Cannabis advocacy group, The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) just had its next executive director announced this week.
The best funded marijuana advocacy group in the United States has named Steve Hawkins as the next executive director.
Hawkins was previously the executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) as well as the executive vice president of the NAACP. He will assume responsibility for MPP’s national legalization advocacy efforts.
“We are still battling the effects of decades of anti-marijuana legislation and propaganda in this country,” Hawkins told Marijuana Moment. “Huge strides have been made when it comes to setting the record straight, but our work is far from over and there is still a lot of misinformation out there that needs to be addressed.”
“Fundraising and maintaining momentum is also a core challenge for the movement, which is in some ways a victim of its own success. Thanks to the major gains it has made in recent years, many people think legalization is inevitable and that their donations are no longer needed or that they don’t need to take the time to write their elected officials. These laws are not going to change themselves and there is more need than ever for resources and engagement to support federal and state-level reform efforts.”
Troy Dayton, chair of MPP’s board of directors, said in a statement said, “Steve has a strong track record in the field of criminal justice reform, and he knows how to build a movement toward meaningful social change. We were not only impressed by his expertise and experience, but also his strong convictions regarding the injustice of marijuana prohibition.”
Rob Kampia, the former executive director said to Hawkins, “View yourself as a fundraiser who has to engage in transactional fundraising with the marijuana industry in part, and view yourself as needing to come up with a smart, strategic plan for lobbying in state legislatures rather than doing ballot initiatives where no one else is going to touch it. Do not view yourself as a spokesperson.”
