In a severely disappointing move, the Department of Justice (DOJ)  issued a memo last week stating that the federal arrest and prosecution of California medical marijuana provider Charles C. Lynch was "entirely consistent" with its new policy on medical marijuana. Charlie's sentencing had been delayed so that the DOJ could weigh in after Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement that prosecutorial discretion will be used to focus solely on marijuana cases with alleged violations of both state and…

MPP's Bruce Mirken debates the benefits of taxing and regulating marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol on CNBC Reports. This policy change is being considered as a means to greatly reduce the current violence in Mexico surrounding drug cartels.

Earlier this week there was a smattering of press attention to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, dealing with a deadly lung condition known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. "Marijuana plus cigarettes boosts lung disease risk," is how Reuters headlined the story. The study suggested that the combination of marijuana and cigarettes may be worse than cigarettes alone. It did not find that marijuana by itself increased the risk of COPD, but Reuters went…

President Obama leaves soon for talks with Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Thursday. We can't help but wonder: Will they talk about marijuana policy? Consider: Mexico's Congress has been holding an extended debate on whether marijuana should be legal for personal use or remain prohibited. And Mexico's ambassador to the U.S.  recently said this is a debate that "needs to be taken seriously" on both sides of the border. President Obama, as everyone knows by now, addressed the issue rather less…

Join the Marijuana Policy Project on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 for its 4th Annual Party at the Playboy Mansion! For more details, please visit https://www.mpp.org/pb2009/

In yet another sign that the debate on fundamentally shifting our marijuana policy has reached critical mass, a remarkable exchange occurred on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday. In a discussion of violent Mexican drug gangs with Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico's ambassador to the U.S., host Bob Schieffer asked, "What if marijuana were legalized? Would that change this situation?" Rather than giving the standard official response that any such discussion was absurd, Ambassador Sarukhan seemed to be walking…

The question of why some kids start using alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and other drugs at a young age remains a source of controversy. How much of a role do genes play? The environment -- peers, parents, educational efforts? What about the "gateway theory," the idea that one drug -- marijuana is the most likely to be blamed -- leads to use of others? A new study of twins recently published online by the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence suggests that genes may play a large role, but to some…

Okay, I'm a bit behind on my reading, but this is worth mentioning even though it's a little late. In its December issue, the American Journal of Public Health published the final, officially sanctioned evaluation of the anti-marijuana ads that former drug czar John Walters bombarded us with during the first half of the Bush administration (the evaluation period ends in June 2004). The bottom line: "[T]he campaign is unlikely to have had favorable effects on youths and may have had delayed unfavorable…

MPP-TV just released this excellent video highlighting the need to tax and regulate marijuana. This piece is especially relevant now that California is considering groundbreaking reform legislation that has triggered a national discussion about the wisdom of marijuana prohibition.

Last Friday I had the opportunity to meet Glenn Greenwald, the best-selling author and Salon contributor who was presenting his report – funded by the Cato Institute – on Portugal's experience decriminalizing personal possession of drugs over the past eight years. Few, even in the drug policy world, have paid much attention to Portugal's remarkable but sensible 2001 decision to remove drug use and possession from the criminal realm and address it solely as a public health issue. The details of Portugal's…