Search Results: marijuana-policy-project (5)

Project SAM (Smarter Approaches to Marijuana) likes to tout themselves has having some progressive ideas on marijuana legalization and criminalization. They say their goal is to “inform public policy with the science of today’s marijuana,” for example. But they’re really an anti-marijuana group trying a new approach to the same old Reefer Madness.
And now the Marijuana Policy Project is calling SAM out on it, with MPP Maine director David Boyer urging SAM to join forces with MPP to promote “an honest, evidence-based public dialogue about marijuana” in Maine, where recreational cannabis legalization efforts are starting to take shape.

Photo: The Sexist
In happier times: Rob Kampia with MPP Chief of Staff Alison Green

​Rob Kampia has been reinstated as executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, just three months into an unpaid leave of absence due to a sex scandal which shook the cannabis advocacy organization.

“Rob is back effective today,” said Mike Meno, director of communications at MPP, on Wednesday. “The board voted yesterday and we’re hoping to continue with the work of ending marijuana prohibition in this country.”
High Times reports that Kampia was reinstated by the nine-person MPP board of directors during a “contentious” conference call meeting. The close vote on Kampia’s return was followed by the resignation of at least two board members, one on the spot and one within 24 hours.

Graphic: anewscafe.com

​A Colorado state senator said Thursday he wants to impose a special tax on medical marijuana.

Sen. Chris Romer (D-Denver) said he plans to amend a bill creating regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries to include a provision placing an excise tax on medicinal cannabis, similar to the excise tax that already exists for alcohol, reports John Ingold at The Denver Post.
If approved by lawmakers, that provision must be put before the voters, due to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
Romer wants to use the expected revenue — which he estimates at about $10 million to $15 million a year — to fund drug education programs for teens, substance abuse treatment centers, and medical care for veterans and the poor.
The state senator claimed he was concerned that the state’s booming medical marijuana industry could create increased recreational marijuana use among young people.

Photo: www.redrosenet.com
Playboy Bunnies prepare to fend off horn-dog Rob Kampia as they arrive at the Marijuana Policy Project’s 3rd Annual Party and Fundraiser on June 12, 2008, at the Playboy Mansion

​Aw, maaaan. No more Bunnies?

Since former Executive Director Rob Kampia stepped down at the Marijuana Policy Project to receive therapy for his “hypersexualized” condition, fundraising isn’t the only thing to take a hit.
Now, the pro-pot organization’s annual party at the Playboy Mansion has been cancelled, reports Amanda Hess at Washington City Paper.

In an organization-wide email, MPP’s second in command, Alison Green, who stayed on to pick up the pieces after Kampia’s embarrassing departure, informed staffers that “MPP will not be holding a party at the Playboy Mansion this year.”
Green said the cancellation was primarily due to Kampia’s absence. “Without Rob doing his normal major donor fundraising we simply don’t have the cash flow to pay the upfront deposits that would be due now,” she wrote in the staff email.

Graphic: Reality Catcher

​With Nevada’s state budget $900 million in the red and a fiscal crisis facing the state, a pro-marijuana group is urging Gov. Jim Gibbons to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana to help close the budget gap.

Gov. Gibbons will deliver his State of the State address Monday night, in which he will discuss Nevada’s financial crisis. According to some reports, the governor is seeking new ways to close the budget gap and is willing to put all options on the table.
“In order to get the state back on sound financial footing, the governor must consider not only cuts in spending, but also new sources of tax revenue,” said Dave Schwartz, campaign manager for Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws.