By Ross Parker
ticklethewire.com
One of the most successful of the marijuana legalization lobbying organizations, the Marijuana Policy Project(MPP) announced its 2014 strategic plan and expects a “huge” year in passing state medical marijuana and legalization laws, as well as action in Congress to block drug enforcement activity.
Twenty years ago marijuana was illegal in all forms and in all states. This year MPP expects New York to join the other 20 states authorizing medical marijuana, as well as West Virginia in the next year or two. They also plan to have Illinois and Vermont expand the coverage of their existing programs.
The 2014 plan also aims to decriminalize possession with new laws in Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland and the District of Columbia. This would reduce enforcement to a ticketable offense.
MPP’s ultimate objective is to make marijuana use, distribution, and cultivation legal in all states. Pro-marijuana lobbyists will be active in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Nevada, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Montana. Proposed legislation will attempt to follow the model successfully enacted in Colorado.
In Congress MPP intends to have a bill introduced to make marijuana a matter of states’ rights. Other bills are expected to attempt to block DOJ from interfering with the medical marijuana programs in the states.
