging news to share with you. Last week, Sen. Sharif Street filed a bill with the Judiciary Committee to decriminalize up to 30 grams of cannabis.

Currently, possession and distribution of 30 grams of cannabis (or eight grams of hashish without intent to sell) is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days imprisonment and a $500 fine.

Under SB 107, the penalty for possession and distribution would be reduced to a summary offense and a $25 civil fine. The penalty for smoking cannabis in public places would be reduced to a $100 civil fine.

While the measure is an important step toward ending the failed policies of the war on cannabis, it wouldn’t reduce penalties associated with paraphernalia. In other words, cannabis consumers could still be jailed for the baggie cannabis is stored in, even if the cannabis itself is decriminalized.

The bill has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. We know that inaction will only lead to continued arrests and the ruining of more lives of Pennsylvanians.

Please consider emailing your state senator and asking them to strengthen the bill and sign on as a cosponsor.

Thank you for your support, and please continue to look out for updates throughout the 2021 legislative session.

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Sign up to generate calls to pass S.B. 16.

Earlier this week, the governor’s legalization bill was heard in the Judiciary Committee and received strong support from our allies and supporters. But there was also significant opposition, and we still need to move several lawmakers from “undecided” to “yes.”

Will you volunteer to help generate phone calls to legislators in key districts?

The Call Fire system we use makes it easy to volunteer from home. Please email [email protected] — or reply to this email — if you’re willing to make some phone calls to constituents of key lawmakers. We’ll send details on how to get started.

All of the lawmakers we’re generating calls to are on the Judiciary Committee. One challenge is that many lawmakers don’t realize their constituents are supportive. With your help, we can change that misperception.

Please also don’t forget to email your own lawmakers to ask them to support S.B. 16.

Supporters like you can help us send a strong message to lawmakers to make 2020 the year we end cannabis prohibition in the Constitution State!

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If you live in Nebraska, take action: send a message to your state senator and ask them to vote yes on medical marijuana!

With just a short time left in this year’s legislative session, we need everyone who supports medical marijuana policy reform to make their voices heard.

Please contact your state senator and urge them pass LB 110 this year.

Sen. Wishart’s bill to establish a medical marijuana program in Nebraska has advanced through the Judiciary Committee and will be the subject of a floor debate next week. We need as many state senators as possible to step up and call for passage of this compassionate medical marijuana law.

Don’t sit on the sidelines. Make sure your state senator hears from you.

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