Vermont Governor Pete Shumlin – who MPP helped elect – just signed a bill to make Vermont state law the eighth to explicitly authorize and regulate dispensaries where registered patients can purchase medical marijuana. Today’s signing marks the culmination of a two-year lobbying effort led by MPP and the third bill signing we’ve been a part of just this month. Many thanks to Governor Shumlin and the bill’s sponsors, Senators Jeanette White, Hinda Miller, and Dick Sears for their leadership, and the…

On Thursday, May 5, the Vermont House of Representatives voted 99-44 to approve an amended bill that would allow four well-regulated non-profit medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the state. I am pleased to announce that the Senate has approved the amendments, and the bill is now on its way to the governor to be signed into law! It is expected that Gov. Peter Shumlin will approve the bill. He has stated his support for marijuana reform publicly in the past and has been a consistent ally. Hopefully,…

A Vermont representative unveiled new data yesterday showing that the Green Mountain state spends more than $700,000 annually to prosecute small-time marijuana offenders. Calling such expenditures wasteful and ineffective, Rep. Jason P. Lorber (D-Burlington) said he plans to introduce legislation that would decriminalize the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, meaning it would no longer be a criminal misdemeanor requiring prosecution, but rather a civil infraction similar to a parking ticket.…

We’re still tracking down all the results from yesterday’s election, but here’s a quick look at how things fared in races affecting marijuana policy. This year witnessed historic progress in the campaign to end marijuana prohibition – but as some of these results below show, there remains much work ahead. MPP and others are already looking to build on this year’s advances by launching new campaigns in 2012. First, the good news: Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts The only two major party gubernatorial…

Voters all across the country will cast ballots tomorrow in elections that could alter the course of U.S. marijuana policy for years to come. Here are the 9 most important contests to watch for the movement to end marijuana prohibition: California: Proposition 19 would make marijuana legal for all adults – it represents the best chance to date for a single state to overturn the failure of marijuana prohibition and offer an alternative for others to follow. It would make it legal for…

In this year's gubernatorial race in Vermont, one candidate delayed passage of a medical marijuana bill in the state Senate in 2002, and another candidate's last name is "Dubie." Which candidate do you think is in favor of decriminalizing marijuana? You probably guessed wrong. Peter Shumlin (D), the president pro tempore of the Vermont Senate, is one of only two major-party gubernatorial candidates in the nation to advocate publicly for the decriminalization of marijuana. (The other candidate…

Peter Shumlin was today declared the official winner of Vermont’s Democratic primary for governor, after state officials completed a recount that showed him beating his closest competitor by 203 votes. A strong supporter of efforts to decriminalize marijuana possession in Vermont, Shumlin is currently the state’s Senate pro tempore. He’ll be facing Republican Brian Dubie, who opposes decriminalization, in the general election for governor. It isn’t clear yet what role marijuana policy will play in…

Unofficial vote totals show that marijuana decriminalization supporter Peter Shumlin won the Vermont Democratic primary for governor yesterday by an agonizingly tight margin of fewer than 200 votes. Although votes are in from all 260 precincts, towns and cities have a couple of days to certify official results. Currently president pro tempore of the Vermont state Senate, Shumlin has been a staunch supporter of efforts to remove criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana in Vermont—something…