Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, along with co-sponsors Ron Paul (R-TX); Maurice Hinchey (D-NY); Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA); and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), has reintroduced legislation to limit the federal government's authority to arrest and prosecute minor marijuana offenders.

The measure, HR 2943, an "Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults," would eliminate federal penalties for the personal possession of up to 100 grams (three and one-half ounces) of cannabis and for the not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce of pot - making the prosecutions of these offenses strictly a state matter.

Under federal law, defendants found guilty of possessing small amounts of cannabis for their own personal use face up to one year imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.

Passage of this act would provide state lawmakers the choice to maintain their current penalties for minor marijuana offenses or eliminate them completely.

Lawmakers would also have the option to explore legal alternatives to tax and regulate the adult use and distribution of cannabis free from federal interference.

HR 2943 is now before both the House Judiciary Committee, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Please write your members of Congress today and tell them to stop wasting federal resources targeting and prosecuting marijuana offenders. For your convenience, a prewritten letter will be e-mailed to your member of Congress when you enter your contact information below.

Thank you for assisting NORML's federal law reform efforts.

Nothing is worse than seeing someone close to you suffer. The exception is when the medicine they are prescribed does not work, and the only alternative is illegal to possess. Such is the case with marijuana - it has proven effective in treating symptoms of many ailments, and research continues to show its safety and efficacy for a number of serious diseases. To learn more about medical marijuana, it's history, and other research, visit our About Cannabis - Medical Marijuana section.

Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana is a coalition of groups, including PhillyNORML, and their goal is to introduce a bill into the State Assembly and State Senate, and lobby until it gets passed and signed by Governor Rendell. We are working with the Western PA Chapter of NORML, the Marijuana Policy Project, and Americans for Safe Access to get this passed.

Our bill is the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. Read the full text of HB1393 (House of Reps) and SB1350 (Senate).

Our main goals for it are:

• Patients cannot get arrested for possession or personal cultivation
• The state will regulate - but not control - larger scale cultivation and sales
• Patients and caregivers will have cards identifying them as such
• Doctors can not lose their license for recommending cannabis in a valid doctor-patient relationship
• A comprehensive list of ailments for which smoked, vaporized, or orally consumed cannabis or cannabis extract (hashish or hash oil) is found to be beneficial to the patient by either curing or easing symptoms
• A procedure for adding ailments and diseases to that list

We need volunteers for this campaign to help lobby legislators. Visit our volunteer sign-up page here.

Discuss this bill on our forums.

Over a dozen U.S. Senators, led by Virginia Democrat Jim Webb, are seeking to establish a blue-ribbon commission to review America's criminal justice policies -- and the criminalization of nonviolent drug possession in particular.

Senate Bill 714, The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009, seeks to initiate a comprehensive re-evaluation of America's drug and prison policies.

Writing in Parade Magazine on March 29, Sen. Webb explained why this review is necessary:

"America's criminal justice system has deteriorated to the point that it is a national disgrace. ... The United States has by far the world's highest incarceration rate. With 5% of the world's population, our country now houses nearly 25% of the world's reported prisoners.

... Drug offenders, most of them passive users or minor dealers, are swamping our prisons. ... Justice statistics also show that 47.5% of all the drug arrests in our country in 2007 were for marijuana offenses. Additionally, nearly 60% of the people in state prisons serving time for a drug offense had no history of violence or of any significant selling activity. ... African-Americans -- who make up about 12% of the total U.S. population population -- accounted for 37% of those arrested on drug charges, 59% of those convicted, and 74% of all drug offenders sentenced to prison.

... It is incumbent on our national leadership to find a way to fix our prison system. I believe that American ingenuity can discover better ways to deal with the problems of drugs and nonviolent criminal behavior while still minimizing violent crime and large-scale gang activity. And we all deserve to live in a country made better by such changes."

Senator Webb's analysis is accurate and his intentions are courageous.  It's been many years since a federally appointed commission has taken an objective look at American criminal justice policies, and it's been nearly 40 years since federal lawmakers have undertaken a critical examination of U.S. marijuana policy -- a topic that will likely be included in Sen. Webb's review.

As introduced, Senate Bill 714 will establish a `National Criminal Justice Commission' to "undertake a comprehensive review of the criminal justice system; make findings related to current Federal and State criminal justice policies and practices; and make reform recommendations for the President, Congress, and State governments to improve public safety, cost-effectiveness, overall prison administration, and fairness in the implementation of the Nation's criminal justice system."

Specifically, the Commission will examine "current drug policy and its impact on incarceration, crime and violence, sentencing, and reentry programs, [including] an analysis of the general availability of drugs in our society, the impact and effectiveness of current policies on reducing that availability and on the incidence of crime, and in the case of criminal offenders, the availability of drug treatment programs before, during, and after incarceration."

The proposal has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Please take time today to urge your senator to support Senate Bill 714. If your senator sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, then it is especially important that he or she hears from you.  For your convenience, a prewritten letter will be e-mailed to your member of Congress when you enter your contact information below.

After you have written your senator, please take a moment to write or call Sen. Webb and thank him for raising this important issue.  You may contact him here.

Thank you for assisting NORML's federal law reform efforts.

Support The Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act of 2009

Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, along with a bipartisan coalition of 13 co-sponsors, is seeking to strengthen legal protections for state-authorized medical marijuana patients.

House Bill 2835, The Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act of 2009, would ensure that medical cannabis patients in states that have approved its use will no longer have to fear arrest or prosecution from federal law enforcement agencies.

Thirteen states -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington -- have enacted laws protecting medical marijuana patients from state prosecution. Yet in all of these states, patients and providers still face the risk of federal sanction -- even when their actions are fully compliant with state law.

It is time that we allowed our unique federalist system to work the way it was intended. Patients and their state representatives should have the authority to enact laws permitting the medical use of cannabis -- free from federal interference.

Previous versions of The Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act were introduced in both the 108th and 109th Congress, but failed to receive a public hearing or a committee vote.

HR 2835 is now before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Please write your members of Congress today and tell them to stop targeting and prosecuting medical marijuana patients and providers. For your convenience, a prewritten letter will be e-mailed to your member of Congress when you enter your contact information below.

Thank you for assisting NORML's federal law reform efforts.