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Dear friends:

Not only did Tuesday's election produce two major marijuana policy victories — MPP's sweeping wins in Michigan and Massachusetts — but we also saw signs of progress in Congress and the White House.

President-elect Barack Obama has said — often in response to questioning from MPP — that he does not support the federal government arresting medical marijuana patients in states where medical marijuana is legal.

As recently as Monday of this week, his campaign said: "Many states have laws that condone medical marijuana, but the Bush Administration is using federal drug enforcement agents to raid these facilities and arrest seriously ill people. Focusing scarce law enforcement resources on these patients who pose no threat while many violent and highly dangerous drug traffickers are at large makes no sense. Senator Obama will not continue the Bush policy when he is president."

The congressional landscape also changed for the better. With several contests still undecided, the Democrats are likely to pick up at least 23 new seats in the House of Representatives — 21 of which belonged to medical marijuana opponents in the last Congress. And three senators who opposed medical marijuana were replaced with newcomers who have already voted or spoken out in favor of protecting medical marijuana patients. 

Some of Congress' most outspoken medical marijuana opponents lost their seats, like Congressman Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), Congressman Ric Keller (R-Fla.), and Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.). In fact, on the Democratic side, every single incumbent who lost Tuesday consistently opposed protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail.

And candidates who are close allies of MPP won spots in the House of Representatives, like Nevada state Sen. Dina Titus (D), a strong supporter of medical marijuana access.

There is still more work to do in coming election cycles, of course. MPP's team on Capitol Hill will be working to ensure that presidential appointees (like the head of the DEA and the drug czar) are aligned with the commitment to marijuana policy reform that President-elect Obama expressed on the campaign trail. And we expect that medical marijuana legislation will be introduced in 2009, presenting an enormous opportunity to protect medical marijuana patients at the federal level.

You can help make the most of this changing dynamic in Congress and the White House. Any donation you can make today will help MPP push for the change that conditions are so ripe for.

Sincerely,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2008. This means that your donation today will be doubled.

Friends:

     The 2009 Criminal Justice Transition Coalition, which includes The Sentencing Project and 20 other prominent national organizations, has just released a collaborative report identifying critical needs for federal policy reform. Smart on Crime: Recommendations for the Next Administration and Congress contains comprehensive policy recommendations at every stage of the justice system for the new Administration and Congress.
 
      "Americans of all political stripes, and especially professionals with experience in every aspect of the criminal justice system, recognize that the system is failing too many, costing too much, and helping too few," said the report. Included among the recommendations to overcome these challenges are:
 
·         Eliminate the crack cocaine sentencing disparity;
·         Expand alternatives to incarceration;
·         Fund prisoner reentry through the Second Chance Act;
·         Extend federal voting rights to people released from prison;
·         Restore welfare and food stamp eligibility to individuals with    drug felony convictions; and
·         Analyze and reduce unwarranted racial and ethnic disparity in the federal judicial system.
 
     The policy catalogue will be distributed to the Obama/Biden transition team and key leadership on Capitol Hill. The administration's transition team has already identified the need to eliminate crack cocaine sentencing disparities as one of its civil rights agenda items.

     In its entirety, the document identifies 15 issue areas within criminal justice for policy change. Additional issue areas featured in the catalogue include death penalty reform, prison reform, and juvenile justice. The comprehensive document features contacts for various field experts and organizations, and includes issues pertinent to the community of criminal justice advocates, practitioners and legislators.