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At least 10 of the 18 Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are
now on the record in favor of ending the DEA's raids on medical marijuana and/or
the federal government's prohibition on medical marijuana.
Please visit http://www.GraniteStaters.com/guide.html
to read about all 18 of these candidates' positions, and to make a donation
to MPP's work on the presidential campaign trail in New Hampshire.
Thanks to MPP's work, seven candidates have publicly pledged to end the DEA's
raids in states where medical marijuana is legal -- Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), Sen.
Chris Dodd (D-CT), former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH),
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM), and former Gov. Tommy Thompson
(R-WI).
In addition, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) has voted in favor of medical marijuana
legislation on the House floor four out of four times, former Sen. Mike Gravel
(D-AK) said on C-SPAN, "That one is real simple. I would legalize marijuana,"
and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said, "I will let states decide that issue."
That's right: Even Sen. McCain, when given the opportunity to comment on medical
marijuana publicly, said something positive, not negative.
Please donate
to MPP today so that we may continue pressuring the presidential candidates
to take stronger, even more positive positions.
It has been only two months since MPP began lobbying the presidential candidates
to take strong, public, positive positions on medical marijuana during the presidential
primary race in New Hampshire, which is the first state to hold a primary (on
January 22, 2008).
One particular success story involves Sen. Edwards. In 2003, we trailed him
around the state, relentlessly questioning him about medical marijuana access.
At the time, Sen. Edwards insisted it would be "irresponsible" to
end the DEA's raids on sick and dying people. Now, four years later, his position
has changed from vowing to continue the raids to vowing to end them.
Will you please help
MPP increase the profile of marijuana policy reform in the 2008 presidential
race?
A majority of the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates are supportive
of medical marijuana access. Our favorite quote so far is from former Gov. Thompson,
who told MPP's Stuart Cooper in Manchester, "No, they should not be arrested.
They should not be arrested. They should not be arrested. I would do away with
the DEA raids!"
And this doesn't even count the support that other candidates -- including
every Libertarian Party candidate, as well as potential candidate Ralph Nader
-- have expressed for ending marijuana prohibition entirely.
Of the two Democratic candidates I haven't yet mentioned, Sen. Hillary Clinton
(D-NY) is studying the issue, and we haven't yet spoken with Sen. Barack Obama
(D-IL) this year, although he told me personally in the fall of 2004 that he
supports medical marijuana.
Of the six remaining Republican candidates, they're all bad so far, but we'll
keep working on them: Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), former Gov. Jim Gilmore (R-VA),
former Mayor Rudy Guiliani (New York City), former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR),
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), and former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA).
Again, you can read about the specifics of their comments by visiting http://www.GraniteStaters.com/guide.html.
And if you want to see medical marijuana become a prominent issue in the presidential
campaign, please give
now. As you can see, our work is paying off -- and we need your help to keep
it up.
Thanks for your support.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C. |
