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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     
Date:  March 11, 2010                                       
Contact: [email protected]              
 

BREAKING NEWS:
Senate Judiciary Votes to Reform Federal Crack Cocaine Sentencing Policies
Eliminates first mandatory minimum since Nixon Administration

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Moments ago, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed a bill that would reduce the sentencing disparity between federal crack and powder cocaine offenses. 

The bipartisan vote to approve an amended version of Senator Richard Durbin’s (D-Ill.) bill, S. 1789, acknowledged that disparate sentencing policies enacted for federal crack cocaine offenses in 1986 have had a negative impact on the nation’s criminal justice system. 

The amended bill would reduce the ratio between crack and powder cocaine from 100:1 to 20:1 and direct the U.S. Sentencing Commission to enhance penalties for aggravating factors like violence or bribery of a law enforcement officer.  Significantly, the bill also would eliminate the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack.

“This is an exciting vote, but also disappointing.  We hoped the Committee would go further in making crack penalties the same as powder.  There was no scientific basis for the 100:1 disparity between crack and powder cocaine created 24 years ago, and there is no scientific basis for today’s vote of 20:1 ,” said FAMM President Julie Stewart. “However, if this imperfect bill becomes law, it will provide some long-overdue relief to thousands of defendants sentenced each year.

With regard to the bill’s provision that would eliminate the mandatory sentence for simple possession of crack, Ms. Stewart stated, “If enacted, this legislation would repeal a mandatory minimum law for the first time since the Nixon administration.”

Under the Senate’s proposed 20:1 ratio, a conviction for 28 grams of crack cocaine will trigger a five year prison sentence and for 280 grams of crack a 10 year sentence.   The 20:1 ratio could affect an estimated 3,100 cases annually, reducing sentences by an average of about 30 months.  The bill would not, however, reduce sentences for those currently incarcerated for crack offenses.  Impact of the amendment’s other provisions has not yet been calculated. 

The House Judiciary Committee passed its own crack cocaine sentencing reform bill on July 29.  H.R. 3245, the Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act of 2009, introduced by Congressman Robert “Bobby” Scott (D-V.A.), removes references to “cocaine base” from the U.S. Code, thus treating all cocaine, including crack, the same for sentencing purposes.

Families Against Mandatory Minimums is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization supporting fair and proportionate sentencing laws that allow judicial discretion while maintaining public safety.  For more information on FAMM, visit www.famm.org or contact Monica Pratt Raffanel at [email protected]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

MARCH 10, 2010

More States Embrace Marijuana Decriminalization

Measures to impose a fine for marijuana possession make key advances this month in New Hampshire, Hawaii, and Vermont

CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP assistant director of communications …………… 202-905-2030

WASHINGTON, DC — With numerous states facing significant budget shortages, legislators and voters across the country this month have been giving overwhelming support to measures that would reduce the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana to a civil fine.

         Yesterday in New Hampshire, the state House voted 214-137 to pass H.B. 1653, a bill that would reduce the penalty for possession of up to a quarter-ounce of marijuana with a civil fine of up to $200.

         In Hawaii, the state Senate voted 22 to 3 on March 2 to pass SB 2450, a bill that would eliminate criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and replace them with a civil fine of up to $300 for a first offense and $500 for a subsequent offense.

         And in Vermont, 72% of voters in Montpelier approved a non-binding ordinance asking the state legislature “to pass a bill to replace criminal penalties with a civil fine for adults who possess a small amount of marijuana.”

         “Taken together, these developments demonstrate how an increasing number of voters and lawmakers across the country no longer support the notion that otherwise law-abiding citizens should be arrested, slapped with a criminal record and possibly thrown behind bars, simply for choosing to use a substance that is safer than alcohol,” said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. “We know from efforts in other states that decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana allows police to focus on more serious crimes and also produces a net financial gain through saved law-enforcement costs and the revenue generated by civil fines. Lawmakers everywhere should take heed of these examples, especially in these troubled economic times.” 

         Currently 12 states have laws that reduce the penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana to a civil fine. A decriminalization bill in Rhode Island is co-sponsored by 48% of House members.  

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.

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Dear friends:

New Hampshire took a major step forward today, passing a bill to decriminalize marijuana in the House by an overwhelming 214-137, thanks in great part to Matt Simon, MPP grant recipient and executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy! Having passed with equally impressive numbers (16-2) in a committee vote earlier this year, the legislation will now move on to the Senate for consideration.

Won't you consider helping MPP and our allies to continue to work towards ending marijuana prohibition?

It's not just New Hampshire — and not just decriminalization — that's making waves this year. Several other states are talking about not just decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana, but taxing and regulating it as well. Legislators in Washington, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia all also sponsored decriminalization bills this session. In Hawaii, a Senate bill to decriminalize an ounce of marijuana recently passed with an amazing 22-3 margin!

On the tax and regulation front, we've seen a historic committee win in California, where voters will get the chance to vote to tax and regulate marijuana later this year, as well as a New Hampshire House vote to study a proposed tax-and-regulate bill there. Rhode Island has just introduced a tax-and-regulate bill, and Washington state saw a bill earlier this session, as well. This is a sea change of support that MPP, our allies, and you are helping to drive.

Red states, blue states, and every color in between are beginning to realize that ending marijuana prohibition is both fiscally and socially sound. Please, help support MPP's work so that we can continue to push for these sensible policies across the nation and end marijuana prohibition once and for all!

Sincerely,

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

MARCH 10, 2010

New Hampshire House Passes Bill to Reduce Penalties for Marijuana Possession

Nearly 61% of House Members Vote in Favor

CONTACT: Matt Simon, NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy…………………(603) 391-7450

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE – The New Hampshire House of Representatives today voted, as it did in 2008, to reduce the penalty for possessing one-quarter ounce or less of marijuana. House Bill 1653 passed by a 214-137 vote. Previously, the bill had been recommended “out to pass” in a 16-2 vote by the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee February 11.

            “This makes three years in a row that the House has passed a bill attempting to reform New Hampshire’s archaic marijuana policies,” said Matt Simon, executive director for the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy. “Unfortunately, Gov. Lynch has continued to show little interest in learning what the House has learned about these issues.

            In 2008, a measure similar to HB 1653 passed the House in a 193-141 vote, and last year a bill allowing marijuana for seriously ill patients passed the House and Senate before being vetoed by Gov. Lynch.

            Advocates stressed that the proposed policy would continue to discourage marijuana use, especially by those under 18, who would be required to complete a drug awareness program and community service if caught with less than one-quarter ounce of marijuana.

            “This bill doesn’t make marijuana legal for anybody,” Simon said. “It just reduces the penalty and ends the wasteful practice of clogging up our criminal justice system with people whose only ‘crime’ is possessing small amounts of marijuana.”

            Rep. Joel Winters (D-Manchester) supported the bill in the floor debate. “Passage of this bill will simply mean we’ve gotten smarter—that police can now waste less time dealing with marijuana users and have more time and resources freed up for dealing with serious crimes,” he told his colleagues.

            Since 1973, 12 states have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, including neighbor states Maine and Massachusetts, as well as North Carolina, Ohio, Nebraska and Mississippi.

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MEDIA ADVISORY           

MARCH 10, 2010

Medical Marijuana Patients Will Ask Legislators to Support Safe Access at Thursday Press Conference

Proposed legislation would make Massachusetts 15^th state to have effective medical marijuana law

[email protected]

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS — Tomorrow, Thursday, at 1:30 p.m. at the Grand Staircase at the State House, a group of medical marijuana patients and advocates will hold a press conference to ask state lawmakers to support a medical marijuana law in Massachusetts.

            The state legislature’s Joint Committee on Pubic Health is currently considering bill that would make Massachusetts the 15^th state in the nation to give seriously ill patients safe and legal access to medical marijuana.

            WHAT: Press conference to ask state lawmakers to support proposed medical marijuana bill

            WHEN: Thursday, March 11, at 1:30 p.m.     

            WHERE: Grand Staircase, in the State House, Boston, MA.

           

 

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