Congress released the language of a long anticipated bill today that, among other things, will lift the ban on Washington, D.C.’s medical marijuana law. D.C. is now one big step closer to protecting patients from arrest and jail for using marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation.

Ten years ago, D.C. residents overwhelmingly passed a medical marijuana ballot initiative, but the law’s implementation was blocked by Congress. The bill released today -- a large omnibus spending bill -- lifts the ban on medical marijuana in the nation’s capitol.

The fix will likely be voted into law by the end of the week. This will kick off a lengthy process to enact the ballot initiative passed 10 years ago, a process that enjoys massive support among D.C. residents. By the summer of 2010, D.C. could join the 13 medical marijuana states in protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest.

Update: It's important to note the brave members of Congress who helped make this happen. Congressman Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.) worked for years to remove the medical marijuana ban, and he was able to take it out of the first version of the spending bill back in July. Congressman David Obey (D-Wisc.) has also been a valuable ally, helping to protect Serrano's work as the bill moved through the complicated legislative process.  If you live in one of their districts, consider yourself well represented.

One more country has decided to take a meaningful step toward ending marijuana prohibition.

Starting next year, citizens of the Czech Republic will be able to grow up to five marijuana plants and possess “several marijuana cigarettes” for personal use, without fear of criminal prosecution.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

“The plant still remains illegal, however, though from the new year possession of five or less plants is merely a misdemeanor, and fines for possession will be on par with penalties for parking violations.”

How many more countries will implement significant marijuana policy reforms before our federal government decides it’s time to act?

Not by any rational standard, but the folks who run the Iditarod, Alaska’s famous sled-dog race, seem to think so.  Yikes.

A report published yesterday in the online journal BMC Neurology says that marijuana might help multiple sclerosis patients find relief from the spasticity and muscle spasms caused by the debilitating autoimmune disease.

“We found evidence that cannabis plant extracts may provide therapeutic benefit for MS spasticity symptoms,” said lead researcher Dr. Shaheen Lakhan, executive director of the Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation. “The therapeutic potential of cannabinoids in MS appears to be comprehensive, and should be given considerable attention.”

The idea of using marijuana to treat MS is not new. This particular study looked at marijuana extracts, but there is also data available on the entire plant’s therapeutic potential for those suffering from MS.

President Obama is hosting a jobs forum at the White House today -- a gathering of business leaders and policy makers who will discuss the creation of new jobs in America. I wish I was there.

If I was in that room, I would stand up, raise my hand, and suggest that we tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol or tobacco. Obama might laugh at me, like he did when we asked him this very question back in March. But I would say it again anyway, because it’s exactly what the president needs to hear. Here is what I would say, if given the opportunity today: 

1. Marijuana is a multibillion dollar a year industry, one that contributes little if anything to the American economy. Why? Because our laws put the industry into the hands of criminals rather than legitimate businesses.

2. The exception to the above is the medical marijuana industry. In the states that have allowed regulated marketplaces, these businesses are booming despite the bad economy. For example, business expos in Michigan are touting the success of medical marijuana growing operations and their potential for creating jobs in the state hit hardest by the recession.

3. Finally, it worked with booze. Just last year, Congress praised the 21^st Amendment for lifting the ban on alcohol sales. A quote from H. CON. RES. 415: “2,500 breweries, distilleries, wineries, and import companies, 2,700 wholesale distributor facilities, over 530,000 retail outlets, and numerous agricultural, packaging, and transportation businesses support the employment of millions of Americans.”

The potential for job creation and economic growth in legal marijuana sales is massive. With a simple policy change we could create a new industry, rivaling the size of Philip Morris or MillerCoors domestically, but with a product that’s safer in every measurable way.

The jobs, the money, and the markets are already in place. Without marijuana prohibition, we could take a multibillion-dollar drain on the economy and turn it into a multibillion-dollar profit.

The Journal of Neuroscience just published a new study that is particularly interesting in light of recent reports that marijuana may effectively substitute for abuse of more dangerous drugs.

In the new study, rats were taught to self-administer heroin and conditioned to associate that behavior with a light that flashed on above the lever that dispensed the heroin. At various stages in the procedure, some of the rats were treated with cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabinoid that doesn’t make you high, but which has a number of really interesting properties.

CBD didn’t have any effect when given to the rats who were actively dosing themselves with heroin, but it had a marked effect on rats who had been abstinent from heroin for two weeks. These rats-in-recovery were again shown the cue light, and those who hadn’t been given CBD immediately resumed pushing the heroin lever, seeking a dose of the drug. But in the CBD rats, this heroin-seeking behavior was markedly reduced – and the effect continued for a full two weeks after the last CBD treatment.

The researchers conclude, “CBD may be a potential treatment for heroin craving and relapse.” It might also imply that high-CBD strains of marijuana could be preferable for those who are trying to stay off of other drugs.

Ah, but how do you know if the marijuana you’re buying is high in CBD (which is probably not the case most of the time)? Well, if it were a legal, regulated product, marijuana could be labeled for cannabinoid content – just like that bottle of wine now tells you, “alcohol 13.8%” or whatever. What a concept.

This holiday season, Facebook users can help MPP and other groups earn money with just the click of a button.

The Chase Community Giving Challenge allows users to help decide which organizations receive $5 million from Chase.

The first round of voting ends Dec. 11, and the top 100 charities at that point will each receive $25,000. (Winners will be announced Dec. 15.) In January, another round of voting starts for one $1 million prize and five $100,000 prizes.

Right now MPP has close to 1,000 votes, but needs more to have a chance at winning. If you support MPP, and have a Facebook account, please vote for MPP here. 

Yesterday, via Twitter, both Adrianne Curry @adriannecurry and Slightly Stoopid @SlightlyStoopid asked their followers to vote for us. Each user gets up to 20 votes, so you can also help support our allies, such as Students for Sensible Drug Policy, or any other organization of your choice.

A new study published in Harm Reduction Journal by researchers at the University of California, Berkley, suggests that marijuana is a safe and effective substitute for alcohol and prescription drugs.

In the study, 40 percent of marijuana users said they have used marijuana to control their alcohol addictions, 66 percent said they used marijuana instead of prescription drugs, and 26 percent said marijuana helped them stay off other illegal drugs.

According to lead researcher Amanda Reiman:

“Substituting cannabis for alcohol has been described as a radical alcohol treatment protocol. This approach could be used to address heavy alcohol use […] People might substitute cannabis, a potentially safer drug than alcohol with less negative side-effects, if it were socially acceptable and available.”

To read the full report here you must subscribe to Complementary Health Practice Review Online.

Yesterday, Israel’s Ministry of Health was ordered to finalize within four months a detailed bill that would regulate the production and marketing of medical marijuana in that country.

Additional measures recommended by a government health committee included making sure that medical marijuana remains affordable for patients and implementing safeguards to prevent the drug from reaching illegal users and merchants.

Once again, Israel’s government has shown a desire to promote the wellbeing of patients who can benefit from medical marijuana—something our federal government continues to avoid.

My  recent post about medical marijuana and  young patients got picked up by the folks over at OpposingViews.com. And that prompted writer Katherine Ellison, whose New York Times story I'd taken issue with to post the following response:

a couple corrections for you

Hi, Bruce --

For the record, my byline is Katherine, not Kathy. And I guess I can understand your frustration at not having a story that reflects your advocate's view of marijuana as a safe , cure-all drug, appropriate for all ages. However, I stand by my reporting, which I think was a responsible effort to bring awareness to an increasing problem of irresponsible doctors given way too much leeway with an untested drug on adolescents.

- kathyellison November 25, 2009 10:28AM

Oh dear. I generally don't like to get into fights with reporters, but I'm grateful that Opposing Views allowed me to post the following response:

First, Katherine, I apologize for using your name as you signed it on your emails to me rather than as published in your byline. Nevertheless, I find it frustrating that you appear to be deliberately misinterpreting both what I've written here and what I said on the phone during our lengthy conversation.

You know full well that I don't consider marijuana a cure-all and that I do not expect you to endorse my opinions in print. I do expect you, in reporting a scientific issue, to actually address the relevant science in a way that will enlighten readers.

Your story failed to explain meaningful scientific evidence provided to you by both me and Paul Armentano suggesting a positive effect of marijuana on ADHD as well as the biochemical basis for such an effect being plausible. You included a scientifically nonsensical quote from Stephen Hinshaw calling marijuana for ADHD "one of the worst ideas of all time" because marijuana disrupts attention and memory in normal people. But we know that the brains of ADHD patients don't work like those of normal people -- which is why stimulants like Ritalin have a calming effect, the exact opposite of their effect on most of us. Did you even bother to ask Hinshaw this obvious followup question?

You also included a cavalier quote from Edward M. Hallowell claiming that marijuana use "can lead to a syndrome in which all the person wants to do all day is get stoned, and they do nothing else" -- without bothering to note that this so-called "amotivational syndrome" has been debunked again and again. One example that I sent you, and which you apparently ignored, was the 1999 Institute of Medicine report commissioned by the White House, which states on pages 107-108, "When heavy marijuana use accompanies these symptoms, the drug is often cited as the cause, but no convincing data demonstrate a causal relationship between marijuana smoking and these behavioral characteristics." Many other expert reviews have come to the same conclusion.

I am not asking you to agree with me or to tout marijuana as a cure-all, which it manifestly is not. As a longtime health journalist myself, all I am asking is for you to do your homework as a reporter.