Green View Magazine | December 2019

31 GREEN VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2019 F ounded in January 1995, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is the largest organization in the U.S. focused solely on enacting humane marijuana laws. Armed with tenacity, strong beliefs, and the slogan “We Change Laws,” the group’s bold mission is to change federal law to allow states to determine their own marijuana policies without federal interference, to allow the medical use of cannabis in all 50 states and U.S. territories, and to regulate marijuana like alcohol. MPP has been responsible for changing most of the state marijuana laws that have been reformed since 2000, including more than a dozen medical cannabis laws, the legalization of marijuana by voter initiative in Colorado, Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Michigan, and legislative legalization efforts in Illinois and Vermont. Recently, Green View Magazine spoke with MPP Deputy Director, Matt Schweich, and Director of State Policies, Karen O’Keefe, about the organization’s ground-breaking achievements to date and their plans to continue guiding the legislative momentum in favor of the cannabis industry. The following is an edited transcript of that conversation. GVM: Can you give us an overview of MPP? Schweich: “At the Marijuana Policy Project, we work on decriminalization and legalization (which involves taxation and regulation) of cannabis and MARIJUANA POLICY PROJECT WE CHANGE LAWS