WASHINGTON - July 19 - The Marijuana Policy Project today released an updated version of its landmark report on state medical marijuana laws, "State-by-State Medical Marijuana Laws: How to Remove the Threat of Arrest." With new information about recent court decisions and recently passed laws, the report is the definitive resource regarding state medical marijuana laws. Among the report's findings:

**Nine states-Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington-have laws that effectively protect medical marijuana patients from arrest. A Maryland law enacted in 2003 protects patients from the threat of jail but does not provide protection from arrest.

**The federal government cannot nullify state medical marijuana laws, and recent federal court decisions have confirmed that states may enact such laws. In Conant v. Walters, a federal appeals court upheld doctors' right to recommend marijuana pursuant to such laws, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the government's appeal. Because 99 percent of all marijuana arrests are made by state and local officials, these laws provide substantial protection for patients, despite federal hostility.

**State laws have worked smoothly and increased in popularity. Maine's law has been so uncontroversial that in 2002 a bill doubling the amount of marijuana that patients may possess passed the state Senate on a voice vote, becoming law with no organized opposition. A recent statewide California poll showed 74 percent support for the state's medical marijuana law-up from the 56 percent who voted for it in 1996.

"With medical marijuana proposals expected to be on state and local ballots in several states this year, this report answers the legal and practical questions that journalists ask us every day," said MPP Director of Communications Bruce Mirken. "Nearly eight years of experience has shown that state medical marijuana laws have worked well, and the problems predicted by opponents have completely failed to materialize."

The report is available online at http://www.mpp.org/pdf/sbs_report_2004.pdf.

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