Marijuana Policy Project
MPP
The Marijuana Policy Project, or MPP, is orginazation whose goal is to minimize the harm associated with the use of cannabis with its major focus being the reckless imprisonment of otherwise innocent people citizens. MPP advocates taxing and regulating the possession and sale of cannabis, arguing that a regulated industry would separate purchasers from the street market for cocaine, heroin, and other hard drugs.
When MPP was founded in January 1995, medical marijuana was illegal in every state and favorable legislation had not been introduced in Congress in a decade. Since then, the federal penalties for marijuana cultivation have been changed to provide for the early release of hundreds of prisoners; positive medical marijuana bills have been introduced in six consecutive Congresses, with the U.S. House even debating and voting on our legislation in the summers of 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007; the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine declared that marijuana has medical value; medical marijuana is now legal in 13 states; and much more.
MPP founders Rob Kampia and Chuck Thomas originally worked at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. In 1995, after months of in-fighting, NORML director Richard Cowan fired Kampia, Thomas, and two other staffers who had been pressing Cowan for organizational change. Kampia and Thomas began creating their own organization, implementing the ideas they'd pushed at NORML. On January 25, 1995, the two activists incorporated the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) as a not-for-profit organization in the District of Columbia. MPP has grown to 25,000 members and is the largest cannabis policy reform group in the United States. The organization has 36 staffers and an annual budget of about $6 million, plus a separate $1.5 million grants program.
MPP's Vision Statement
Post from MPP website: www.mpp.org
MPP and MPP Foundation envision a nation where marijuana is legally regulated similarly to alcohol, marijuana education is honest and realistic, and treatment for problem marijuana users is non-coercive and geared toward reducing harm.
MPP's Mission Statement (as approved by the board on December 1, 2008)
1. Increase public support for non-punitive, non-coercive marijuana policies.
2. Identify and activate supporters of non-punitive, non-coercive marijuana policies.
3. Change state laws to reduce or eliminate penalties for the medical and non-medical use of marijuana.
4. Gain influence in Congress.
When MPP was founded in January 1995, medical marijuana was illegal in every state and favorable legislation had not been introduced in Congress in a decade. Since then, the federal penalties for marijuana cultivation have been changed to provide for the early release of hundreds of prisoners; positive medical marijuana bills have been introduced in six consecutive Congresses, with the U.S. House even debating and voting on our legislation in the summers of 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007; the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine declared that marijuana has medical value; medical marijuana is now legal in 13 states; and much more.
MPP founders Rob Kampia and Chuck Thomas originally worked at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. In 1995, after months of in-fighting, NORML director Richard Cowan fired Kampia, Thomas, and two other staffers who had been pressing Cowan for organizational change. Kampia and Thomas began creating their own organization, implementing the ideas they'd pushed at NORML. On January 25, 1995, the two activists incorporated the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) as a not-for-profit organization in the District of Columbia. MPP has grown to 25,000 members and is the largest cannabis policy reform group in the United States. The organization has 36 staffers and an annual budget of about $6 million, plus a separate $1.5 million grants program.
MPP's Vision Statement
Post from MPP website: www.mpp.org
MPP and MPP Foundation envision a nation where marijuana is legally regulated similarly to alcohol, marijuana education is honest and realistic, and treatment for problem marijuana users is non-coercive and geared toward reducing harm.
MPP's Mission Statement (as approved by the board on December 1, 2008)
1. Increase public support for non-punitive, non-coercive marijuana policies.
2. Identify and activate supporters of non-punitive, non-coercive marijuana policies.
3. Change state laws to reduce or eliminate penalties for the medical and non-medical use of marijuana.
4. Gain influence in Congress.
BIO
- Founded: 1995 by Rob Kampia and Chuck Thomas
- Location: DC, Washington
- Est. Members: 25,000+
- Annual Budget: Approx $7mil
Most Recent Accomplishments
- November 2009 — The American Medical Association rescinded its previous support of classifying marijuana alongside LSD, PCP, and heroin under federal law. This was the result of nearly three years of behind-the-scenes work, whereby MPP worked with key advocates to persuade lower-level medical associations to bring the issue to the full AMA.
- October 2009 — Following a vigorous campaign from MPP that started during the presidential primaries, the Obama administration announced it would stop raiding medical marijuana patients and providers who are in compliance with state law.
- June 2009 — The Rhode Island Legislature overwhelmingly overrode the governor's veto of MPP's bill to create "compassion centers" to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients — making Rhode Island only the second state (after New Mexico) to license and regulate medical marijuana dispensing. Rhode Island is also the first state to expand an existing medical marijuana law to establish dispensaries.
- November 2008 — MPP's ballot initiative to remove the threat of arrest and jail for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana passed overwhelmingly in Massachusetts. The successful initiative — the first statewide decriminalization initiative ever — replaced the threat of arrest and jail with a $100 fine.
- November 2008 — Michigan passed MPP's ballot initiative to permit terminally and seriously ill patients to use medical marijuana with their doctors' approval, making Michigan the 13th medical marijuana state and the first in the Midwest.
- January 2008 — In the months leading up to the New Hampshire Democratic primary election, MPP helped persuade all of the Democratic presidential candidates and two of the Republican candidates to pledge to end the arrest of patients in states with medical marijuana laws.
- November 2007 — The MPP grants program funded a successful initiative to make marijuana possession the lowest law enforcement priority in Denver, Colorado.
- July 2007 — Following an intensive MPP lobbying campaign, MPP helped to garner 165 votes in the U.S. House of Representatives to stop arresting medical marijuana patients — an all-time record of support for medical marijuana access.
