TiVo alert! MPP executive director Rob Kampia will be on the Fox Business News program “Happy Hour” this Friday, July 24, discussing the economics of taxing and regulating marijuana. The show airs from 5 to 6 p.m. Eastern time.

While I was in the green room waiting to debate Calvina Fay on Fox Business News today (we’re working on getting the video posted), former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sat down next to me to wait for his interview on the sister Fox News Channel.

After exchanging some small talk, he asked me what I was going to be talking about on TV.  After telling him that MPP was the organization that ran those ads in California last week that touted how taxing marijuana could help some of the California government’s budget crisis, he said, “Well, I can’t say I’m supportive of that.  I have a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old to worry about.”  I responded, “Well, I’m not surprised that you’re not supportive.”
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For those who missed it, here’s the clip of Rob debating marijuana policy with drug war cheerleader David Evans on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360″ that Bruce mentioned a couple days ago.

By the way, although these things are always subject to last minute changes, it looks like MPP’s Bruce Mirken will be on CNBC discussing ending marijuana prohibition this evening sometime after 8:30 p.m. EST.

All this week, CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360″ is doing a series of reports on marijuana and marijuana policy. MPP executive director Rob Kampia is scheduled to appear on tonight’s show, possibly debating a prohibitionist. While TV news schedules are always subject to last-minute change, the segment featuring Rob is presently set to air around 10:30 p.m. Eastern time.

In yet another sign of the growing acceptance for marijuana policy reform, MPP’s Rob Kampia appeared on MSNBC and CNBC yesterday to discuss California Gov. Arnold Schwarzegger’s recent statement supporting an open discussion about ending marijuana prohibition.

You can see his MSNBC appearance here and the CNBC one in which he debates former drug czar official and lifelong drug warrior Kevin Sabet here. (Just to prove it’s really live TV, you’ll notice Rob’s audio feed cuts out at one point, causing him to talk over Sabet for a bit. Aw, shucks.)

By the way, here’s a shot of Rob during his MSNBC appearance that we kind of got a chuckle out of. I mean, drug warriors love accusing marijuana policy reformers of supporting terrorism, but actually being a terrorist? Now that’s playing hardball.

Intense media interest in proposals to tax and regulate marijuana continues, given a big boost by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s statement Tuesday that the issue is worthy of debate.

MPP executive director Rob Kampia discussed the issue earlier today on MSNBC (we hope to have video posted soon) and will debate a to-be-named prohibitionist tonight on CNBC’s “CNBC Reports.” The program airs from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern time, and we’re told the marijuana segment will be around 8:30, barring any last-minute changes that are always possible in TV land.

Something is stirring in the U.S. news media that I was beginning to think I’d never see: In last two or three months, a complete rethinking of our marijuana laws has become a legitimate issue in the eyes of the mainstream media — something it hasn’t been for a long time.

To illustrate how big this is, let me take you back to early 2002, shortly after I started as MPP’s communications director. The first time I ever called CNN to try to pitch them a story on marijuana policy, it went like this: [Read more →]

There are a lot of colorful characters who, for fun and profit, devote their lives to prolonging the war on marijuana users, no matter how much damage it causes to society or how little it does to stem drug trade violence.

Many of these drug warriors are clearly unhinged, their views informed more by blind zealotry than by sober policy analysis. That’s why I hesitate to post this video of longtime anti-drug culture warrior Joyce Nalepka attempting to disrupt a recent MPP-sponsored press conference regarding faulty drug tests administered by law enforcement. After all, there are shaky folks on all sides of the marijuana policy debate, and I don’t think it’s right to single out the clowns on such a serious matter.

However, as Nalepka herself points out in this exchange with MPP’s Rob Kampia, she has drug policy experience – if not expertise – and the larger, federal drug war establishment hasn’t exactly tried to disassociate itself from her. She’s president of Drug Free Kids: America’s Challenge and was once president of the National Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth, which Nancy Reagan chaired during her husband’s presidency.

So who am I to protect her if she wants to make a fool of herself? Here she is, squaring off against Rob, in all her indignant, delusional glory …