E-mail from MMP

[Captdoug713]

I am a member of a few Marijuana groups this is an e-mail I got form MMP attesting to the progress they have made this year. I found the bold ed section to be really good news. Forgive the begging they always ask for money.

Dear CaptDoug713:

Happy holidays to you.

As 2007 draws to a close, I hope you’ll consider making a year-end donation to the Marijuana Policy Project, in recognition of our enormous successes this year.

MPP accomplished everything we set out to do this year, including:

(1) enacting medical marijuana laws in Rhode Island and Vermont;
(2) moving our medical marijuana bills further along the legislative processes in the Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and New York legislatures;
(3) increasing the vote for federal medical marijuana legislation on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives;
(4) successfully campaigning in New Hampshire to persuade eight out of eight Democratic presidential candidates to commit to ending the DEA’s raids on medical marijuana;
(5) completing the signature drive to place a medical marijuana initiative on the November 2008 ballot in Michigan;
(6) providing funding to complete the first phase of the two-phase signature drive to place a marijuana decriminalization initiative on the November 2008 ballot in Massachusetts;
(7) generating consistently positive media coverage nationwide; and
(8) running MPP like a responsible business, including avoiding political and financial scandals of any kind.

And, for the first time in decades, Congress and the 50 state legislatures failed to enact any new laws to increase the penalties for any aspect of marijuana-related activities: use, possession, cultivation, distribution, sales, etc. This is yet another example of how the tide is turning with respect to the war on drugs in the U.S.

Your year-end contribution right now would allow MPP to finish 2007 in good financial order and start 2008 without missing a beat. Most state legislatures in the country are convening in January or February, and we plan to hit the ground running after the new year. Plus, we’re launching a new project in California to pass legislation forbidding state and local officials from cooperating with the feds to subvert California's medical marijuana law. We also hope to complete signature drives to place medical marijuana initiatives on the Arizona and Maine ballots ... and more.

We very much need to meet our $3 million fundraising goal for 2007 — all of which is being matched by our top donor. Will you please help us reach the $3 million goal by giving to MPP today?

I’m grateful for anything you can do. Thank you ...

Sincerely,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. As I mentioned above, 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 will be doubled

[DeafTones]

That's a ton of shit. You had better make that donation there son, I want work started on Wisconsin by March.

[Captdoug713]

And one from Norml

2007: The Year In Review – NORML’s Top 10 Events That Shaped Marijuana Policy

#1 DEA Steps Up Attacks Against California Medi-Pot Patients, Dispensaries

Federal law enforcement officials took unprecedented steps in 2007 to quash California’s medi-pot patient community. DEA officials raided a record number of dispensaries and mailed hundreds of letters to California landlords threatening them with arrest and up to 20 years imprisonment, as well as the forfeiture of their building, if they rented to medicinal cannabis clubs. Since DEA officials began mailing warning letters this summer, numerous high profile clubs across the state have ceased operations. Read the full story at: House Judiciary Leader Criticizes DEA’s Attacks On Medi-Pot Dispensaries - NORML.



#2 DEA Administrative Law Judge Rules Against US Government's Monopoly On Pot Production

DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner ruled in February that the private production of cannabis for research purposes is “in the public interest.” She found that the DEA had improperly rejected an application from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to manufacture cannabis for FDA-approved research. The agency has yet to affirm or set aside the ruling. Read the full story at: DEA Administrative Law Judge Rules Against US Government's Monopoly On Pot Production - NORML.



#3 Pot Compounds Inhibit Spread Of Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer

Compounds in marijuana reduce the spread and size of various cancers, including lung cancer and breast cancer, according to a pair of preclinical studies published in 2007. In the first, investigators at Harvard University reported that THC reduced lung tumor growth by as much as 50 percent compared to untreated controls. In the second trial, researchers at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute reported that CBD significantly limits the activity of a gene linked to the spread of breast cancer. Read the full story at: Pot Compound May Offer “Non-Toxic” Alternative To Chemotherapy - NORML.



#4: Marijuana Arrests For Year 2005 Most Ever


Police arrested an estimated 829,625 persons for marijuana violations in 2006, the highest annual total ever recorded in the United States, according to statistics compiled in September by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. An American is now arrested for violating marijuana laws every 38 seconds. Read the full story at: Marijuana Arrests For Year 2006 – 829,625 Tops Record High...Nearly 6 Percent Increase Over 2005 - NORML.



#5 New Mexico Becomes Twelfth State To Authorize Medical Cannabis Use

New Mexico lawmakers approved legislation in April approving the use of medicinal cannabis by authorized patients. New Mexico is the twelfth state since 1996 to enact legislation protecting medical cannabis patients from arrest and state criminal prosecution, though it is only the fourth to do so legislatively. Lawmakers in Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington amended their medical marijuana laws in 2007. Read the full story at: New Mexico Becomes Twelfth State To Authorize Medical Cannabis Use - NORML.



#6 Studies Find That Cannabis Has “Clear Medical Benefits” For HIV Patients

Inhaling cannabis significantly increases daily caloric intake and body weight in HIV-positive patients, is well tolerated, and does not impair subjects’ cognitive performance, according to a clinical trial published this year in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. Additionally, in February, investigators at San Francisco General Hospital reported in the journal Neurology that inhaling cannabis significantly reduced HIV-associated neuropathy (nerve pain) compared to placebo. Read the full story at: Cannabis Has "Clear Medical Benefits" For HIV Patients, Study Says -- Smoked marijuana produces “substantial and comparable increases in food intake … with little evidence of discomfort and no impairment of cognitive performance” - NORML.



#7 Smokeless Cannabis Delivery System Found “Safe And Effective”

Vaporization is a “safe and effective” cannabinoid delivery mode for patients who desire the rapid onset of action associated with inhalation while avoiding the respiratory risks of smoking, according to clinical trial data published earlier this year in the journal Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. “Vaporization of marijuana does not result in exposure to combustion gases, ... and … is an effective and apparently safe vehicle for THC delivery,” the study concluded. Read the full story at: "Smokeless" Cannabis Delivery System Found "Safe And Effective," Study Says - NORML.



#8 Cannabis Prohibition Costs Taxpayers More Than $40 Billion Per Year

Marijuana prohibition costs US taxpayers nearly $42 billion dollars per year in criminal justice costs and in lost tax revenues, according to an economic analysis released in October. Read the full story at: Pot Prohibition Costs Taxpayers More Than $40 Billion Per Year, Study Says - NORML.



#9 Ninth Circuit: No “Fundamental” Right To Use Pot To Ease Suffering

The physician-approved use of cannabis to “preserve bodily integrity, avoid intolerable pain, and preserve life” is not a Constitutionally protected right, the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in March. The Court opined: “[M]edical and conventional wisdom … recogniz[ing] the use of marijuana for medical purposes is gaining traction in the law. But that legal recognition has not yet reached the point where a conclusion can be drawn that the right to use medical marijuana is 'fundamental' and 'implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.'” Read the full story at: Ninth Circuit: No "Fundamental" Right To Use Pot To Ease Suffering - NORML.



#10 FDA Advisory Panel Says Controversial Cannabinoid Blocker Not Safe For Human Consumption

An independent FDA advisory committee determined 14-0 in June that the controversial cannabinoid receptor antagonist Rimonabant is unsafe for human consumption in the United States. Panelists reported that patients prescribed Rimonabant experienced increased incidences of depression, nausea, vomiting, and suicidal tendencies. Rimonabant is currently marketed in Europe (under the trade name Acomplia) as a dietary aid. Read the full story at: FDA Advisory Panel Says Controversial Cannabinoid Blocker Not Safe For Human Consumption - NORML.

[DeafTones]

By March.

[Captdoug713]

Then get your ass moving. I'll take care my own.

[DeafTones]

Lol.