The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is a non-profit political organization, and has taken the leading role in several successful state-level marijuana policy reforms. Founded in 1995, MPP has most notably led the 2012 Amendment 64 initiative in Colorado to legalize marijuana for adults and regulate it like alcohol as well as the successful 2014 campaign under a similar name in Alaska.
While MPP has been active at both the federal and state level, Matt Schweich, director of state campaigns for the organization, works in a handful of states to pass bills through state legislatures. In particular, Schweich’s work has put an initiative on the ballot in Nevada, and MPP is working with a coalition of groups on an initiative in California, both of which are scheduled for 2016.
In both Massachusetts and Arizona, Schweich and his team are leading the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol campaigns, where they manage political committees and lobby for legalization.
“We named the campaign [Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol] because we want that to be the central message to the voter,” says Schweich. “We need to get the message across that marijuana is objectively less harmful than alcohol, and it makes no sense to punish users of marijuana.”
“It is common sense to understand that one is less harmful to the user and society in general, [and] in light of the fact that alcohol is legal, it makes no sense to keep marijuana illegal,” he adds.
According to Schweich, voters in their respective states should be given the independence to decide how to handle licensing and regulations, depending on the jurisdiction, just like state liquor laws.
On a national level, MPP has a federal policy team currently working on the fight for marijuana businesses to gain access to banking and financial services.
