Yesterday, we told you about an amendment to H.R. 1947, “the farm bill,” that would allow universities and colleges to cultivate industrial hemp. We asked you to call your representatives and help pass this amendment, and you came through! Earlier today, by a vote of 225-200, the House adopted the amendment. Despite the full bill being voted down because of partisan differences, this is a big victory.

Why is it so important? First, the DEA lobbied hard against us and lost. This is perhaps the first time that Congress has listened to arguments from the DEA and advocates for marijuana policy reform, then sided with us. Second, even though this bill won’t pass, there’s a good chance the amendment will get inserted into other legislation now that the full House has approved it.

Here’s the bottom line: the tide is turning. No longer do members of Congress blindly listen to the DEA and ignore advocates. We’re making real progress, and with your help, we can continue building support for further reforms.

Just this week, DEA agents raided two medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego. The raid came one day after the owner of one of the facilities testified at a city council hearing on regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries.

Ironically, it also comes as the Obama administration announces their new drug control strategy, which they call a “21^st century approach to drug policy.” To hear them tell it, we’re now focused on treatment and prevention rather than arrests and prosecutions. Of course, that’s not true, and no one knows that better than medical marijuana providers in California and elsewhere. Fortunately, there is a way to change all that.

Ask your elected officials in Congress to support H.R. 689.

Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) has introduced the States’ Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act. If passed, his bill would reschedule marijuana, recognizing its medical value, and prevent the DEA from going after patients, doctors, or dispensaries.

It’s vital that your representatives in Congress know that you support medical marijuana and that people who provide doctor-recommended medicine to sick people are not criminals. Please write your elected officials today, and when you’re done, forward this to friends so they can do the same.

Last year, the Michigan Legislature passed a series of bills tweaking Michigan’s voter-approved medical marijuana law, and most of those changes took effect yesterday. Among other things, the law now defines and requires a “bona fide physician-patient relationship” — which includes an in-person evaluation — between a patient and recommending physician. Also, newly issued registry ID cards will be valid for two years instead of only one. A requirement that patients transporting marijuana by vehicle keep it in a case in the trunk took effect in January.

Here’s our handout with full summaries of these new laws. More information, including new forms anyone applying for or renewing a registry ID card will need to use, is available at the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs website.

One change that we hope will take effect soon is state and locally recognized dispensaries. State Rep. Mike Callton (R-Nashville) and 16 other representatives are sponsoring HB 4271, which would allow cities and towns to choose whether or not to recognize and regulate dispensaries. If you are a Michigan resident, please ask your legislators to give patients more options for access by voting “yes” on HB 4271.

A medical marijuana bill that could allow academic medical centers to provide marijuana to patients whose doctors recommend it took a significant step toward becoming law minutes ago when it was approved by the Maryland House of Delegates. In a sign of just how uncontroversial this bill is, there was no debate and the vote was an overwhelming 108-28! The bill now moves over to the Senate, so you know what to do.

If you live in Maryland, please ask your state senator to support HB 1101.

Unlike medical marijuana programs you’ve heard about in other states, HB 1101 would allow academic medical centers, like Johns Hopkins, to apply to an independent commission for the ability to administer a research-focused program through which participating patients could obtain marijuana without fear of arrest and prosecution. The bill is far from perfect – it could take years to get up and running and would require either federal cooperation or medical centers in Maryland to violate federal law – but it’s a start. The bill could be amended down the road if the current version proves unworkable.

Sen. Richard Segerblom

Until recently, things had been all quiet on the marijuana front in Nevada. That changed suddenly last week when Sen. Richard “Tick” Segerblom introduced SB 374, a bill to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in Nevada, and Assemblyman Joe Hogan introduced AB 402, which would regulate marijuana like alcohol.

We’re already halfway through Nevada’s scheduled session, with adjournment slated for June 3, so time is short. If you live in Nevada, please contact your elected officials today and urge them to support the dispensary bill and to support removing criminal penalties and regulating marijuana like alcohol.

Assemblyman Joe Hogan

Sen. Segerblom’s bill would fix current Nevada law, which prohibits buying or selling marijuana. Last year, a Nevada judge called that “ridiculous” and “absurd” and called upon the legislature to pass a bill much like SB 374. And of course, Hogan’s bill would be a financial boon for the cash-strapped state. Rather than spending millions locking up adults for using a substance safer than alcohol, the state could make millions in tax revenue.

Sometimes in this movement, it’s feast or famine. Right now in Maryland, we’re feasting. Yesterday, the media was busy covering a hearing on legislation to tax and regulate marijuana and the Maryland Senate passing legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Today, they will be writing about committee votes all but certain to lead to medical marijuana legislation passing in Maryland.

Maryland State House (Photo by Matt Bush)

Late last night, I received word that the House Judiciary and Health & Government Operations (HGO) Committees each approved legislation to set up a first-of-its-kind medical marijuana program in Maryland. The votes were overwhelming: 22-1 in HGO and 17-4 in Judiciary. I’m very optimistic, but let’s leave nothing to chance. If you live in Maryland, please ask your delegates and senators to vote “yes” on H.B. 1101. The bill isn’t perfect — marijuana will only be provided through academic medical centers, and it will take some time for the program to be implemented — but this is a big step forward. What’s important is that medical marijuana will be in the hands of doctors, not dealers, and people with debilitating illnesses will no longer be thought of as criminals.

It was close, but by a vote of 37-33 the New Mexico House passed legislation removing the possibility of jail time for possession of marijuana. Next, the bill will move to the Senate where it will be assigned to a committee. It will then need to win the support of the majority of committee members, then a majority of the full Senate.

If it passes in the Senate and is not vetoed by Gov. Susana Martinez, H.B. 465 would make the first offense for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana a civil offense, punishable only by a $50 fine. Possession of one to four ounces would also be punishable by a civil fine of up to $100. Second offenses would be petty misdemeanors subject to double the fine amount, but would still carry no risk of jail time. Possession of four to eight ounces would be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $300.

If you live in New Mexico, please don’t wait – contact your senator now and urge him or her to support H.B. 465. When you’re done, forward this to your friends who live in New mexico and ask them to do the same.

Tomorrow, the Texas State House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence will hold a hearing on legislation that would remove the possibility of jail time for possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. MPP’s executive director Rob Kampia will be testifying at the hearing.

Rep. Harold V. Dutton Jr.

H.B. 184, which was introduced by Rep. Harold V. Dutton Jr. (D-Houston), would remove the threat of jail and set the maximum penalty for possession of up to an ounce of marijuana at $500.

If you are a Texas resident, you can help influence the fate of this sensible legislation by contacting your representative now!

No one deserves to go to jail for marijuana, but under current Texas law, possession of two ounces or less can get you up to 180 days in jail and up to $2000 in fines.

Rep. Lou Lang

This morning, the House Human Services Committee voted 11-4 in favor of legislation that would make Illinois the 19^thmedical marijuana state. HB 1, sponsored by Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), now moves to the full House of Representatives.

Last year’s bill, H.B. 30, came up just short of passing in the House. This year, prospects are brighter, thanks to a record supermajority of Democrats, who tend to support medical marijuana more than their Republican colleagues, and changes to the bill to satisfy law enforcement concerns.

Despite fears that the new bill might grant one company a monopoly on cultivation, thanks to input from MPP and our allies, the new bill will allow up to 22 growers and 60 dispensaries. Other changes make the new bill even more restrictive than H.B. 30, but it’s expected that improvements will be made after a four-year pilot program, as has happened in other states.

Let’s make this the year this bill finally passes. If you live in Illinois, please ask your legislators to support HB 1, and help spread the word by forwarding this email to friends and family in Illinois.

Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Alcohol causes violent behavior and deaths by liver cirrhosis and alcohol poisoning. People die every day from overdoses of heroin, cocaine, meth, and even legal prescription drugs. Nonetheless, Rep. David Howard (R-Park City), Chairman of the Montana House Human Services Committee, thinks marijuana — a substance that has never caused an overdose fatality — is “the most dangerous drug there is.”

That’s right folks, it’s 2013 and reefer madness is still alive and well in big sky country. Fortunately, science is still alive and well too and begs to differ with Rep. Howard. Here’s what a study published in Britain’s most prestigious medical journal, The Lancet, had to say about the relative harms of various popular intoxicants:

As you can see, marijuana (cannabis) is hardly the most dangerous and pales in comparison to alcohol and tobacco, two drugs we’ve had success reducing teen use of lately without throwing tens of thousands of adults in jail.

Unsurprisingly, Howard’s committee blocked four bills that would have rolled back recently passed restrictions on Montana’s medical marijuana law. For now, despite Rep. Howard’s obfuscation, a judge has issued an injunction preventing the worst parts of that law from taking effect. Patients in Montana are awaiting the state attorney general’s decision as to whether or not to appeal that ruling.

UPDATE: Commenter Nathan Pierce points out that Montana Attorney General Tim Fox announced Friday he will not appeal the preliminary injunction. Patients and providers are not out of the woods yet though. The constitutionality of Montana’s restrictive law will now be the subject of a full trial, where Fox pledges to “vigorously defend” the law.