Matt Simon Email & Phone Number

After seven years studying and teaching English in West Virginia and Kentucky, I moved to New Hampshire in 2006 and began working in state politics. In 2006 I managed a successful political campaign, electing a friend to his first term in the New Hampshire House.Then, in 2007, I began working on cannabis policy reform. In 2008 and 2010, I worked with the New Hampshire House in support of bills to decriminalize cannabis possession. The bills passed the House in both years but failed to gain traction in the Senate, in part because of a governor's veto threat.In 2009 and 2012 I lobbied in support of medical cannabis bills, which passed the House and Senate but in both years but were vetoed by the governor. We finally achieved this goal in 2013 when New Hampshire became the 19th state to pass a medical cannabis law.When I was hired by the Marijuana Policy Project in 2011, my work expanded to other states. I successfully lobbied Vermont legislators to pass a decriminalization bill, which was signed into law in 2013, and in 2018 I helped Vermont become the first state to legalize cannabis through the legislative process, rather than by ballot initiative. In January 2014, the New Hampshire House became the first state legislative chamber in the U.S. to approve a legalization bill, but the bill did not advance. In 2017, my allies and I finally convinced the New Hampshire Legislature to pass a law decriminalizing cannabis possession. I have appeared frequently on New Hampshire and Vermont radio and television shows, including debate segments on WMUR's "Close-up," NHPR's "The Exchange," VPR's "Vermont Edition," and NHPTV's "NH Outlook."I also served on the drafting committee that wrote Massachusetts' legalization law, which was approved by voters in November 2016.I moved on from MPP in the summer of 2021 and began working with Prime ATC (now GraniteLeaf Cannabis), a non-profit medical cannabis business that operates two dispensaries in New Hampshire. This change in perspective is allowing me to continue advocating for patients while helping to ensure the success of New Hampshire's therapeutic cannabis program. It's also a great opportunity for me to work with an outstanding team and learn more about every aspect of the cannabis business.Specialties: Writing, editing, public relations, government relations, strategy

Listed skills include Media Relations, Editing, Politics, Grassroots Organizing, and 45 others.