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…

The marijuana "eradication" season is now well underway, as highlighted by this breathless Drug Enforcement Administration press release touting a raid in the San Diego area. "Thus far this year," the DEA says, "marijuana has been eradicated in more than 60 sites."  This is, of course, utter nonsense. The word "eradication" implies permanence, but there is no evidence of any long-term impairment in marijuana availability or use. The complete failure of the DEA to accomplish its supposed job in 35…

California Congressman Jerry McNerney says he will now support an amendment to bar the U.S. Department of Justice from attacking state medical marijuana laws, according to a report in the Oakland Tribune. Last year, McNerney opposed the measure, known as the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment, but hearing the real-world stories of medical marijuana patients in his district changed his mind. McNerney's Republican opponent, Dean Andal, promptly went on the attack, calling medical marijuana "a red herring,"…

We sat down with author and national radio commentator, Jim Hightower, to discuss some of his thoughts on marijuana. Check it out and look for more Profiles in Marijuana Reform coming soon!

I mentioned Drug Free America Foundation's Calvina Fay earlier this week, but here's another whopper from her group, Save Our Society, regarding a North Carolina resolution to study medical marijuana: "Those that seek the legalization of marijuana often site [sic] the American College of Physicians paper as being in favor of 'medical' marijuana, however that is not accurate. The ACP supported research into cannabinoids such as THC, but they specifically stated 'The ACP encourages the use of non-smoked…

California's annual exercise in futility known as the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting -- a marijuana "eradication" program that regularly announces record plant seizures without having any discernible effect on the state's marijuana supply -- has begun for another year. According to news reports today, at least one man is already dead in a CAMP raid. The circumstances of the shooting remain unclear, so it's possible the dead man fired first. Clearly, there are some unsavory characters involved…