--- Marijuana Policy Project <rob@...> wrote:

> Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:43:02 -0700
> Subject: MPP saves 12 states' medical marijuana laws
> From: "Marijuana Policy Project" <rob@...>
>
> Dear Prezz:
>
> Late last week, Congress passed a measure involving
> the FDA that did not include a dangerous amendment
> that could have undermined the 12 state laws that
> are protecting medical marijuana patients from
> arrest and jail.
>
> The FDA bill's passage marks the defeat of the
> greatest threat the medical marijuana movement has
> ever faced.
>
> The threat was in the form of an amendment that was
> authored by U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and
> attached to the Senate version of the FDA bill back
> in April. The House thankfully omitted Sen. Coburn's
> amendment from its version of the FDA bill, and the
> final bill that President Bush is expected to sign
> also did not include Sen. Coburn's amendment.
>
> This victory is the result of MPP's tireless work on
> Capitol Hill -- and your calls, e-mails, and faxes
> to your members of Congress. Also important were the
> behind-the-scenes calls from major MPP allies to key
> members of Congress.
>
> If you haven't yet made a donation to MPP this year,
> would you please consider giving $10 or more today
> at
>
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=fmJTIeM2KjLRKlJ&s=itKWK4ONJnL0IaMRLvE&m=ilKSI6PU\
IpLaG&af=y
> to support our important work in Congress?
>
> The defeat of Sen. Coburn's amendment feels really,
> really good. He is perhaps the number-one opponent
> of medical marijuana in the U.S. Senate; for
> example, last year he told MPP's lobbyist that
> "marijuana is not a medicine, and the doctors and
> scientists who say it is one are smoking it
> themselves."
>
> Sen. Coburn's amendment was a thinly veiled attempt
> to undermine the medical marijuana laws in 12 states
> -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine,
> Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island,
> Vermont, and Washington -- by placing them under the
> authority of the FDA (in addition to the DEA), while
> not providing the same approval process for
> marijuana as for other drugs seeking FDA approval as
> prescription medicines.
>
> If the Coburn amendment had become law, a federal
> agency could have sued, say, the Oregon government
> for the purpose of persuading a federal judge to
> shut down Oregon's medical marijuana ID card program
> that has done so much to protect more than 10,000
> patients in the state.
>
> MPP and its allies on Capitol Hill successfully
> worked with members of the House and Senate to
> remove the offending provision from the final
> version of the bill -- making new legislative allies
> in the process. The House passed the final FDA bill
> on Wednesday, and the Senate passed it on Thursday.
>
> Again, this success would not have been possible
> without your support -- in the form of contacting
> your legislators, and in the form of financial
> contributions. Influence in Congress is not easily
> gained.
>
> Please make a donation to MPP today at
>
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=9qLHIWNDLhIRKaJ&s=itKWK4ONJnL0IaMRLvE&m=ilKSI6PU\
IpLaG&af=y
> so that we can continue to push forward with ending
> marijuana prohibition in this country.
>
> Just today, the FBI released its annual Uniform
> Crime Reports, which documented that our nation just
> hit a new all-time high for marijuana arrests in the
> U.S. -- 829,627 arrests by local and state police
> (not the feds) in 2006 alone. That's one marijuana
> arrest every 38 seconds. Visit
>
http://www.mpp.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=glKZLeMQIsG&b=1847069&ct=4471431
> to read news coverage of this report.
>
> Your support is clearly needed more than ever.
> Please give at
>
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=arKJJZOHIfLQIdI&s=itKWK4ONJnL0IaMRLvE&m=ilKSI6PU\
IpLaG&af=y
> now.
>
> Thanks for your support.
>
> 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 2007. This means that your donation today
> at
>
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=elKRKbPXJiITLlK&s=itKWK4ONJnL0IaMRLvE&m=ilKSI6PU\
IpLaG&af=y
> will be doubled.
>
> P.P.S. You can opt out of receiving fundraising
> mentions in the e-mail alerts I send you in 2007 by
> visiting http://www.mpp.org/2007optoutpreference at
> your convenience.
>
>
======================================================================
>
> The Marijuana Policy Project hopes that each of the
> 100,000 subscribers on our national e-mail list will
> make at least one financial donation to MPP's work
> in 2007. Please visit
>
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=7oIDJQMwGcIIL3J&s=itKWK4ONJnL0IaMRLvE&m=ilKSI6PU\
IpLaG&af=y
> to donate now.
>
> MPP will be able to tackle all of the projects in
> its 2007 strategic plan --
> http://www.mpp.org/2007plan -- if you and other
> allies are generous enough to fund our work.
>
> Raised in 2007: $1,817,049
> Goal in 2007: $3,000,000
>
> We are required by federal law to tell you that any
> donations you make to MPP may be used for political
> purposes, such as supporting or opposing candidates
> for federal office.
>
> ======================================================================



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