Fundraising Appeal

 

Dear friends:

More than 10,000 of you have written President Obama and Congress to ask that the president send a clear signal to Bush holdovers at the DEA about their continuing raids against medical marijuana dispensaries in California.

It worked:

On the front page of the Washington Times today, a White House spokesman said:

“The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind."

Your letters paid off. Would you take one minute to use MPP's easy online system to e-mail the president and thank him for his commitment to protecting medical marijuana patients?

Change is happening, and you're a part of it.

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 $2.35 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2009. This means that your donation today will be doubled.

Dear friends:

Yesterday — with the leadership of the Department of Justice in flux while Attorney General-designate Eric Holder awaits confirmation by the Senate — Bush administration holdovers raided a medical marijuana dispensary in South Lake Tahoe, California.

President Obama vowed repeatedly during his campaign to stop such raids if elected, and we have every reason to believe he will make good on that promise. However, four top positions at the DEA are still filled by Bush cronies, who are attempting to undercut the president's pledge.

Would you please take one minute to use MPP’s easy online system to e-mail the president and ask him to get his new leadership in place at the DEA quickly, so that these cruel and outdated policies finally end? 

President Obama has promised that arresting patients and raiding clinics in states where medical marijuana is legal won't be acceptable on his watch. Getting political appointees in place takes time, but yesterday the Bush holdovers showed that we must move swiftly.

Please write the White House today to urge the president to quickly place his new leaders at the DEA.

You can see some of the statements the president has made about medical marijuana (generally in response to questions from MPP) here.

Please send your e-mail right away. (You can also call the White House at 202-456-1111.)

Thank you,

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 $2.35 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2009. This means that your donation today will be doubled.

Friends,

An SSDP member found herself in the midst of a national news story last week.

The City Council of El Paso, Texas had just unanimously passed a resolution calling for a national discussion of drug legalization. The mayor swiftly vetoed it, calling proponents of the resolution "pot heads." As the council prepared to override the veto, members found threatening letters from state and federal officials in their mailboxes, while Lou Dobbs criticized the resolution nationally on CNN.

Nubia Legarda had a personal stake in ensuring that the City Council didn't back down. Her family lives in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juárez -- a city where gruesome murders have become commonplace because of the cartel violence created by drug prohibition. That's why Nubia joined Students for Sensible Drug Policy last year, and why she called our national staff for help preparing her remarks to the City Council last week.

Nubia's comments to the council and the local news were spot on. Beto O'Rourke, the lead proponent of the resolution, told me that Nubia's testimony was "among the most effective in showing how destructive and unproductive our current drug policy is."

After watching the online broadcast of her testimony, I didn't think I could be more inspired by Nubia's commitment to this cause. That was until I saw that she donated $10 through SSDP's website that afternoon. Even though she had just spent the day volunteering her time to speak out on this issue, she knew that this struggle takes time, dedication... and money.

I've put together a web page where you can watch Nubia's testimony and news interview, and you can find out how the council ultimately decided to vote. If you're motivated by Nubia's courage and conviction, I invite you to turn that motivation into action by matching Nubia's contribution to SSDP (while including a note to Nubia if you like). http://www.ssdp.org/elpaso 

Each and every donation helps ensure that we can be at the right place at the right time, like we were last week in El Paso. So thank you so much for helping us open a national dialogue on one of the most important issues facing our nation. We can't do it without you.

Best,

Micah Daigle, Associate Director
Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Dear friends:

“The fact is, today, people don't go to jail for possession of marijuana. I know you like to pretend it does, and there's a lot of misinformation about that. But finding somebody in jail or prison — for a first time nonviolent offender — for possession of marijuana is like finding a unicorn ... It doesn't exist.”

--John Walters, Bush White House drug czar
September 4, 2008

Drug warriors love to claim that marijuana prohibition doesn't cause harm to otherwise law-abiding citizens — because if they acknowledge the truth, their public support falls apart.

When we're able to present the stories of real people who have suffered under marijuana prohibition, we find that public indifference to the issue dissolves — and laws change.

If you yourself have been a victim of the war on marijuana users, I'd like to ask if you're willing to share your story. For instance...

• Have you ever been arrested or jailed for marijuana possession?
• Have you ever been arrested for marijuana possession and later charged with a more severe crime, like intent to distribute?
• Did your arrest result in additional suffering, such as losing your job, home, custody of your children, or school loan?
• Have you ever taken a drug test that resulted in a false positive? 
• Are you a patient in one of the 13 states where medical marijuana is legal who has been arrested or harassed by law enforcement agents despite your state-legal status? 
• Do you lack safe access to or are too afraid to use medical marijuana because of state or federal laws, although it could alleviate symptoms of your serious medical condition?

If so, please e-mail me at [email protected] to share your story. Please be sure to indicate what state you live in. We will not use your story or your name without your permission, and if you'd like to be anonymous, just indicate that when you e-mail.

While MPP can't offer individual legal help, we can turn your experience into ammunition as we campaign to change laws. Many Americans truly don't realize the impact that marijuana prohibition has on their neighbors, and individual stories are a powerful tool in helping change minds — and laws.

And if you don't have a personal story to share, but you'd like to support our work, please consider becoming a member of MPP today. We're 100% dependent on contributions from people like you to continue our work.

Thank you,

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

Dear friends:

The Playboy Mansion is the stuff of legends — and by attending the Marijuana Policy Project's upcoming party there, you can be one of the few people in the world who have visited it.

But if you're planning to reserve tickets to the party, you should probably do so now — since the ticket price will increase soon.

Guests will be able to explore the Playboy Mansion's famous grounds. Playmates will give personal tours as partiers enjoy the pool area, with its lagoon-shaped swimming pool, waterfalls, and the legendary grotto.

        

This might be the perfect holiday present for someone on your list.

Keep in mind that this is an exclusive event with limited capacity, so if you want to attend, reserve your tickets now. You'll get a tax deduction, and all proceeds will benefit MPP's efforts to end marijuana prohibition in the U.S.

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.

Dear friends:

Seventy-five years ago today, Alcohol Prohibition was repealed in the U.S.

And today, no one is calling for its reinstatement, because of the widespread understanding that Prohibition didn't reduce alcohol use, increased violence, put profits in the hands of the wrong people, and didn't tax those profits.

Of course, we see same thing now with the government's 71-year-long experiment with marijuana prohibition.

MPP's new video marking the anniversary of the repeal of Alcohol Prohibition examines these parallels:

Prohibition ended once, and we can end it again. In fact — unlike the repeal of Alcohol Prohibition, which required a constitutional amendment, a two-thirds vote in Congress, and ratification by three-quarters of the states — we just need to win simple majorities. And the tide is turning our way.

Will you help? Your donation to MPP will fund our aggressive and  successful campaigns to pass laws via state legislatures and ballot initiatives, lobby Congress, and more. We are winning this fight, but we rely 100% on contributions from supporters like you to keep up our work.

If you value what MPP is doing, would you please donate $10 or more to our work today?

Thank you,

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.

Dear friends:

With the new presidential administration just two months away, MPP is calling on President-elect Obama to inject some common sense into America's marijuana laws.

Please watch MPP's new video letter to Obama to see what we're asking him to do:

As you know, we emptied our coffers in order to win our successful ballot initiative campaigns to legalize medical marijuana in Michigan and decriminalize marijuana possession in Massachusetts. In order to hit the ground running with the new administration and the new Congress, we need your help to make sure our work in the new year is fully funded. Would you please consider donating $10 or more to our work today? 

We really appreciate anything you can give.

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.