URGENT: Medical marijuana vote in Congress next week

URGENT: Medical marijuana vote in Congress next week

[align=left]Would you please take one minute to visit the Marijuana Policy Project's easy online system to ask your Congressperson to vote for the medical marijuana amendment that the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on next week?[/align]

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[align=left]If you have already contacted your representative, please click here to send an alert to five or more of your friends who want to see medical marijuana patients freed from the fear of arrest and imprisonment. Please tell them to act now![/align]

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[align=left]In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's historic ruling on Monday, it's more important than ever that we push Congress to protect patients from arrest and jail.[/align]

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[align=left]The federal government has boldly and unremorsefully raided seriously ill patients (and their caregivers) who are using medical marijuana in compliance with their states' laws. Now is your chance to help bring an end to these raids by urging your U.S. representative to support the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment ... which would bar the U.S. Justice Department from raiding, arresting, or prosecuting medical marijuana patients who are complying with state laws.[/align]

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[align=left]MPP's goal is to generate 10,000 letters to the U.S. House by the time of the Hinchey-Rohrabacher vote next week, but we won't be able to achieve that goal without your help.[/align]

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[align=left]THE TIME FOR CHANGE IS NOW[/align]

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[align=left]The time is ripe for change! Since Monday's Supreme Court ruling, hits to MPP's Web site have more than tripled. The story was covered in every major newspaper in the country. MPP staffers were interviewed on CNN, MSNBC, Cox TV, Comcast syndicated TV, AP radio, ABC radio, Pacifica Radio, Bloomberg Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, and multiple local TV and radio shows, and MPP's comments appeared in print in the Baltimore Sun, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Oakland Tribune, the Christian Science Monitor, and on Salon.com.[/align]

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[align=left]In the wake of the decision, some of the nation's leading newspapers â?? including the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and the San Francisco Chronicle â?? are issuing strong calls for Congress to take action. The Los Angeles Times wrote: "Blame for (patients') suffering now lies squarely with Congress and the president ... there is almost no debate about the cruel stupidity of refusing an exception for medical marijuana. Unless the president and Congress wish to appear (even more) cruel and stupid, they should trump the Supreme Court." Read more here.[/align]

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[align=left]And in a rebuke to the Supreme Court, the Rhode Island Senate passed MPP's medical marijuana bill yesterday by a crushing 34-2 vote â?? a record margin for any vote on medical marijuana legislation in any state House or Senate in the country in at least the last decade.[/align]

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[align=left]URGENT: TAKE ACTION TODAY![/align]

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[align=left]Please click here to send a free fax or e-mail asking your Congressperson to vote "yes" on the medical marijuana amendment scheduled to come to the House floor for a vote next week. It will only take a minute, but it could have a huge impact on medical marijuana policy nationwide.[/align]

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[align=left]Then, help us build on this momentum by asking your friends to take action today.[/align]

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[align=left]Thank you,[/align]

[align=left]Rob Kampia[/align]
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

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[align=left]P.S. Contrary to some misleading news reports, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling did not strike down medical marijuana laws in California, Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, or Washington. Rather, the Court has maintained the status quo: Patients and caregivers in these states who legitimately possess or grow medical marijuana are protected under state law, but are not exempt from prosecution under federal law. Since federal agents make only 1% of our nation's 750,000 marijuana arrests every year, state medical marijuana laws reduce patients' risk of arrest by 99 percent. Read more here.[/align]