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Is there an event coming up in your community where you'd like to distribute literature about the need to reform our nation's disastrous marijuana laws? MPP's new publication, the “Marijuana Policy Monitor,” makes for a great giveaway at conferences, concerts, festivals, and other events. Check it out here: http://www.mpp.org/atf/cf/%7BFC4E88DF-6ACE-4AA6-851C-0688A929D3C5%7D/FED%20TABLOID_2007.PDF This four-page flyer, printed on newsprint, contains a comprehensive overview of marijuana prohibition -- and why it should be brought to an end. It includes information on the victims of the government’s war on marijuana users, taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol, and safe access to medical marijuana for patients. You can find more information and view a copy here: http://www.mpp.org/site/c.glKZLeMQIsG/b.3090849/k.9B5E/MPP_Newspaper.htm To place an order, contact MPP’s Membership Department at [email protected] or (202) 462-5747, ext. 132. Payment by credit card (American Express, Discover, MasterCard, or Visa) is preferred, but checks and money orders are accepted through the mail. Copies are 3 cents each, and a minimum order of 1,000 copies (or $30) is required. The price includes shipping and handling. Orders will ship twice a month from the fulfillment center in Ohio, so please allow time for delivery.

After the War on Drugs: Tools for the debate is a guide to making the case for drug policy reform. It is designed to reframe the debate, moving it beyond stale ideological arguments into substantive, rational engagement; and provide the language and analysis to challenge the prohibitionist status quo, and to make the case for evidenced based alternatives. Copies have been sent to approximately 3000 MPs and policy makers and leading thinkers in the UK. We can send copies to key individuals in the US and beyond where appropriate so please let us know. The report is found here - http://www.tdpf.org.uk/AboutUs_Publications.htm#tools. Find out more about Transform here - http://www.tdpf.org.uk.

FEDERAL: Operators Charged after DEA Dispensary Raids FEDERAL: Hypocrisy on Federalist Principles Glaring KANSAS: State Measure to Protect Patients Urged NEW MEXICO: Scare Tactics from State Law Enforcement Chief CALIFORNIA: Officials Sorting Out Implementation DISPENSARIES: Patient Demand Clear, Official Responses Mixed -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FEDERAL: Operators Charged after DEA Dispensary Raids Interference in California’s regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries has entailed threatening letters to landlords and the seizure of medicine and patient records. Now federal charges are being brought against some of the operators. This despite state law, local efforts at regulation, and the crucial services dispensaries offer the community’s most seriously ill and injured. The escalation has the earmarks of a failed policy in its final, desperate throes. Medical marijuana dispenser pleads not guilty to charges of selling drug illegally by Stephen Curran, San Luis Obispo Tribune (CA) The former owner of a Morro Bay medical marijuana dispensary pleaded not guilty today on charges he used his controversial co-op as a front for illegally selling the drug. Not guilty plea in medical marijuana case by City News Service, Los Angeles Daily News A Valencia man who ran a West Hollywood medical marijuana storefront pleaded not guilty Monday to federal drug charges. COMMENT Drug raids add up to federal intimidation EDITORIAL, Freedom Newspapers The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has started playing hardball with medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, but it’s unclear how far it will move beyond symbolic intimidation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FEDERAL: Hypocrisy on Federalist Principles Glaring This columnist is not the first to point out that if the present Administration were serious about its avowed principles it would not be interfering with state-level attempts to regulate medical use of marijuana. Likewise with the action of the US Supreme Court, which has taken federalist positions on guns near schools and child pornography. But in the case of both the Court and the Administration, politics and prejudice have overwhelmed principle. Feds Bust Former Portland Police Detective for Medical Marijuana by Tim King, Columnist, Salem-News (OR) The Portland Tribune's article Monday on the federal government's persistent hassling of a medical marijuana patient in Oregon, underscores the Bush administration's failure to value state's rights, and shows how they in fact do everything possible in some cases to eliminate them. ____________________________________________ KANSAS: State Measure to Protect Patients Urged The vast majority of Americans agree that no one should be prosecuted or imprisoned for following their doctor’s advice about medical treatment, or for helping a loved one ease their suffering. Each legislative session sees more state lawmakers considering measures to remove criminal penalties for medical use of marijuana, and Kansas may soon join the thirteen states with such exemptions. Group Advocates for Medical Marijuana Patients in Kansas WIBW CBS 13 (KS) A new, grassroots organization has been created in Kansas to advocate for legal protection of patients who use medical marijuana and for physicians who recommend the drug as part of a treatment program. Coalition seeks marijuana legalization by Scott Rothschild, Lawrence Journal-World (KS) A Lawrence woman who helped change the way marijuana cases are handled in Lawrence is leading a group that will seek a state law to legalize the use of marijuana for medical reasons.