MANCHESTER, NH - January 27 - Medical marijuana patients were the clear winners in today's New Hampshire primary as U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) beat former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean by a double-digit margin, while a solid majority of Granite Staters voted for candidates who have pledged to end the Bush administration's raids on medical marijuana patients and providers.

On the campaign trail, Kerry said he favored federal medical marijuana legislation and pledged to end the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA's) raids on patients and caregivers in states with medical marijuana laws. The stand earned him an "A-" grade in Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana's (GSMM's) voter guide. Gen. Wesley Clark (D-AR), in third place with three-fourths of the votes counted, also pledged to end the raids and received a B+.

Dean, in contrast, killed popular medical marijuana legislation when he was governor of Vermont and failed to pledge a permanent end to the DEA's raids. Dean's final GSMM grade was a D-.

In the past week, GSMM volunteers and staff escalated their ongoing efforts to educate voters about the candidates' positions on medical marijuana through mass literature drops and a television commercial highlighting those candidates, including Dean, who refused to pledge an end to federal attacks on patients. The group conducted auto-dials throughout the last month that urged voters to call Gov. Dean's campaign to ask him to pledge an end to the DEA's raids and also leafleted campaign events of the candidates with poor records, including Dean, U.S. Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), and U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT).

"Our goal was to change the political dialogue on medical marijuana, and we succeeded beyond our wildest dreams," said GSMM Campaign Coordinator Aaron Houston. "When our auto-dials began, some polls showed Howard Dean leading Sen. Kerry by up to 30 percent. Just a month later, there's been a more than 40-point swing. These results, combined with the polling data, prove that no office-seeker needs to fear the political consequences of standing up for medical marijuana patients, and that is a huge victory, no matter who wins the nomination."

An August 2003 Zogby International poll showed that Dean's position on the issue hurt him with New Hampshire voters. When voters were told that Dean had acted to block a medical marijuana bill in Vermont, 28 percent said they would be less likely to vote for him in the Democratic presidential primary, while only 10 percent said they would be more likely to support Dean. The poll showed 31 percent of voters were more likely to vote for Kerry based on his support for medical marijuana, with only 7 percent saying they were less likely to support Kerry because of his medical marijuana position.

The campaign now moves to states that have medical marijuana laws, where the issue is likely to generate increased attention. Five medical marijuana states -- California, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, and Washington -- have primaries or caucuses in the next 35 days. The first of these are Washington and Maine, which hold caucuses on February 7 and 8, respectively.

"States that have medical marijuana laws -- almost all passed by overwhelming popular votes -- could hold the key to the nomination," Houston said. "Democrats should also remember that several of these states had razor-thin margins between Bush and Gore in the 2000 election, and a fairly small number of committed voters could make the crucial difference in 2004." Houston added that no decision has been made on whether his group and its parent organization, the Marijuana Policy Project, would air television advertisements in upcoming primary or caucus states.

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