Rob Kampia

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Rob Kampia is co-founder and executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, the largest 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization in the U.S. that is solely dedicated to ending marijuana prohibition.

1 Formative years
2 Marijuana Policy Project
3 Notable appearances
4 Political ambitions
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Formative years

Kampia grew up in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, a small suburban town 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Kampia was valedictorian of his 300-person graduating class at Souderton Area High School in 1986^[1]^[2], served three months in prison from November 1989 to February 1990 for growing his own marijuana for personal use at Penn State University, and was elected student body president two years later at that same school. Three days after graduating with honors from Penn State in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Science, he moved to Washington, D.C., for the purpose of ending the government’s war on marijuana users.

[edit] Marijuana Policy Project

MPP, which has a lobbying branch, an educational branch, and a political action committee, is based in Washington, D.C., with satellite offices in Hollywood, San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Concord (New Hampshire). MPP employs 32 full-time staffers across these locations, as well as consultants to pass statewide ballot initiatives in Arizona and Michigan, and lobbyists to pass medical marijuana bills in Illinois, Minnesota, and New York.

As executive director, Kampia has been quoted in almost every newspaper in the U.S., discussed the marijuana issue dozens of times on local and national radio, appeared on national TV more than a dozen times, and has testified before Congress on two occasions.

[edit] Notable appearances

In March 2001, Kampia testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives on the medical marijuana case that was pending before the U.S. Supreme Court at the time. As the only witness to advocate for the removal of criminal penalties for marijuana-using patients, Kampia was grilled mercilessly by all Republican subcommittee members in attendance, including Chairman Mark Souder (R-IN), who told Kampia, "You're an articulate advocate for an evil position^[3]." The hostile exchange between Kampia, Souder, and other members of Congress made national news.

Kampia has debated the marijuana issue on national TV against then White House Deputy Drug Czar Andrea Barthwell, then Congressman Bob Barr (R-GA), then DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson, then California Attorney General Dan Lungren, and other prohibitionists.

Kampia has also discussed the marijuana issue on National Public Radio's “Justice Talking” with Margot Adler and—more recently in January 2006—on NPR's “All Things Considered.”

[edit] Political ambitions

Kampia ran for Washington D.C.'s congressional seat in 2000, as a member of the Libertarian Party. He was defeated by Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).^[4]

| Kampia's appearance at the Austin Freedom Fest

| Kampia discusses MPP for the organization's year end review