Dear friend,

Today, Gov. Pete Shumlin (D) signed S. 17 into law. As a result, the Vermont government will now authorize up to four dispensaries to sell medical marijuana to patients in the state.

Vermont is now the 8th state with a law that explicitly authorizes dispensaries where patients can legally purchase medical marijuana.  (And, overall, medical marijuana is legal in 16 states and the District of Columbia.)

Gov. Pete Shumlin -- flanked by patients, their loved ones, and MPP’s lobbyist -- signs medical marijuana bill.

A few weeks ago -- the day before the Vermont House was slated to vote on the dispensary bill -- Gov. Shumlin and legislative leaders received a threatening letter from the federal prosecutor's office in Vermont. MPP’s team immediately addressed concerns about the feds with the Vermont House and the governor's team. And, as a result, the House passed the measure by a whopping 99-44 vote -- while a copy of the federal prosecutor's letter was sitting on the desk of each House member!

This was a major victory for MPP and patient advocates. MPP funded a two-year lobbying campaign in Montpelier to pass the measure. We started by finding the best bill sponsors we could find, including then-Senate President Pete Shumlin. We then helped elect Shumlin to the governorship through our political action committee.

With another governor, the federal prosecutor's letter could have killed the bill.  Gov. Shumlin, the Vermont Senate, and the Vermont House are all to be commended for their compassion.

Please donate to MPP so that we can continue reforming our nation's broken marijuana laws in other states around the country.

Sincerely,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S.  I mentioned above that eight states now have laws that clearly authorize dispensaries.  These eight states are Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Vermont.  MPP was instrumental in passing five of these eight laws in just the last two years!