In the wake of the introduction of federal marijuana reform bills on February 5, the national media has started paying closer attention to the possibility of change in the coming years. One example is this interview with MPP’s director of government relations, Steve Fox: Such bills have come before Congress in the past with less fanfare, but it seems like this time they are being taken more seriously. Perhaps the fact that voters in Colorado and Washington decided they were sick of marijuana prohibition…

Like a lot of people, my morning routine involves clicking around a few major news sites to see what people are talking about that day. Disgusting cruise ships and exploding Russian meteorites aside, one of the stories that caught my eye today was a CNN.com story about Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the head of the notorious Sinaloa cartel in Mexico. Yesterday, the Chicago Crime Commission named Guzman “Public Enemy Number One,” a title CNN notes was created for bootlegger and gangster Al Capone. Not…

Rep. Diane Russell (D-Portland) is seeking to make Maine the third state in the country to legalize and regulate the adult use of marijuana. The measure would allow anyone 21 or older to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana from a licensed retailer. Sen. Russell discussed the bill and its advantages on MPBN’s Maine Watch: State lawmakers will debate the bill this spring. If the measure makes it through the legislature, it’ll be sent to referendum. MPP's Maine Political Director, David Boyer, has…

There’s some big news coming out of Washington, D.C.: On Tuesday, congressmen from Oregon and Colorado introduced two historic federal marijuana reform bills to Congress. Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) introduced the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013. If passed, the bill would remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act and institute a system similar to the alcohol regulatory structure that federally regulates marijuana. It would also transfer jurisdiction over marijuana…

This past year was undeniably the most productive 365-day period in the history of the marijuana policy reform movement. There were a number of significant accomplishments, but here is the Marijuana Policy Project's list of the "Top 10 Marijuana Victories of 2012." As with our previous annual lists, it includes neither important scientific developments nor important international developments. Rather, this list focuses on the biggest marijuana-related policy accomplishments in the U.S. in the last…

On this day in 1933, Congress responded to the growing number of states and citizens who decried the failed war on alcohol by ratifying the 21st Amendment. By effectively repealing federal alcohol prohibition, this historic event allowed states to determine the best way to deal with alcohol without interference from the federal government. Tomorrow, history will begin to repeat itself as the ballot measure approved by voters in Washington officially goes into effect, making it the first state to…

In the wake of our victory in Colorado -- where 54.8 percent of the voters passed Amendment 64, a constitutional amendment to regulate marijuana like alcohol -- good people are understandably clamoring to pass similar measures in their states. Here is a listing of the ingredients of the recipe that led to the historic victory in Colorado on November 6. 1. Presidential Election: Given that no one had ever previously legalized marijuana in the history of the world, we assumed that the election in Colorado…

We are now 18 days away from the elections, and three states are poised to lead the way in ending marijuana prohibition! Passage of any of these initiatives will set the tone for marijuana reform nationwide, so it’s important to everyone who cares about this issue, no matter what state you live in. As more and more people learn about the failure of marijuana prohibition and are presented with the facts, support for changing our laws grows. We can’t change the conversation, however, until we start…

On his wonderfully fair and balanced show on Thursday, Bill O’Reilly was nice enough to highlight our Top 50 Most Influential Marijuana Users list. He then started on a long rant, joined by his co-hosts, about the evils and deadly health risks associated with using marijuana. Apparently, these folks didn’t quite get the message. O’Reilly seems to think that MPP just wants everyone to use marijuana, and that the organization “devotes its life to trying to convince you to get stoned and inebriated.”…

Gary Johnson, this year’s Libertarian Party candidate for president, spoke at a rally on Tuesday outside the Democratic National Convention. He criticized both President Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for avoiding one of the nation’s most important political issues. Obama has laughed off or ignored persistent questions about marijuana legalization, while Romney is equally dismissive, calling the issue insignificant. During his two terms as governor of New Mexico, Johnson…