Marijuana Policy Project 2011 Strategic Plan

As you can see in the strategic plan below, this year is an ambitious and bold one for MPP. 

LOBBY STATE LEGISLATURES

• Enact medical-marijuana laws in Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, and New York. (If we don’t succeed in some of these states in 2011, the progress we make will bolster our efforts in these states in 2012.)
• Expand Vermont’s existing medical-marijuana law by authorizing the sale of medical marijuana through dispensaries.
• Enact marijuana-decriminalization laws in Rhode Island and Vermont.
• Assist our allies in Hawaii, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, and Washington state to protect and expand these five states’ existing medical-marijuana laws.
• Implement the new medical-marijuana laws in Arizona and the District of Columbia.
• Assist our allies in Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin with building support for medical-marijuana legislation, with the hope of passing bills in some of these states in 2013.

LAUNCH STATEWIDE INITIATIVES FOR THE NOVEMBER 2012 BALLOT

• Canvass our allies in California to devise a consensus initiative to tax and regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol.  (The signature drive will take place in 2012.)
• Launch and complete a signature drive in Colorado to tax and regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol.
• Launch and complete signatures drives to legalize medical marijuana in Idaho and North Dakota.
• Launch signature drives to legalize medical marijuana in Arkansas, Missouri, and Ohio.  (All three signature drives wouldn’t be completed until mid-2012.)

LOBBY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

• Build support for the first-ever bill to de-federalize all marijuana laws.  This legislation, which is MPP’s model bill on the federal level, would allow states to determine their own marijuana laws without federal interference.
• Work with the U.S. Treasury Department and Congress to (1) reduce the tax burden on businesses that are engaged in marijuana commerce that’s legal under state law, and (2) clarify that banks will suffer no federal interference or penalties for allowing marijuana-related businesses to open bank accounts.
• Defend the new, local medical-marijuana law in D.C. from being overturned in Congress.
• Achieve a record-high vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for an amendment to prevent the U.S. Justice Department (which includes the DEA) from spending any money to interfere with state-level medical marijuana laws.  (The record, which was in the summer of 2007, comprised 165 votes; between 210 and 218 votes are necessary for passage, depending on how many members of Congress are present for the vote.)

EDUCATE THE PUBLIC

• Continue serving as the premier source of information on marijuana-related issues for the news media.
• Build grassroots support through digital media, including MPP’s blog, MPP’s biweekly e-newsletter and video, and MPP’s presence on Facebook and Twitter.
• Work with MPP’s VIP advisory board and other celebrities to get our message into the news.

Note: Parts of this plan may change from time to time as the year progresses.