Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy (CSMP) launches campaign

[eridani]

I’m pleased to announce that the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy (CSMP) has launched its long-awaited campaign to pass a statewide marijuana “decriminalization” initiative in Massachusetts in November 2008.

With your help, CSMP plans to reduce the penalties in Massachusetts so that the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana will be punishable by only a small fine — like a parking ticket — with no arrest, no additional penalties, no lawyer’s fees, and no court appearances. Click here to read a news story about the campaign. http://ma.mpp.org/site/c.lmKWJaNVJtF/b.1771871/apps/nl/content2.asp?content_id=%7B440181FA-3B6C-4B8B-8A2F-F6DB47D5118E%7D¬oc=1

MPP is currently assisting CSMP in collecting signatures to put the initiative on the November 2008 ballot, and we need you to be part of the campaign. Will you please visit www.SensibleMarijuanaPolicy.org to donate $10 or more today?

And if you live in Massachusetts, CSMP needs you to volunteer to collect signatures or to make a particularly sizable donation. If you don’t live in Massachusetts, CSMP needs you to donate money to support the signature-gathering effort.

Massachusetts law requires that CSMP collect 66,593 valid signatures between September 15 and November 21, 2007. CSMP will then have to collect an additional 11,099 signatures in the spring of 2008 in order to place the decriminalization initiative on the November 2008 ballot. Because validity rates for signatures hover around 55%, this means the committee actually needs to collect about 140,000 raw signatures to qualify the initiative for the ballot. And because it costs us $3 to gather each signature, CSMP needs the help of both generous donors and committed volunteers to make this $420,000 project happen.

Signature-gathering can be a very difficult process, but the momentum is clearly on our side. Since 2000, Massachusetts residents have approved 41 out of 41 local marijuana-related initiatives by an average of 63% of the vote. Of these, 30 urged state legislators to support legislation to make the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana punishable by a citation and a small fine, as opposed to arrest and jail. This string of local victories — as well as growing support for such legislation in the state legislature and in the news media, including the Boston Globe — means that Massachusetts is ready for this statewide initiative.

MPP, the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, and a coalition of Massachusetts advocates, legislators, and other policy makers are excited to move forward with this campaign. Would you please lend your support today?