We struggled a little bit with what to make of this very long, very comprehensive New Yorker feature by David Samuels on the murkier aspects of California's medical marijuana business. The piece is well reported and provocative, but it comes nowhere near presenting a full picture of the situation. Samuels focuses on what to many represents the worst abuses of California's medical marijuana laws, and demonstrates that the results aren't that horrible: adults purchasing a drug that's magnitudes safer…

Jury selection has begun in the trial of medical marijuana dispensary operator Charles Lynch, reported here on Tuesday. In a lengthy cover story on the medical marijuana battles on California's Central Coast, New Times San Luis Obispo mentions a small fact from the trial that sums up these federal medical marijuana prosecutions in a nutshell. Not only have federal prosecutors successfully barred introduction of evidence showing that the marijuana Lynch provided was for medical purposes, they actually…

While the U.S. government was busily denouncing medical marijuana as some sort of  "drug legalizer" conspiracy, one of America's closest allies in the world quietly set up a medical marijuana program. Israel's medical marijuana program has gotten virtually no press in the U.S., but this Jerusalem Post article from a few months ago has some of the basics. Medical marijuana access is restricted to a handful of indications such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, and Crohn's disease, and to patients for whom conventional…

The trial of Charles Lynch, originally scheduled to start Tuesday, now is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, July 23. Lynch operated a medical marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay, Calif. -- legal under state law and with permission from the city. But the county sheriff, vehemently opposed to medical marijuana dispensaries, called in the Drug Enforcement Administration, which raided the dispensary and filed drug charges against Lynch. Check out this Reason TV video for details about the case, including…

Dr. John Newmeyer is an epidemiologist and author of "Mother of All Gateway Drugs: Parables for Our Time." He sits down with us to discuss his views on marijuana and the drug war in general.

An editorial in the July 18 New York Times worries about rising drug overdose deaths among young people, but misleadingly brings marijuana into the picture, for no good reason.  While the Times is right to raise alarm over rising drug overdose deaths among youth, references to marijuana in that context are both puzzling and misleading. Marijuana has never caused a medically documented fatal overdose. Because THC does not suppress vital functions such as breathing, the consensus among researchers…

A new article in the European Journal of Cancer Care answers medical marijuana opponents who claim that cancer patients don't need marijuana to relieve the nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy. Opponents claim that while studies in the past showed THC to be roughly comparable to other anti-nausea drugs, it wasn't substantially better. Since those studies, they argue, better anti-nausea drugs have come into use, making medical marijuana irrelevant. In any case, they add, THC is available in pill…

In the second part of this video documenting the real world impact of marijuana prohibition, we hear from medical marijuana patient Bernie Ellis about the potential loss of his home. Then, we speak with Ronnie and Anisha Naulls, California medical marijuana patients and dispensary owners whose family has been dramatically affected by the government’s war on marijuana.

In this first part of "The Human Cost of Marijuana Prohibition," we hear from Marisa Garcia, a student whose experience with a drug misdemeanor has left her without financial aid, and from MPP's own Rob Kampia, who tells us not only about his own experiences in jail, but also about those of several others who were not so fortunate. Click here for part 2.

According to the New York Times, Cindy McCain, wife of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, drives a car with vanity license plates reading, "MS BUD." "Bud," of course, is common slang for marijuana, so where are the howls of outrage from the Drug Free America Foundation and ONDCP? How dare the wife of a presidential candidate promote drug use?!?!? Oh wait. Mrs. McCain owns a beer distributorship. The "Bud" involved is Budweiser, and that's a "good" drug, so all we get are amused…