D.C. medical marijuana drive collects 39,000 signatures

July 9, 2002

Dear Friend,

Yesterday, amidst a mob of reporters, microphones, and TV cameras, the
Marijuana Policy Project delivered 39,000 petition signatures to the
D.C. government, virtually ensuring the placement of our medical
marijuana initiative on the November 5 ballot in our nation's capital.

Please see http://www.mpp.org/dcinitiative/news.html for a catalogue
of the print media coverage so far. In addition, four out of five
local TV networks and three talk radio stations covered our news
conference.

And there is sniping already between MPP and Congressman Bob Barr
(R-Georgia), who has sponsored all of the bad medical marijuana
amendments on the federal spending bill for D.C. since 1998. I was
quoted in The Washington Times today as saying that we submitted far
more signatures than were required because "We did not want some bad
guys in Congress to challenge us on this." Bob Barr responded by
saying, "The D.C. initiative is another attempt by the drug-
legalization movement to move its agenda forward, to legalize
marijuana under the pretext of 'medicinal' use."

After MPP successfully sued the federal government in March and
defended itself against a lawsuit by a squad of mean-spirited local
activists last month, we finally began our signature drive on June 13
to collect 17,500 valid signatures from D.C. registered voters. In
only 25 days, we collected 39,000 total signatures, which will
translate into roughly 20,000 valid signatures -- far more than are
needed to qualify the medical marijuana measure for the ballot.
The success of this drive would not have been possible if not for the
18-hour-a-day work of MPP's Kat DeBurgh, who coordinated the signature
drive from the MPP office.

This signature drive cost approximately $60,000 -- $50,000 for 39,000
total signatures, plus another $10,000 for hotel and travel costs for
professional petitioners. Of this $60,000, approximately $40,000 is
coming from the Campaign for New Drug Policies, which is supporting
various ballot drives across the country. In addition, MPP received a
$4,000 check from an individual philanthropist and another $3,000 from
the rest of MPP's nationwide membership.

Hence, the D.C. signature drive is about $13,000 in debt, and we need
to raise an additional $5,000 to print 10,000 signs to hang up around
D.C. later this month. (The signs will say, "This is OUR District, not
Bob Barr's! Vote for medical marijuana AGAIN.") If you are interested
in donating some of the $18,000 that we need to finish this campaign
in D.C., please visit http://www.mpp.org/dcinitiative/contribute.html
at your earliest convenience.

The D.C. government is expected to certify in early August that our
initiative will appear on the November 5 ballot, and a super-majority
of D.C. voters will surely pass the measure at that time. (A similar
ballot measure passed in D.C. in 1998 with 69% of the vote, but that
initiative was subsequently blocked by Congress from taking effect.)

MPP is already lobbying Congress not to block or overturn this year's
initiative. We have had meetings with 80 congressional offices on
Capitol Hill since April, and we are arranging meetings between
constituents and 120 key U.S. House members in their local offices
between now and Labor Day. If you are interested in meeting with your
U.S. House member on this issue in his or her local district office,
please respond to this message.

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote in September on
whether it will (1) allow D.C. voters to pass a medical marijuana law
on November 5, or (2) overturn the will of D.C. voters even before we
have a chance to vote on the initiative this November. To fax a pre-
written letter to your U.S. House member on this issue, please see
http://www.mpp.org/DCI/action.html

Now that the intensive, 39,000-signature drive in D.C. is over, the
fight in Congress is beginning. Please donate money now, please
contact us about meeting with your U.S. House member personally, or
please use our Web site to fax a pre-written letter. By taking action
now, we can increase our chances of victory when Congress votes on the
medical marijuana rider to the D.C. spending bill this September.

Sincerely,

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

P.S. For more information on the D.C. medical marijuana
initiative and/or to make a donation, please see
http://www.mpp.org/dcinitiative/contribute.html