Ask your senator to make sure legalization passes the finish line this year!

Earlier today, the Senate Finance Committee approved HB 1 (7-4), which would allow voters to decide whether to legalize cannabis for adults’ use in November 2022. And, earlier this week, both the Senate Finance and Senate Budget and Taxation Committees approved HB 837/SB 833 — twin bills that would take effect if voters approve legalization.

All three bills could get a vote on the Senate floor as early as tomorrow morning! Send a message to your senator now and ask them to support legalizing cannabis this year.

HB 837/SB 833 include details for initial steps for legalization — such as possession and home cultivation limits, limited expungement, and funding for minority- and women-owned businesses — that would be contingent on voter approval of HB 1. SB 833 originally went further to set up a regulatory structure for adult-use legalization, but it was amended to mirror HB 837 in committee.

The Senate Finance Committee amended the bills to include several changes from the House-passed version, including adding a community reinvestment and repair fund and ensuring a disparity study is complete before issuing adult-use license applications. Unfortunately, the bill was also amended to increase the fine for public smoking from up to $50 for a first offense and up to $150 for a second offense to up to $250 for a first offense and up to $500 for a second offense.

You can check out our summary of the bills, as amended, here.

The clock is ticking to ensure legalization crosses the finish line this legislative session! Session is set to adjourn on April 11. Because this is an election year, lawmakers will have the opportunity to override vetoes by Gov. Hogan (R) only if the bills reach his desk by the end of this week. Encouragingly, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D) has said he expects disagreements between the two chambers on the legislation to be resolved by then.

To help ensure this is the year Maryland moves forward with legalization, email your senator today. Then, forward this message to your friends and family in the state and encourage them to do the same.

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Ask your senator to support cannabis legalization this year!

The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow on HB 1 and HB 837 — a pair of bills that would allow voters to decide whether to legalize cannabis for adults’ use in November 2022. The hearing will begin at 1 p.m. and will be available to view online here. 

HB 1, the bill to refer the question of cannabis legalization for adults’ use to Maryland voters on the November 2022 ballot, already passed the House in a vote of 96-34. HB 837, the companion bill that would be contingent on voter approval of HB 1, passed the House in a vote of 92-37.

Please email your senator ahead of tomorrow’s hearing and urge them to support legalizing cannabis this year!

HB 837 includes details for initial steps of cannabis legalization, such as possession limits, limited expungement, and funding for minority- and women-owned businesses. It does not set up a licensing or regulatory system, and simple possession and limited home cultivation would not become legal until July 2023. You can check out our summary of HB 837 here and suggestions to improve the legislation here.

If you are interested in providing written testimony for the bills at the hearing tomorrow, you can submit written testimony between 4 p.m. today and 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. Here you can find full instructions on how to submit written testimony. Oral testimony at the hearing will be sponsor-only and led by HB 1 and HB 837 sponsor and House Judiciary Chair Luke Clippinger.

We’re in the final stretch, as the legislative session is set to adjourn on April 11. Help ensure cannabis legalization crosses the finish line this year by reaching out to your senators today and raising your voice in written testimony at the hearing tomorrow.

Please share this message with Marylanders in your networks and encourage them to do the same!

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Ask your state lawmakers to support patients this year.

Great news! Last week, the Senate Finance Committee advanced a bill that would allow patients to use and safely access medical cannabis if they have a qualifying debilitating medical condition. The committee first adopted an amendment to direct medical cannabis sales tax revenue to fund the medical cannabis supply system and a cannabis research program at the University of North Carolina. 

As you may recall, SB 711, otherwise known as the “NC Compassionate Care Act,” is sponsored by Rules Committee Chairman Bill Rabon (R) and has already advanced through the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill would establish a nine-member Medical Cannabis Advisory Board and a 13-member Medical Cannabis Production Commission. The Medical Cannabis Advisory Board would have the power to add new debilitating conditions to the program, while the Medical Cannabis Production Commission would regulate the supply of medical cannabis. You can check out a summary of the bill here.  

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

Before SB 711 is considered for a Senate floor vote, it must win approval from the Health Care and Rules and Regulations committees. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on opportunities to testify and advocate for passage as the bill makes its way through the legislative process.  

In the meantime, please consider sharing your story of how cannabis has helped you or a loved one cope with a medical condition with NC Families for Medical Cannabis. NC Families for Medical Cannabis is a coalition of North Carolina families, physicians, and veterans who support safe, regulated access to medical cannabis for North Carolina patients suffering from medical conditions. As we approach a full floor vote, these stories will be extremely helpful in persuading lawmakers to vote in favor of SB 711.

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Ask your state lawmakers to support patients this year.

Great news! Last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would allow patients to access cannabis if they have a “debilitating medical condition.” SB 711, sponsored by Rules Committee Chairman Bill Rabon (R), would also establish a Medical Cannabis Advisory Board and a Medical Cannabis Production Commission. The Medical Cannabis Advisory Board would have the power to add new debilitating conditions, while the Medical Cannabis Production Commission would regulate the supply of medical cannabis.   

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

While the bill would be an improvement over the status quo, the bill does not allow chronic pain or opioid reduction as a debilitating condition. A 2021 Elon poll found 73% of North Carolinians support allowing medical marijuana. That’s why we’re urging folks to contact their state senators and tell them to improve and pass SB 711.

The committee approval — which was nearly unanimous — is the first of many hurdles the proposed bill must clear, including three additional Senate committee votes, before it passes both the Senate and House and is signed into law by the governor. The bill is scheduled to be taken up next by the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, July 20 at 2:00 p.m. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as the bill makes its way through the legislative process.

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Please take action and contact your state lawmakers!

MPP and local advocates have been working for years to pass a law to legalize cannabis for adults in Rhode Island. With your help, we have a real chance of getting it done this legislative session.

Top political leaders, including Gov. McKee and the Senate Majority Leader, have introduced legislation to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis. You can read more details and find summaries of each bill here.

It is critical that your elected officials hear from you. Please take a minute right now to contact your state representative and senator by using our online action tool.

Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary and Finance Committees will hold a joint hearing on both legalization proposals. You can find more information, including how to make your voice heard and provide testimony, here. The event will be streamed live on the General Assembly’s Capitol TV service.

While we are hopeful that this will be the year, lawmakers will not act on legalization unless they hear from enough constituents. Please contact them today.

Thank you!

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Ask your state lawmakers to support SB 115 to legalize cannabis for adult use!

With just eight days left in 2020’s short legislative session, the New Mexico Legislature is considering SB 115, which would legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis for adults.

Last year, the House approved a legalization bill, but it was defeated in the Senate Finance Committee. Make sure SB 115 doesn’t meet a similar fate: Please take a moment to email your state senator and representative and ask them to support SB 115!

The Senate Public Affairs Committee approved the bill (4-3), and it must now clear both the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Finance Committee before heading to the Senate floor.

SB 115 would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to two ounces of cannabis flower and purchase cannabis products from licensed retailers. The bill also provides for automatic expungements of past cannabis convictions.

Although Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) supports legalization and has included it in her 2020 legislative agenda, SB 115 must clear the legislature to make it to her desk. Keep the pressure up by contacting your lawmakers and asking them to support SB 115!

It is past time the Land of Enchantment end cannabis prohibition and replace it with sensible regulation. A poll commissioned by the governor-appointed marijuana working group found that three out of four voters in the state support legalizing cannabis for adult use.

After you email your legislators, please forward this message to your friends and family in New Mexico and encourage them to do the same.

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If you live in Rhode Island, take action and contact your state legislators.

Legislative discussions on Gov. Raimondo's proposal to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana for adult use were front and center last week at the State House. On Tuesday, the Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees held a joint hearing on Article 20 of the governor's budget bill, which includes provisions to establish a regulatory system for adult-use marijuana sales. The House Finance Committee held its own hearing on the same legislation on Wednesday.

Email your state legislators and urge them to make marijuana legalization a top priority this year.

The original language of the proposal has been amended. To read an updated summary of Article 20, click here. Leaders of Regulate Rhode Island and the Marijuana Policy Project testified in support of the governor's plan, while highlighting serious concerns about some of its provisions. Overall, our priorities in advocating for amendments are:

• Ensuring the medical and adult-use markets are open, fair, and competitive;
• Protecting safe and affordable access for medical marijuana patients;
• Allowing adults to cultivate a limited number of marijuana plants in their homes; and
• Adding provisions to promote social equity, encourage diversity in the marketplace, and address the historical injustices of marijuana prohibition.

Our aim is to see Rhode Island pass the best legalization law possible this year. To do that, we're going to need your help, so please take action and send a message to your state legislators.

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Today, the Vermont Senate Appropriations Committee voted 4-3 to approve S. 241, a bill that would end marijuana prohibition for adults and create a regulated and taxed system for marijuana production and sale. The bill has already been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Finance Committee.

Next, S. 241 will move to the Senate floor for a vote by the full Senate, which will probably happen later this week. If it passes there, it will go to the House of Representatives, and the committee process will begin anew after the legislature takes a break for Town Meeting Week (February 29 to March 4).

[caption id="attachment_9605" align="alignright" width="250"] Attorney General William Sorrell[/caption]

Last week, Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell and two former attorneys general, Jerome Diamond and Kimberly Cheney, sent a letter to legislators encouraging them to move forward with the proposal to end prohibition and regulate marijuana.

Earlier today, Vermont Public Radio released the results of a new poll conducted by the Castleton Polling Institute that found 55% of Vermonters support passing a law to legalize and regulate marijuana for adult use. Only 32% said they are opposed. The survey of 895 Vermonters was conducted February 3-17.

If you are a Vermont resident, please send them an email urging them to support S. 241.

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This afternoon, the Minnesota Senate Finance Committee approved the medical marijuana bill, authored by Sen. Scott Dibble, 14-7. This was the last committee the bill needed to move through. It now goes to the entire Senate for a floor vote, which could happen as early as tomorrow.

Polling shows that Minnesotans across the state, of all ages and from all political persuasions, think their neighbors should be able to use medical marijuana under the advice of their doctors. However, some lawmakers are hesitant to support the issue, thinking a compassionate vote in support of medical marijuana will leave them politically vulnerable.

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