Pennsylvania state Sen. Daylin Leach, a long-time supporter of marijuana reform and previous sponsor of several medical marijuana bills, announced Monday that he will introduce a bill that would make adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana legal and would tax and regulate the substance. According to The Times Herald, the latter policy is what may eventually swing lawmakers in his state:

But money, more than moral appeals or anything else, might talk the loudest in the drive to decriminalize marijuana in Pennsylvania, particularly in the current era of budget shortfalls and lingering economic uncertainty. And with financial concerns helping to fuel the passage of historic pot legalization laws in Colorado and Washington State in November — as well as the introduction of a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday that would legalize and levy an excise tax on the sale of the drug — perhaps now is a better time than ever to convince skeptical state lawmakers of the cash benefits of getting into the marijuana business.

Sen. Leach truly believes in this issue, and he wants people to start talking about it more. He tells Raw Story:

“This is inevitable. This will pass. It may take two, it may take four years,” Leach added. “A majority of people don’t support marijuana legalization simply because they haven’t really had cause to revisit the issue in their minds. Once you sit down with people and explain the harm it does in a wide variety of ways, and the be[ne]fits(sic) we can accrue through legalization, I think that people will very quickly change their minds.

…

… So there’s many who won’t put their name out front on an issue until it gets [mainstream] in their minds. If there was a secret ballot, I predict legalization would pass.”

If you want to help start this conversation with your members of Congress, it has never been easier.

In what is surely a sign that serious change is on the horizon for marijuana policy across the nation, the magazine for the National Conference of State Legislatures featured a long cover story about reform efforts in their latest issue.

Given that lawmakers have traditionally lagged far behind public opinion on this topic, this is a pretty big step toward educating them about the need or alternatives to marijuana prohibition.

So far this year, more than 20 states have introduced marijuana reform legislation of some sort, and we will likely see more in the coming weeks.

MPP executive director Rob Kampia is interviewed on “The Agenda,” a popular political show on the Las Vegas NBC affiliate. In particular, he discusses the prospects for legalizing marijuana in Nevada and the growing public support for ending marijuana prohibition nationwide.

MPP director of government relations Steve Fox was interviewed on CNBC’s Power Lunch on Wednesday about the implementation of Washington State’s new legal marijuana market regulations.

Here’s the clip:

It is interesting that despite voters in two states making marijuana legal for adults, and with over 20 states considering marijuana reform legislation in the 2013 session, some folks in the mainstream media simply cannot stop making jokes about this serious policy issue. The time for puns is over. It is time for change.

A national poll released this week by Reason Magazine found that a majority of adults want to see marijuana reform, and that they want the federal government to respect state laws concerning marijuana.

Some highlights, courtesy of Katie Hooks:

– 72 percent of Americans say the federal government should not arrest marijuana users in states like Colorado and Washington that have legalized the drug.

– 68 percent of Americans say the federal government should not arrest marijuana growers in states that have legalized the drug.

– 64 percent say the federal government should not arrest marijuana sellers in states that have legalized the drug.

– 53 percent say they agree with the statement that “marijuana should be treated the same as alcohol.”

– 49 percent say they oppose legalizing marijuana for recreational use and 47 percent support legalizing it. That finding is within the poll’s margin of error, which is plus or minus 3.8 percent.

It is important to note the discrepancy in these last two results. Often times, when people hear the word “legalize,” they assume that this means making marijuana legal with no regulations or systems in place to govern the distribution and use of the substance. This could easily explain why more respondents agree with treating marijuana like alcohol than with “legalizing marijuana.” Fortunately, every serious effort to make marijuana legal in states around the country has been careful to include provisions that would establish a well-regulated cultivation and distribution system.

Today’s New York Times includes a feature story about California medical marijuana provider Matthew Davies, who federal prosecutors are pressuring to accept a five-year mandatory minimum as a plea agreement. Federal authorities indicted Matthew last year on charges of marijuana cultivation, calling him “one of the most significant commercial marijuana traffickers to be prosecuted in this district.” By all accounts, the two dispensaries Matthew owned were in total compliance with state law and were models of professionalism and service.

He brought graduate-level business skills to a world decidedly operating in the shadows. He hired accountants, compliance lawyers, managers, a staff of 75 and a payroll firm. He paid California sales tax and filed for state and local business permits.

“This is not a case of an illicit drug ring under the guise of medical marijuana,” [his attorney] wrote. “Here, marijuana was provided to qualified adult patients with a medical recommendation from a licensed physician. Records were kept, proceeds were tracked, payroll and sales taxes were duly paid.”

Does this sound like a dangerous criminal who we should spend federal resources to arrest, prosecute, and possibly jail? Medical marijuana providers who followed state law, like Matthew, weren’t supposed to be the targets of federal attack and provide an excellent example for others in the industry. Nevertheless, he is facing a significant amount of time in jail regardless of whether he takes the plea, which will surely take a serious toll on him and his family.

“To be looking at 15 years of our life, you couldn’t pay me enough to give that up,” Mr. Davies said at the dining room table in his two-story home along the San Joaquin River Delta, referring to the amount of time he could potentially serve in prison.

Matthew and his family are not taking this lying down. Matthew’s wife Molly published this open letter to President Obama today in the Huffington Post. You can find out more about Matthew’s case and how you can help at http://www.keepmattfree.org/.

MPP is taking issue with former Congressman Patrick Kennedy’s plan to force marijuana consumers into treatment and marijuana “education” classes, which his new organization, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), is scheduled to unveil in Denver on Thursday.

“The proposal is on par with forcing every alcohol user into treatment at their own cost or at a cost to the state,” said MPP communications director Mason Tvert. ”In fact, it would be less logical because the science is clear that marijuana is far less toxic, less addictive, and less likely to be associated with acts of violence.”

MPP is calling on Kennedy, whose family made a fortune selling alcohol, to explain why he wants to keep an objectively less harmful alternative to alcohol illegal. Specifically, MPP is asking Kennedy to address the question on SAM’s website and provide facts regarding the relative harms of marijuana and alcohol. MPP also launched an online petition this morning asking Kennedy to provide an explanation or resign as chairman of SAM, which received more than 1,500 signatures within the first hour of being posted – http://chn.ge/13e9Qjl

“Former Congressman Kennedy’s proposal is the definition of hypocrisy,” Tvert said. ”He is living in part off of the fortune his family made by selling alcohol while leading a campaign that makes it seem like marijuana – an objectively less harmful product – is the greatest threat to public health.”

“If this group truly cares about public health, it should be providing the public with facts regarding the relative harms of marijuana and discouraging the use of the more harmful product,” Tvert continued. ”Why on earth would they want keep a less harmful alternative to alcohol illegal? Former Congressman Kennedy and his organization should answer this question before calling on our government to start forcing people into treatment programs and throwing them into marijuana ‘education’ camps.”

The organization, which claims such anti-marijuana zealots as Kevin Sabet and David Frum as members, purports to represent a moderate “third way” of marijuana policy that is supposedly a compromise between legalization and prohibition. The reality is that a well-regulated and taxed system to control cultivation and sale of marijuana is the truly moderate position between total unregulated legalization and the failed policies that constitute the government’s war on marijuana.

Leave it to prohibitionists to inaccurately frame a debate!

On Nov. 6 of last year, the state of Washington made the possession and use of marijuana legal for adults. Marijuana remains illegal in Washington, D.C., the home of the Redskins. Last week, the District of Columbia ranked ninth on a list of America’s ‘25 Drunkest Cities,’ while Seattle, home of the Seahawks, didn’t even make the list.

Is it a coincidence that the Seahawks handily beat the Redskins this past Sunday?

Perhaps. (Nevertheless, it is worth noting that both the Seahawks and the Denver Broncos have yet to lose a game at home since their respective states made marijuana legal.)

But we have to wonder why the NFL continues to prohibit marijuana use by players during the off-season, even in states that have made it legal, while simultaneously promoting alcohol use at every game. Moreover, the league continues to prohibit players in those states from using marijuana for medical purposes, despite its proven ability to ease chronic pain – a condition that affects many players.

Perhaps allowing professional athletes to make the choice to use marijuana instead of painkillers could make a difference in their performances. And so could allowing them to use marijuana instead of alcohol when they are relaxing or socializing with friends. Regardless, it is bad policy to continue punishing these athletes simply for making a safer choice.

Photo by Mark Gail/MCT

Singer, poet, public speaker, and talk show host Henry Rollins has joined the growing ranks of public figures who support ending marijuana prohibition.

Rollins is not a marijuana user, either. As more and more people realize that marijuana prohibition is a harmful failure, the myth that only potheads want to make it legal is continuing to fade into the hazy realm of reefer madness.

From a column he penned for last week’s LA Weekly:

Like millions of Americans, I have no interest in smoking marijuana but can’t see any reason to keep someone of age from lighting up.

I don’t think it is a “gateway” drug any more than alcohol. The behavior one has to engage in when utilizing a controlled substance — the sneaking around, the hiding of the stash, etc. — that could be a gateway to more devious activity, fueled by the resentment of authority that is potentially engendered. ….

The president and the attorney general could turn over a new leaf in America and leave all matters mary jane to the states as they see fit.

The law overwhelmingly passed by Massachusetts voters in November officially went into effect on January 1, joining 17 other states and the District of Columbia in allowing the seriously ill to use marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation. Nearly a third of the U.S. population can now access medical marijuana if they have a qualifying condition!

While the people of Massachusetts are generally quite pleased about this, local governments are trying to delay implementation of the new law until the Department of Public Health can establish regulations to govern the program.

Apparently, local leaders would rather continue to arrest the seriously ill than wait four months for guidance from the state.