It seems yet another California official refuses to recognize that state’s medical marijuana law, and instead wants to deny patients the treatment that’s recommended by their doctors and protected under state law.  Barely a week after the police chief of Redding, California sent a warning to local dispensing collectives about their defiance of federal law, a superior court judge in Fresno County today issued a two-week restraining order that temporarily shuts down all nine medical marijuana collectives…

As a result of the media attention that the social networking site Twitter has been receiving, many members of Congress have become active tweeters, some updating and reading their pages personally. This means that we have a new forum to interact with our representatives in Washington, D.C., one that's quick, easy, and increasingly effective. If you use Twitter, please send a tweet asking your member of Congress to end marijuana prohibition today. In keeping with Twitter's real-time nature, we’re…

As reported on the front page of today’s Washington Post, domestic marijuana production is cutting into the bottom line of Mexican drug cartels while decades of police enforcement have failed to curb their growth. The article states, "Stiff competition from thousands of mom-and-pop marijuana farmers in the United States threatens the bottom line for powerful Mexican drug organizations in a way that decades of arrests and seizures have not, according to law enforcement officials and pot growers in…

The International Association for Cannabis as Medicine just concluded its 5th Conference on Cannabinoids in Medicine in Cologne, Germany. The conference included significant new evidence that marijuana is a safe, effective medicine for certain conditions, some of which can be found in the conference abstracts, now available online. Canadian researcher Mark Ware presented results of a yearlong safety study known as the COMPASS study, which compared 215 patients who used marijuana to manage chronic…

The number of fatal poisonings involving opioid painkillers more than tripled from 1999 to 2006, from 4,000 to 13,800 in one year, according to a new report from the CDC. These drugs – Vicodin, OxyContin, fentanyl, and their relatives – now account for 37 percent of poisoning deaths, up from 21 percent in 1999. And the Associated Press reports that drug deaths now exceed auto accident fatalities in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania,…

The federal law barring medical use of marijuana has already cost Mara Lynn Williams her husband, and may now cost her her home as well. Williams, 56, said she had no idea her husband, Royce, was growing marijuana on their 40-acre property in Chilton County, Alabama until federal authorities raided their land and found 408 plants growing several hundred yards from their house. Then in May, Royce Williams committed suicide, rather than serve a potentially lengthy prison sentence for the federal drug…

Here’s one for the “Cops Unclear On the Concept” file: The Record-Searchlight in Redding, California is reporting that the town’s police chief, Peter Hansen, has sent a warning letter to local medical marijuana dispensing collectives. Hansen’s letter warns dispensary operators that they are in violation of federal law, that “federal law takes precedence over State law,” and, “Violation of this law is a felony crime that carries with it a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.” While the chief has…

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had several opportunities to attend Q & A sessions with the Obama administration’s drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske. Increasingly, the audiences are asking him about the cartels in Mexico. A typical question goes something like this: “Wouldn’t ending marijuana prohibition in the U.S. wipe out the drug cartels like the 21st amendment wiped out the illegal liquor trade in the 1930s?” His typical response, which I practically have memorized at this point, goes something like…

MPPNV spokesperson Dave Schwartz appears at a press conference announcing a challenge to Nevada residents. MPP has offered a $10,000 prize to anyone who can disprove three scientifically supported statements that show marijuana is safer than alcohol. This segment was aired KLAS-CBS 8 Las Vegas. 09/23/2009

At a Las Vegas news conference today, the Marijuana Policy Project of Nevada announced details of a $10,000 challenge to the people of Nevada. MPP-NV will pay $10,000 to anyone who can disprove three statements of fact that demonstrate that marijuana is objectively and unquestionably safer than alcohol. The challenge, announced by MPP-NV manager Dave Schwartz with a large mock check for $10,000,  kicks off a long-term public education campaign regarding the relative harms of marijuana and alcohol,…