In his first interview as White House drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske signaled a huge shift – at least rhetorically – in federal drug policy.

"Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war on drugs' or a 'war on a product,' people see a war as a war on them," he told the Wall Street Journal. "We're not at war with people in this country."

Yes, the fallacy of pursuing U.S. citizens who use illegal drugs as though they were enemy combatants was obvious the minute President Nixon made it official policy – against his own experts' advice – 35 years ago. And no, Kerlikowske isn't calling for an end to the policies that fuel that failed war. Marijuana prohibition, for example, isn't going anywhere, according to the new drug czar.

Still, Kerlikowske's rejection of drug war ideology is a dramatic – and possibly significant – departure from his drug crusading predecessors.

Of course, if you really want to end the war on drugs, then maybe it's time to end marijuana prohibition. Let your representative know with a phone call or an e-mail.

A 1999 study showed a modestly increased risk of certain types of head and neck cancer among marijuana smokers. Due to methodological limitations, the researchers warned that their "results need to be interpreted with some caution in drawing causal inferences." But warnings about this alleged risk have shown up from time to time in materials put out by prohibitionist types, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

A new study, just published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention, suggests this may have been a false alarm.

Researchers pooled data from five studies, totaling over 9,000 participants (nearly 30 times the number in the 1999 study) and found that the risk of head and neck cancer "was not elevated" among those who had ever smoked marijuana compared to those who hadn't. Notably, "there was no increasing risk associated with increasing frequency, duration, or cumulative consumption of marijuana ..."

The researchers note that, due to the small number of long-term, very heavy marijuana users in the studies, they can't rule out increased risk from such very heavy use. But it is striking that the overall cancer risk among marijuana smokers was slightly lower than nonsmokers, though not enough to be statistically significant. That was also the case in a major lung cancer study a few years ago. In the new study, there were some subcategories in which the lowered risk among marijuana smokers came close to statistical significance.

But don't expect mere data to put an end to hysterical claims that marijuana is more carcinogenic than tobacco.

Last November, I mentioned here that I'd undergone treatment for prostate cancer  -- implantation of 85 tiny, radioactive seeds designed to zap the tumor before it zaps me. I'm happy to report that, six months later, it seems to have worked, according to the latest lab tests. Though the risk of recurrence never goes away entirely, I'm as close as one can be to being an official cancer survivor.

Endless thanks to all who sent kind thoughts. And since someone is bound to ask: No, I didn't ever need medical marijuana. My treatment was happily quite low-impact: no chemo, no nausea, no hair loss, etc. I almost feel like I should refer to it as Cancer Lite, it was so comparatively easy. 

But the point I made last November still remains. If I had needed medical marijuana, that decision should have been between me and my doctor. Cops and politicians have no place in medical treatment decisions.

Former drug czar John Walters may be out of government, but that doesn't stop him from taking his anti-marijuana zealotry to the masses.

Yesterday, he appeared on CNN to debate Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron on the merits of ending marijuana prohibition. Dr. Miron had little trouble tearing apart Walters' arguments, but one statement of Walters caught my attention.

At 6:53 in the clip below, Walters begins a tirade about medical marijuana in California, saying "it has been reported in the news" that there are more medical marijuana dispensaries in San Francisco than there are Starbucks coffee shops.

What Walters says is technically true -- that lie has indeed been reported in the news. What he fails to mention is that the source was none other than John Walters. And those news reports were widely dismissive of Walters' fib. Both Starbucks and the San Francisco Department of Health refuted it.

But by cleverly distancing himself from his own lie and attributing it to "the news," Walters is free to repeat it as much as he wants without ever being held accountable.

It's as if I were to assert in this post that John Walters was the inspiration for the movie "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," and some other blogger picked it up and posted it. That way, I could go on and on about Walters' reported retarded sexual development and just conveniently fail to mention that I was the one who first reported it.

But of course, that's ridiculous. John Walters' offense isn't sexual immaturity. It's that he's a liar.

Yesterday marked the first time in history that a nationwide poll showed majority support for taxing and regulating marijuana (at 52%).  The poll, conducted by Zogby International at the end of April, was also one of the largest sample sizes of any national polls on the subject, with almost 4,000 respondents and a margin of error of +/- 1.6%.

This poll, in combination with recent trends, is further evidence that Americans are quickly realizing the value of taxing and regulating marijuana. Congress, however,  is often slow to keep up. If you want to push Congress to act, visit mpp.org/federal-action, where MPP's online system makes it fast and easy to ask your member of Congress to end 70 years of failed marijuana prohibition.

Looking beyond the top-line level of majority support to the cross tabulations, where support and opposition are shown among numerous variables, we can build a helpful profile of marijuana legalization supporters:

Age: Taxing and regulating marijuana enjoys majority support across every age group except for the over-65 crowd, which registers 44% support.

Region: Voters in the East (52%) and West (60%) are more likely than voters in the South (48%) or the Midwest (48%) to support taxing and regulating marijuana.

Culture: Those who never shop at Wal-Mart (72%) are more than twice as likely to support marijuana legalization than regular Wal-Mart shoppers (35%).  NASCAR fans (38%) are significantly less likely to support it than non-fans (54%).

Religion: Jewish voters (76%) were more likely than Catholics (47%) or Protestants (45%) to support legalizing marijuana.  Voters who consider themselves “born again” (33%) are far less likely to support it than voters who are not “born again” (55%).

Party affiliation: Democratic Party members are the most likely to support legalizing marijuana (68%), with Independents showing strong majority support (54%).  Liberals (79%) are the most likely to support it, with moderates (58%) trailing by 21 points and conservatives (25%) trailing fully 54 points behind liberals.

Presidential election: Those who voted for President Obama (69%) were much more likely to support legalizing marijuana than McCain voters (30%).

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.

MPP's Rob Kampia debates the benefits of taxing and regulation marijuana like alcohol with Kevin Sabet, drug policy advisor to the Clinton and Bush administrations. This segment aired a day after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for an open discussion of marijuana reform as a means to solve California's financial problems.

Yesterday, San Francisco supervisors formally condemned the March DEA raid conducted against a local medical marijuana facility, Emmalyn's California Cannabis Clinic. In a 9-to-2 vote, the board approved a resolution authored by Supervisor David Campos that calls for the immediate cessation of such attacks on medical marijuana in California.

The resolution calls on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to provide clear direction to the DEA and federal judges and prosecutors on President Obama's new policy on medical marijuana. It also calls for the return of "improperly seized" property from the raids and the dismissal of all federal cases involving medical marijuana collective operators who acted in compliance with state law.

It's not surprising that San Francisco opposes the federal war on medical marijuana, but this casts even more doubt on the dubious DEA claim that agents raided the clinic in response to an apparent violation of state law. To date, there have been no arrests linked to the raid and no specific allegations about state law violations have been made.

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.

MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia responds to statements by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that it is time for an open debate on the benefits of taxing and regulating marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol on MSNBC. 05/06/2009