We’ve been updating readers this week about the American Medical Association’s new position on marijuana and the DEA’s response. Last night, the DEA removed a number of AMA-related talking points from its Web site. This may seem like a very small, almost meaningless step, but it’s important to remember how influential the AMA really is. Striking this language from the DEA’s Web site is a manifestation of something larger and more abstract: the gutting of our opponents’ most effective talking point. I…

Tonight, after a week of calls by activists, the Drug Enforcement Administration updated its Web site to reflect the American Medical Association’s recent call for a review of marijuana’s Schedule I status. The update removed several references to the AMA, including: “the American Medical Association recommends that marijuana remain a Schedule I controlled substance,” and “the American Medical Association has rejected pleas to endorse marijuana as medicine.” These changes came just over a week after…

When it comes to medical marijuana dispensaries and their right to exist under California state law, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley doesn’t seem to want to listen. Earlier this year, Cooley ignored the legal opinion of California’s attorney general when Cooley claimed (incorrectly) that virtually all medical marijuana dispensaries were operating illegally and should be shut down.  Now, after two L.A. City Council committees rejected calls to ban the sale of medical marijuana, Cooley…

The battle in L.A. is not over yet, but two City Council committees have rejected draconian and bad advice from City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Last week’s announcement from the American Medical Association -- calling for a federal review of marijuana's legal status -- has been well received in the media, reaching the pages of The Washington Post, LA Times, and other publications. One group that hasn’t got the message is the Drug Enforcement Administration. This is no surprise, as the DEA has been ignoring recommendations to research marijuana’s medical benefits for decades. But this example is particularly egregious. On the DEA Web page…

There’s a fantastic article in today’s Los Angeles Times about the successful regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries in West Hollywood, where city leaders, neighbors and even school officials have learned to embrace the shops and their patients as part of the greater community: In West Hollywood, city officials say, it's been more than two years since a resident has complained about a dispensary. Neighborhood watch leaders say their streets are safer because the dispensary guards are required…

In case anyone needs proof of the mass media’s tendency to repeat government pronouncements without bothering to check their accuracy, here’s a small but telling example: Inexplicably, when the U.S. Department of Justice issued a memo last month explaining that it would generally refrain from prosecuting medical marijuana activities that are clearly legal under state law, it mistakenly indicated that there are 14 medical marijuana states. DOJ’s goof was to include Maryland, where medical marijuana…

In its official response to the AMA’s recent call for a review of marijuana’s status as a Schedule I drug (barring any medical use) under federal law, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy stated that it would defer to "the FDA's judgment that the raw marijuana plant cannot meet the standards for identity, strength, quality, purity, packaging and labeling required of medicine." While we’re not used to factual accuracy from ONDCP, in this case they’re wrong not once, but twice. First,…

The resignations keep piling on in Britain, weeks after that nation’s chief drug adviser, Prof. David Nutt, was fired for publicly criticizing several UK government drug policies, including a recent decision to strengthen marijuana penalties. Today, three more members of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs were reported to have resigned in protest after they were unhappy with explanations offered by Home Secretary Alan Johnson, the man who demanded Nutt’s resignation. The resignations of…

MPP Director of Government Relations Aaron Houston appears on Fox Freedom Watch to talk about the advances in marijuana policy and the failure of the drug war with Judge Andrew Napolitano. 11/09/2009