| Photo: MPR News |
| Mike Meno: “Leaving MPP was not an easy decision… but continuing circumstances at the organization compelled me to look for other opportunities” |
​Citing “continuing circumstances at the organization,” Mike Meno, director of communications at the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, announced on Wednesday that he is leaving the group.
“It’s with mixed emotions that I’m writing to let you know I’ve decided to leave the Marijuana Policy Project at the end of this year,” Meno wrote in an email addressed to “Friends and Colleagues.”
“Leaving MPP was not an easy decision, especially considering how much I believe in its mission and how much progress our movement has made in the last year,” Meno said, “but continuing circumstances at the organization compelled me to look for other opportunities.”
Meno’s announcement comes about a year after a mass exodus from MPP which saw the departure of at least seven of the the organization’s 38 employees. That shakeup occurred after what several described as “inappropriate behavior” by MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia after an office happy hour in late August 2009.
Kampia ended up leaving the organization for just three months before being reinstated as executive director in April of this year.
Meno didn’t say if his departure was related to the Kampia controversy.
“It has been a true pleasure to work alongside many of you during these historic months in the campaign to end marijuana prohibition, and I will continue to champion the cause and follow all your fine work, while keeping myself open for other ways to stay involved in the movement,” Meno said.
“I want to thank each of you who has helped or encouraged me during my 1+ years at MPP, and wish you all the best in future endeavors,” Meno said.
“Beginning in late January, I am going to head up communications for another Washington-based nonprofit lobbying group, the Secular Coalition for America, which seeks to defend and strengthen the separation of church and state, while also promoting greater acceptance of nonbelievers,” Meno said.
