Marijuana wins big at the ballot box

Well, we didn't manage to depose Bush but judging from the incoming mail the last word on this election has not been spoken yet. The statisticians are already busy analysing the Diebold districts and let's say some weird anomalies seem to be appearing in the data. We'll waiting with interest to see if anything comes of these lines of inquiry in the next couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, MPP sends this review of the marijuana initiatives they were involved in. At least 17 out of 20 passed. Here's the rundown.

MONTANA (WIN): MPP's medical marijuana initiative passed by a 62% to 38% margin in Montana, making it the 10th state to protect medical marijuana patients from arrest.

ALASKA (LOSS): The initiative to remove all penalties for marijuana use by adults aged 21 and older lost by 43% to 57% -- the largest statewide vote ever to end marijuana prohibition.

OREGON (LOSS): The initiative to strengthen Oregon's existing medical marijuana law by allowing registered patients to obtain their medicine from state-regulated dispensaries lost by a 42% to 58% margin.

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN (WIN): An MPP-funded proposal to amend the city charter to allow the medical use of marijuana without fear of arrest under local law won by 74% to 26%.

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI (TWO WINS): An MPP-funded measure to replace jail time with a maximum $250 fine for marijuana possession passed with 61% to 39% of the vote. And a second MPP-funded measure to permit medical marijuana use without fear of arrest passed by 69% to 31%.

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA (WIN): An MPP-funded measure to make personal marijuana offenses the lowest priority for local law enforcement and direct the city to tax and regulate marijuana as soon as state law permits it passed by 64% to 36%.

MASSACHUSETTS (12 WINS): Voters in 12 out of 12 state legislative districts passed nonbinding public policy questions -- five advise the state legislature to pass medical marijuana legislation, six advise the legislature to pass a law to fine instead of jail marijuana users, and one advises the legislature to tax and regulate marijuana. That last one is us here in lovely downtown Noho by the way.

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA (UNDECIDED): It could be days before we know whether voters passed an initiative to regulate marijuana dispensaries in Berkeley. The vote currently stands at 50-50.

Further, MPP was instrumental in flipping the Vermont legislature's composition by targeting candidates. "After intensive campaigning by MPP staffers and volunteers, Vermont voters handed stunning defeats to three leading opponents of that state's medical marijuana law -- passed by the legislature earlier this year after a contentious, three-year battle. MPP ran an extensive grassroots campaign aimed at defeating legislators who opposed the measure and backing candidates who support it. Three of the six bad incumbents we targeted lost their seats, all three of the good incumbents we were protecting easily won re-election, and we elected one out of three of our candidates to open seats.

It may been a bad day for our country on Tuesday in terms of the presidency, but it was a good one for drug policy reform. We're making a difference folks. Time to get back to the battle.