A press release from the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP)  informs us that several more states recently moved to decriminalize marijuana possession. Spurred by budget shortages, state legislatures in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Hawaii this month passed bills to replace criminal penalties for marijuana possession with civil fines.

Commented Karen O’Keefe, state policies director for MPP: “We know from efforts in other states that decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana allows police to focus on more serious crimes and also produces a net financial gain through saved law-enforcement costs and the revenue generated by civil fines. Lawmakers everywhere should take heed of these examples, especially in these troubled economic times.” 

One dozen states so far have enacted measures decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of MJ, replacing prior laws will varying civil fines.

Also part of the press release:

“With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.”

In related news, another source informed us that yesterday a group of medical marijuana patients held a press conference, asking state lawmakers to support a medical marijuana law in Massachusetts. A state public health committee is now considering passage of a bill that would legalize the medical use of marijuana. If this bill passes, Massachusetts will become the 15^th state in the nation to give patients safe and legal access to medical marijuana. 

We at LA JEMM just heard about it this morning. Apparently the Weedmobile is the latest public interest/self-promotion scheme of the NJWeedman, aka Ed Forchion.

It seems the Weedmobile (which Mr. Forchion describes as his “marijuana temple car”) cruises the streets of Hollywood, blasting Bob Marley and – most importantly – offering GIVEAWAYS. I’ll repeat: GIVEAWAYS. I’d suggest stalking the Weedmobile at your earliest opportunity. Follow it through L.A., and also on Twitter at twitter.com/weedmobil.

Henry Hemp at HempCon2010

This morning we received an email from David Thergood Jr., director and producer of “The Hemp Nation.” David and company have posted their video coverage of HempCon 2010 on MySpace! Check it out: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=103245809.

Clocking in at exactly 4 minutes and 20 seconds, the video has already racked up more than 50,000 hits. It also stars our beloved friend and MMJ celebrity Henry Hemp, features the 420 nurses, and does a fine job overall of capturing the upbeat mood of L.A.’s first annual medical marijuana convention.

FYI, The Hemp Nation is actively seeking sponsors. Anyone with interest can email David Thergood at thehempnation@gmail.com