MPP's 2008 Strategic Plan
January 2008
Dear Friend:
As you can see in the 2008 strategic plan below, this year is an ambitious and bold one for MPP. If you like what you see below, would you please consider donating to our work?
• Increase congressional support for medical marijuana: The 2006 elections created the best conditions ever for passing medical marijuana legislation in Congress, as virtually the entire Democratic leadership is supportive of medical marijuana. MPP will continue building support for cutting off funding for the DEA’s raids on medical marijuana providers, with the ultimate goal of enacting medical marijuana states’-rights legislation in 2010.
• Increase support for marijuana decriminalization bills in three states: State legislators in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont are pushing to pass decriminalization measures through their legislatures. MPP will be retaining lobbyists in all three states in 2008 and/or 2009 to pass legislation to remove criminal penalties and all collateral sanctions for the possession and use of marijuana for recreational use.
• Pass medical marijuana initiatives in two states and expand the law in another: MPP has gathered enough signatures to place a medical marijuana initiative on Michigan’s November 2008 ballot and is running a signature drive for the same purpose in Arizona. Additionally, MPP is gathering signatures to place an initiative on Maine’s November 2009 ballot, for the purpose of expanding and improving the medical marijuana law there.
• Pass a decriminalization initiative in Massachusetts: The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy (CSMP) — with MPP’s assistance — has collected most of the signatures that are needed for an initiative to remove the threat of arrest and jail for adult marijuana users. Once the measure is placed on Massachusetts’ November 2008 ballot, MPP and CSMP will campaign throughout 2008 to ensure its passage.
• Lay the groundwork to pass medical marijuana bills in eight more states: MPP is beginning the process of passing medical marijuana bills in Delaware, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia, as well as assisting MPP grant recipients in Kansas, Ohio, and Texas to do the same.
• Pass medical marijuana protection bills in California: MPP has hired a full-time grassroots coordinator and retained one of the top lobbying firms in Sacramento to push for legislation that would clarify and expand the definition of a legal medical marijuana dispensary in California, as well as a bill that would make it explicitly illegal for any state or local official to cooperate with the feds to raid medical marijuana dispensaries that are legal under state law.
• Build super-majority support to end marijuana prohibition in Alaska: Because Alaska has the highest polling numbers of any state for taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol, MPP plans to run educational radio and TV ads in Alaska to increase public support to beyond 60%, which will allow MPP to pass a ballot initiative to end marijuana prohibition in Alaska in November 2010.
• Pass medical marijuana bills in four states: MPP has retained professional lobbyists in the capitals of Illinois, Minnesota, and New York for the purpose of passing our medical marijuana legislation through each state legislature. MPP is also building grassroots support in New Hampshire in order to pass a medical marijuana bill there. We expect to succeed in all four states by 2009.
• Build a more powerful coalition of national organizations that support medical marijuana: MPP has organized more than 8,000 physicians to help persuade more medical organizations to join the California Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Public Health
Association, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and numerous other organizations to support medical access to marijuana.
• Wage “War on Drug Czar”: MPP will continue to make the case to Congress that it should de-fund the White House drug czar’s deceptive anti-marijuana ad campaign because the ads have proven to be ineffective. MPP will also continue to use all available legal channels to stop the drug czar from illegally spending taxpayer money to lobby against MPP’s bills and initiatives.
• Maximize support for medical marijuana among presidential candidates: In 2007, MPP convinced 10 of the 17 presidential candidates to support ending the DEA’s raids on medical marijuana patients and will ensure that medical marijuana remains a campaign issue throughout 2008. After the new president is elected in November 2008, MPP will work with the transition team for the new presidential administration to ensure that it immediately implements a new policy to end the DEA’s raids on patients and providers in states where medical marijuana is legal.
• Build grassroots support through digital media: MPP is coordinating a new push to generate significant online viral coverage of marijuana policy issues in the blogosphere, using online social networking sites, online advertising, and emerging technologies, with the goal of building an army of online activists who will readily contact their policymakers, write letters-to-the-editor, and take other actions to support MPP’s legislative agenda.
• Recruit more celebrities to speak out in favor of marijuana policy reform: Celebrity involvement is an effective way to legitimize and increase the profile of marijuana policy reform in the public consciousness. Recent additions to our VIP advisory board include comedian Jackie “The Jokeman” Martling and model Adrianne Curry.
Please consider visiting
www.mpp.org/donate if you support this strategic plan for 2008.
By supporting our work, you will also be empowering us to engage in the day-to-day battles that come up, including (1) debating White House officials on national television and otherwise conducting our day-to-day public relations activities, (2) testifying before Congress and state legislatures, and (3) monitoring and analyzing all marijuana-related bills in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and sending state-specific alerts to MPP's e-mail subscribers in each state.
As you can see, we're busy, and we can't do this without your help. If your membership is current with MPP, I want to thank you. If your membership has lapsed or you've never joined, would you please consider changing that by visiting
www.mpp.org/donate today?
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. Donations to MPP are not tax-deductible. To make a tax-deductible donation, please direct it to MPP Foundation instead. The mailing address for both organizations is P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill Washington, D.C. 20013.
P.P.S. Parts of this plan may change from time to time as the year progresses
