Today, the Virginia Legislature gave final approval to Gov. Ralph Northam's amendments to the adult-use legalization bill, making Virginia the17th state—and the first in the South—to legalize cannabis! It is also the fourth state to pass legalization through its state legislature, as opposed to via voter referendum.

This Wednesday night, the Delaware Cannabis Policy Coalition is holding a virtual town hall to discuss the intersections of cannabis legalization, racial justice, and social equity. Mark your calendars, and we hope you will join us!

Ask your state legislators to embrace reform in 2021.The North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice has recognized that cannabis policy reform is essential to racial justice. It is recommending reducing the penalty for possessing up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis to a civil fine and expunging past convictions. It also called for a study of legalization.Let your state lawmakers know you want them to heed this call when they reconvene next year.The task force includes Attorney General…

Gov. Phil Scott said this week that he remains undecided — please email or call him today! Yesterday, the bill to legalize and regulate cannabis sales landed on the desk of Gov. Phil Scott. He will have until Wednesday to sign or veto it — if he takes no action, it will become law without his signature. Please call or email Gov. Scott today and urge him to sign S. 54! During a debate on Wednesday evening, Gov. Scott made this alarming statement: “In terms of the pot bill, I haven’t made up my…

With less than 100 days until the November election — and with neither presidential contender taking a stand in support of cannabis legalization — the Marijuana Policy Project sent letters to the Biden campaign and the Trump administration urging both candidates to do better when it comes to cannabis policy. At a moment when cries for racial and criminal justice reform are echoing throughout the country, and a strong majority of Americans favor making cannabis legal, with support across all demographics,…

Starting today — August 1, 2020 — Minnesotans with chronic pain qualify for medical cannabis! Qualifying patients whose healthcare providers are willing to certify them for the medical cannabis program can enroll through the Department of Health. Until today, pain only qualified if it was “intractable,” meaning its “cause cannot be removed” and “the full range of [appropriate] pain management modalities … has been used without adequate result or with intolerable side effects.” Expanding the program…

Organizations to support The African American Policy Forum: A think tank of activists, academics, and policy makers working to address systemic inequalities. The AAPF also co-created the campaign #Sayhername as well as a groundbreaking report of the same name addressing the silence around Black women and girls and police brutality. Black Visions Collective: A Black-led, Queer and Trans-centered, Minnesota-based collective dedicated to transformative justice principles and a world where all Black…

I just spent the last two nights immersed in work that is sadly too familiar. I found myself once again providing assistance to lawyers representing an African American family who had lost a loved one at the hands of the police. So often, I am drawn back to where my career began over three decades ago as a young civil rights lawyer taking on cases involving police brutality and the death penalty. For me, there was little distinction between Black and Brown people losing their lives on the street…

With the New York Legislature in the final weeks of its 2019 legislative session, we need you to take action NOW to help get the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act across the finish line. Just last week, the Illinois Legislature passed a landmark cannabis regulation bill, and New York can do the same — if we can get lawmakers to act! In fact, New York's Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act closely mirrors the Illinois legislation — with far-reaching expungement provisions for prior convictions,…