After several days of discussion, the Vermont House overwhelmingly voted this afternoon in favor of H. 200, a bill that would reduce the penalty for possessing up to an ounce of marijuana to a violation, making it a civil, rather than criminal, offense. Ninety-two representatives voted in favor, and only 49 were opposed.

The bill will now move forward to the Senate, which has already held hearings on the issue.

If you live in Vermont, please contact your senator today and urge them to support this legislation.

As amended by the House Judiciary Committee and approved in a 9-2 vote, H. 200 would reduce the penalty for possessing up to an ounce to a fine of up to $300. With support from Gov. Peter Shumlin and top law enforcement officials, the bill appears to have a very strong chance of passing into law.

After a lengthy discussion, the Vermont House overwhelmingly voted this afternoon in favor of H. 200, a bill that would reduce the penalty for possessing up to an ounce of marijuana to a violation, making it a civil rather than criminal offense. Ninety-eight representatives voted in favor, and only 44 were opposed.

The bill is scheduled for more discussion in the House and a final vote next week before it moves to the Senate. However, today’s vote represents a strong indication of support from the House.

As amended by the House Judiciary Committee and approved in a 9-2 vote, H. 200 would reduce the penalty for possessing up to an ounce to a fine of up to $300. The Senate Judiciary Committee has already begun considering testimony on this issue, and with support from Gov. Peter Shumlin and top law enforcement officials, the bill appears to have a very strong chance of passing into law.

Last Thursday’s hearing on West Virginia’s medical marijuana bill was an overwhelmingly positive experience that resulted in some great media coverage. Many thanks to all the patients, medical professionals, and other advocates who testified — you made a huge impact on the House Health and Human Resources Committee!

Chairman Don Perdue

Remarkably, 18 people spoke in favor of the bill, and none were opposed. Chairman Don Perdue (D-Wayne) had been very reluctant to place this bill on the committee’s agenda, but he has now agreed to form a study committee that will give the bill the serious attention it deserves over the summer.

It’s unfortunate that the bill won’t be advancing to a vote in the legislature this year, but the outpouring of public support for HB 2961 has more than broken the ice — it has dramatically changed the way many West Virginia legislators view this issue.

Please enjoy these news links and share them with your friends and family so we can continue building public support for this sensible, compassionate reform!

* Beckley Register-Herald/Bluefield Daily Telegraph: “No Foes Speak at House Hearing on Medical Marijuana”

* WVNS-TV: “Is West Virginia Ready to Legalize Medical Marijuana?”

* WCHS-TV: “Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced to West Virginia Legislature”

Gov. Maggie Hassan

In a huge victory for patients, the New Hampshire House overwhelmingly approved the medical marijuana bill today by a record 286-64 margin. Similar bills in 2009, 2011, and 2012 also received more than two-thirds support from the House, but today’s vote of more than 81% in favor of HB 573 shows that the House is moving closer to achieving consensus on the issue!

Next, the bill will head to the Senate, which also passed similar bills in 2009 and 2012, but the Senate has always been more difficult to persuade on this issue than the House. Advocates will need to work even harder in the Senate to make sure HB 573 passes this year and creates the best law possible for patients.

Encouragingly, Gov. Maggie Hassan has expressed support for making medical marijuana legal in the Granite State. That means if the bill passes in the Senate, New Hampshire stands a good chance of becoming the 19th medical marijuana state!

A bill to allow New Hampshire residents to use medical marijuana in the treatment of their debilitating medical conditions moved one step closer to becoming law Thursday when it was approved 14-1 by the House Committee on Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs. It will now be considered by the full House of Representatives.

Rep. Donna Schlachman

House Bill 573, sponsored by State Rep. Donna Schlachman (D-Exeter), would allow seriously ill patients to use medical marijuana if their doctors recommend it. Patients would be able to grow up to three mature marijuana plants in their homes or obtain marijuana through one of five non-profit, state-licensed alternative treatment centers. Gov. Maggie Hassan has expressed support for passing medical marijuana legislation. A similar medical marijuana bill that passed with bipartisan support last session was vetoed by then-governor John Lynch.

Rep. Patrick Culbert

Prior to the vote, Rep. Patrick Culbert (R-Pelham) made an emotional plea to his colleagues, sharing his experience caring for his wife, Judy, as she slowly died of cancer. He recounted how she found relief from her “agonizing” symptoms the sole time she tried using medical marijuana, but did not use it again because she feared being arrested.

“People like Judy shouldn’t have to die like that,” Rep. Culbert said. “She should have died with dignity and she didn’t.”

This overwhelming showing of legislative support provides great relief to many seriously ill patients and their families, who have been waiting years for medical marijuana to become legal in New Hampshire. Patients should not have to live in fear of arrest in the ‘Live Free or Die’ state.

If you are a New Hampshire resident, please write your representatives, and forward this to your friends in New Hampshire.

I’ve been organizing and advocating for marijuana policy reform in New Hampshire since 2007, and some of the successes have been very gratifying. After two near-victories on the medical marijuana issue (the governor vetoed bills in both 2009 and 2012), it now appears very likely that New Hampshire will pass an effective medical marijuana law in 2013.

However, I have often wished I could do something to help seriously ill patients in my home state of West Virginia. Sadly, medical marijuana legislation hasn’t been seriously considered in the Mountain State, despite the best efforts of Delegate Mike Manypenny (D-Taylor), who introduced bills in both 2011 and 2012.

The situation in West Virginia changed dramatically for the better this week, as Delegate Manypenny hosted a successful public forum Tuesday in the House of Delegates chamber. The forum was called “Should West Virginia Reform its Marijuana Laws?” and generated positive media coverage, including this article in the Charleston Gazette.

Featured speakers included an emergency room physician, the president-elect of the West Virginia Nurses’ Association, and a retired police lieutenant and FBI unit chief. This impressive line-up laid to rest once and for all the notion that marijuana policy reform supporters are merely self-interested marijuana users rather than conscientious, civic-minded advocates interested in improving public policy.

I was truly honored to be included in this forum and given the opportunity to speak about marijuana policy in the House chamber — a chamber I had last visited in the 1980’s as a student in the Wood County school system.

With strong, credible advocates like these supporting medical marijuana in West Virginia, patients in the Mountain State finally have reason to be optimistic about the future.

In New Hampshire, I’ve often argued that decision-makers should consider the state’s motto — Live Free or Die — when considering whether patients should be free to follow their doctors’ advice without fear of arrest. West Virginia’s state motto — Montani Semper Liberi (Mountaineers Are Always Free) — seems equally relevant to this issue.

May both states live up to their mottos by passing effective medical marijuana laws, and may they do so soon!

A lawsuit challenging Arizona’s medical marijuana law was rejected last week, when Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Gordon rejected arguments by Attorney General Tom Horne and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and refused to declare the law invalid.

This is great news for patients, but wait, there’s more! Last week, the Phoenix FOX affiliate reported that a dispensary in Tucson became the first to open its doors in Arizona. However, that dispensary does not yet have medical marijuana available for patients, so the honor of being the first state-licensed dispensary actually goes to Arizona Organix in Glendale, which began supplying patients Thursday, December 6.

Prop. 203 has overcome several obstacles since it was approved by voters in 2010, and the law now appears to be well on its way to being fully implemented. However, advocates must remain vigilant, as we know the program’s opponents will continue trying to challenge the rights of patients in court and in the legislature. Montgomery has already announced he will appeal Judge Gordon’s ruling, so it’s clear the effort to preserve and protect Arizona’s medical marijuana law must continue.

Of the 17 states that have passed medical marijuana laws, only one — Montana — has experienced a serious legislative effort to repeal the law.

How could this have happened, and what can advocates in other states learn from Montana’s experiences?

Fortunately for those of us who work to pass — and improve — medical marijuana laws, an excellent new documentary film provides a unique and insightful view of Montana’s 2011 repeal effort. Code of the West, directed and produced by Rebecca Richman Cohen, recently made its debut and is now being screened at film festivals and other venues across the United States.

I had the honor of presenting Code of the West at its New Hampshire debut Friday evening at the New Hampshire Film Festival in Portsmouth. As an MPP legislative analyst monitoring the ongoing action in Montana, I was familiar with the events depicted, but seeing these events unfold on the big screen — against the stunning backdrop of Montana’s rugged mountains — provides a more complete experience than any number of newspaper articles could possibly supply.

In a nutshell, the repeal advocates depicted in Code of the West are appalled by the proliferation of unregulated medical marijuana dispensaries in Montana and by the ease with which non-patients appear to be qualifying for medical marijuana cards. Instead of seeking regulations to curb these perceived abuses, they lead an organized effort to repeal the law.

Despite being a very well-made film, a few scenes in Code of the West are difficult to watch:

• One repeal-supporting legislator foolishly compares medical marijuana to the deadly poison arsenic.
• A grandmother suffering from advanced cancer loses access to medical marijuana and is left with no choice but to manage her pain with morphine.
• A repeal supporter admits that some seriously ill patients benefit from medical marijuana but continues pushing — not for regulation and restrictions to prevent abuse, but for a full repeal.

The film’s main subjects are medical marijuana advocates led by Tom Daubert — a well-respected political professional whose life is turned upside-down by an unjust federal prosecution — and repeal advocates led by a group of concerned parents and Montana House Speaker Mike Milburn.

Although the attempt at full repeal does not succeed, the film does not have a happy ending for patients and their advocates, as legislators resist common sense efforts to regulate the medical marijuana industry. Instead, they opt to pass SB 423, an ultra-restrictive “repeal in disguise” that will dramatically limit patients’ access.

A year after the film’s action concludes, Montana’s struggle to achieve a sane medical marijuana policy continues, and many conflicts described in the film remain unresolved.

Despite his efforts to pass regulations and improve Montana’s medical marijuana law, federal prosecutors brought felony charges against Daubert for his involvement with a medical marijuana dispensary, giving him little choice but to plead guilty. In September, Judge Dana Christenson ignored prosecutors’ request for a lengthy prison term and instead sentenced Daubert to five years of probation.

Another of the film’s subjects, Daubert’s former business partner Chris Williams, was recently convicted on eight felony counts and, astonishingly, faces mandatory minimum sentences that could keep him incarcerated for life. Williams’ attorney is currently seeking a new trial. Sadly, yet another of Daubert’s former business partners, Richard Flor, was sentenced to a five-year prison term earlier this year and died in federal custody August 30 after being denied medical care that had been recommended by a judge.

Fortunately, Montana voters will have an opportunity to reject the legislature’s “repeal in disguise” when they go to the polls Nov. 6. Regardless of how Montana’s IR-124 fares at the ballot box, Montana’s legislature should learn from the experiences portrayed in Code of the West and pass sensible regulations for medical marijuana providers in 2013.

For more information on Code of the West, including how to schedule a screening in a town near you, click here. If you submit a request, you’ll receive more details, including information on screening fees and the option to preview the film.

It came as no surprise when New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat serving his fourth and final term, vetoed SB 409 today. Gov. Lynch vetoed a similar bill in 2009, and he has avoided meeting with patients who hoped to educate him on the subject, so this veto was unfortunate but very much expected.

Despite the governor’s opposition, this bill has earned majority support in both parties and both chambers of the legislature. All eyes will now be on the House and Senate next Wednesday, June 27, when both chambers will vote on whether or not to override the veto.

Fortunately, Sen. Jim Forsythe (R-Strafford) has refused to give up. He published a powerful editorial this week in the Concord Monitor, and he is still working hard to convince his colleagues they should override the veto and pass SB 409 into law.

The Republican-dominated House has twice passed SB 409 by better than the two-thirds margin needed for an override. The Republican-dominated House passed SB 409 in a 236-96 vote on April 25, with 97% of Democrats and 62% of Republicans voting in favor.

In the Senate, which was composed of 19 Republicans and five Democrats this session, 10 Republican Senators have joined all five Democrats in supporting the bill.

Unfortunately, one Senate vote has been lost due to a supportive senator’s recent resignation, so the outpouring of public support for SB 409 will have to continue for the override effort to succeed. MPP, Sen. Forsythe, and our team of allies have worked hard to gain additional votes in the Senate, and the fate of seriously ill patients in New Hampshire will soon be decided.

The plea of patients and their family members is simple and profound: “Don’t let one man stand in the way!”