Last night, Scott Brown (R-Mass.) beat Democrat Martha Coakley in a special election to replace the late Senator Ted Kennedy, becoming the first Republican to hold a Senate seat in Massachusetts since the 1970s. So what happened up there? To state it simply, the Democrats chose a bad candidate. They backed one of the most vocal and public opponents of the MPP-funded ballot initiative, Question 2, which decriminalized marijuana possession in Massachusetts in 2008. Question 2 was more popular than…

MPP California Policy Director Aaron Smith appears on CNBC to discuss AB390. He debates with other guests about the benefits of a system that allows the taxation and regulated distribution of marijuana to adults 21 and over. 01/13/2010

A new ABC News/Washington Post poll reveals that more than eight in 10 Americans (81%) support efforts to make marijuana legal for medical use, up from 69 percent in 1997. Fifty-six percent say that if it's allowed, “doctors should be able to prescribe medical marijuana to anyone they think it can help.” Last week the New Jersey state legislature passed a medical marijuana bill and yesterday Gov. Corzine signed the bill into law, making New Jersey the 14th state to provide its sick and dying patients…

Last night, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signed a medical marijuana bill into law, officially making New Jersey the 14th state in the nation to allow qualified patients to use medical marijuana with their doctor’s recommendation. The law allows the establishment of dispensaries around the state, but it does not make it legal for patients to grow their own marijuana. This law means that New Jersey will no longer prosecute sick and dying patients who try to ease their symptoms with marijuana, but…

Pete Holmes, the newly elected Seattle city attorney, is already making good on his campaign promise to dismiss any marijuana possession charges that come through his office, the Seattle Times reported last week. Holmes dismissed two marijuana-related cases on his first day on the job, and several others are about to be dismissed, including cases taken up by the previous city attorney. According to the Times, Holmes’ predecessor, Tom Carr, had continued to prosecute low-level marijuana arrests even…

A new poll released by Survey USA found that 54% of Washington voters support taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol, and selling the natural plant in state-run liquor stores. When asked broadly if voters “think legalizing marijuana is a good idea,” support was even higher at 56%. Last month two Washington state legislators submitted a bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol. A few days later Seattle Mayor-elect Mike McGinn came out publicly in support of ending marijuana prohibition…

Back in October, the British government fired its chief drug adviser, Prof. David Nutt, for saying that marijuana is less dangerous than many legal drugs and that British laws should be changed to reflect this reality. Many other members of the United Kingdom’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs resigned in protest Then this week, Les Iversen, a former pharmacology professor at the University of Oxford, was announced as Nutt’s interim replacement as the council’s chairman. And guess what? He’s…

MPP California Policy Director Aaron Smith is seen here on CBS Sacramento talking about the passage of AB390 through the California Assembly's Public Safety Committee. This event marks the first time any legislative body has approved a bill to remove all penalties for adult use of marijuana, and to tax and regulate it like alcohol. 01/12/2010

MPP Arizona spokesperson Andrew Myers discusses the initiative to put a medical marijuana bill on the ballot in 2010 with KSAZ Fox 10. This bill would allow medical marijuana patients to purchase medicine in state-licensed dispensaries. 01/14/2010

Yesterday, the California Assembly's Public Safety Committee voted 4-3 in favor of legislation that would make marijuana legal, taxed, and regulated throughout the state. Before the vote, committee members heard supportive testimony from me and the Drug Policy Alliance's Stephen Gutwillig. Not surprisingly, A.B. 390's opponents were mostly entrenched law enforcement officials who make their living waging war on marijuana consumers. A.B. 390 isn't likely to make it further this year due to a legislative…