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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

JUNE 1, 2010

Medical Marijuana Qualifies for Arizona Ballot

Arizona Will Join South Dakota in Having Medical Marijuana on the Ballot in November; 14 States and Washington, D.C. Have Similar Laws

CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications …………… 202-905-2030 or [email protected]

PHOENIX, ARIZONA — Today, the Arizona Secretary of State announced that an initiative to pass a medical marijuana law in Arizona has qualified for the November ballot. In April, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project, the group that organized the initiative, turned in nearly 100,000 more signatures than were required to qualify. 

         Under the proposal, seriously ill patients with certain qualifying conditions would be given legal access to medical marijuana if they have a recommendation from their doctor. Since 1996, 14 other states and the District of Columbia have passed similar laws, and more than a dozen state legislatures across the nation have considered the issue this year. In March, a medical marijuana initiative in South Dakota also qualified for the November ballot. 

         “We are very happy that Arizonans will have the opportunity this November to vote for a compassionate and responsible law that protects seriously ill patients,” said Steve Fox, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project, which provides significant funding and support to AMMPP. “By voting in favor of this initiative, Arizonans will ensure that residents suffering from cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other serious ailments will be given safe access to a medicine they and their doctors believe can relieve their condition. The proposed law will also create a dispensary system that will provide patients the same reliable access to medical marijuana that they would have to any other medicine – meaning they won’t have to risk their own safety by purchasing it from the criminal market.”   

         Upon passage of the initiative, the Arizona Department of Health Services will regulate medical marijuana, and qualifying patients or their caregivers will be permitted to legally purchase their medicine from tightly regulated clinics. The new law will protect seriously ill patients from arrest and prosecution for the simple act of taking doctor-recommended medicine. A January ABC News/Washington Post poll showed that 81 percent of Americans support medical marijuana laws.

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

MAY 28, 2010

Mayor Rybak, Let’s Be Honest About Marijuana

Marijuana’s Prohibition—and the Elected Officials Who Support It—Is to Blame For Fueling Gang Violence, Not Marijuana’s Consumers

CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications …………… 202-905-2030 or [email protected]

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA —Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak has recently taken to Minnesota’s airwaves in a misguided attempt to blame violence at the hands of criminal gangs on consumers of marijuana. “When you pay for marijuana, you are paying for the bullet that goes into the head of someone on the streets,” he told the Star Tribune, in one instance. But the mayor’s logic is tragically flawed. By trying to blame violence entirely on marijuana’s consumers, Mayor Rybak is conveniently ignoring the central role in gang violence played by marijuana prohibition and the politicians who support it.

         “The only reason criminals make their money from marijuana is because our current policies allow them to,” said Steve Fox, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project. “Like alcohol prohibition in the last century, marijuana prohibition has helped to fuel violent crime in Minnesota and across the country. Mayor Rybak is out of touch with reality if he does not recognize that prohibition—and any elected official who supports it—is to blame for giving criminals a virtual monopoly on marijuana’s lucrative trade. It is unrealistic to assume we can somehow magically remove the demand for marijuana. The only true solution is to regulate marijuana, and bring its sale under the rule of law, the same way we ended the criminal violence that stemmed from alcohol prohibition.”

         Even Mayor Rybak’s own deputy police chief, Rob Allen, stated that violence in the marijuana trade is caused by its prohibition. “It is illegal to distribute marijuana, so the people distributing marijuana are criminal syndicates that are engaged in very violent activity to protect their turf,” Allen told station KARE 11. 

         In a recent statement about this topic on a CityPages comment thread, Mayor Rybak wrote that “it’s time we finally got honest with each other.”

         The Marijuana Policy Project couldn’t agree more. “If the mayor wants to end violence associated with marijuana, he too needs to be honest, and join the growing ranks of those calling for an end to prohibition and the failed policies that drive money into the hands of criminals, and yes, bullets into people’s heads,” Fox said.   

         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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