While some medical uses of marijuana remain controversial, a new study of marijuana and HIV-related neuropathy published online in early August by the journal Neuropsychopharmacology closes the case regarding one important indication: neuropathic pain. 

Neuropathic pain -- pain from damage to the nerves -- can be caused by any number of conditions, including HIV (as in this study), diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. And it is notoriously resistant to conventional pain drugs, as the article notes. The patients in this study, conducted at UC San Diego, still suffered significant pain despite being on a variety of pain drugs. Two-thirds were taking opioid narcotics and still suffering.

Marijuana didn't work for every patient, but on average, pain declined from "strong" to "mild to moderate," accompanied by "similar improvements in total mood disturbance, physical disability, and quality of life." For the vast majority of patients, side effects were relatively mild.

This is the third published clinical trial to demonstrate that marijuana can safely and effectively relieve neuropathic pain, following a UC Davis study published in April and a UC San Francisco study published in February 2007.

Remember, this is a type of pain for which there are no good, universally effective treatments, and which causes suffering for millions. Marijuana works. Case closed.

Today's Associated Press story on a group of college presidents proposing reconsideration of the legal drinking age is accompanied in some outlets by a fascinating graph, reproduced here. Two things are striking:

1) The number of alcohol poisoning deaths in the U.S. each year is shockingly high, consistently between 300 and 400. The number of annual deaths from marijuana poisoning remains -- as always -- zero.

2) The number of alcohol poisoning deaths spiked just as the U.S. government started going all-out to demonize marijuana, deploying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of anti-marijuana ads on TV, radio, and in print.

One can't help but wonder if this is really just coincidence. The recent low point came in 2000, with 327 alcohol poisoning deaths overall, and 16 among college-age Americans. In 2001, the Bush administration came into office, with anti-marijuana zealot John Walters taking over as drug czar late in the year. Shortly thereafter, Walters began his anti-marijuana crusade, and in 2002 alcohol poisoning deaths spiked to 383 -- a level they've roughly maintained ever since. Booze deaths among college-age young people also ratcheted upward, and in 2005 set a recent record of 35 in one year.

No one wants to encourage kids either to drink or smoke marijuana. But if you keep bombarding young people with propaganda about the dangers of marijuana while saying virtually nothing about the possibility that booze can literally kill you -- precisely what our government has done -- well, that just might be "sending a message to young people," as the federal bureaucrats say. And that message could be deadly.

For a press guy, there's nothing like returning from vacation to find yourself quoted in a major newspaper. It's even better when the story -- in this case actually a set of articles examining medical marijuana in today's Los Angeles Times -- does a clear, thorough, and informative job.

Reporter Jill Adams looks at the latest scientific evidence regarding marijuana's medical benefits and its risks, citing several of the world's top researchers in the field. Unlike the once-over-lightly jobs that happen so often in the mass media, Adams seems to have taken the time to get the details right about everything from neuropathic pain to recent controversies regarding marijuana and mental illness.

Money quote:

"The truth, these researchers say, is that marijuana has medical benefits -- for chronic-pain syndromes, cancer pain, multiple sclerosis, AIDS wasting syndrome and the nausea that accompanies chemotherapy -- and attempts to understand and harness these are being hampered. Also, they add, science reveals that the risks of marijuana use, which have been thoroughly researched, are real but generally small."

It's here, it's hot, it's new, it's fresh: the latest video from MPP-TV, The War on Drugs in 100 Seconds.  This video takes a look at the war on drugs through a couple of quotes by author Michael Pollan from his book The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World. Check it out, enjoy, and--as always--let us know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future!

This video is a quick showcase of a couple of quotes from Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World.

Want to help promote marijuana policy reform but think it’s too much work? Not anymore! With MPP’s free e-mail alerts, we’ll deliver the information you need right to your inbox with no muss or fuss!

No real surprises in the latest National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse, the annual National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse survey of teens' and parents' attitudes on drug use. But it does confirm what we've long known about the availability of illicit drugs for kids – including marijuana – compared to that of regulated drugs such as alcohol and tobacco.

According to the report, half of the 16- and 17-year-olds surveyed said their peers use marijuana more than tobacco. More teens say it's easier to acquire marijuana than beer. And there's a 35% increase from last year in the number of teens who say they can buy marijuana within an hour and a 14% increase in the number of teens who say they can find it in a day.

Like I said – no big surprise; tobacco and alcohol have realistic controls placed on them. We enforce rules prohibiting sales to minors, and we talk honestly with our children about the dangers and responsible use of these substances by adults .

But marijuana is illegal. That means we must leave it up to drug dealers to determine what – if any – age limit ought to be placed on its sale, and we must lie to kids in order to justify the fallacy that marijuana is too dangerous to control or regulate.

Jacob Sullum at Reason.com published an interesting piece today on medical marijuana and federalism.  Sullum points out the irony in conservative presidential candidate John McCain’s opposition to state medical marijuana laws and his liberal opponent, Senator Barack Obama’s, acceptance of them.

Waving the flag of federalism as a political tool – rather than a firm ideological standpoint – is nothing new and is not limited to medical marijuana, but it is still surprising to see such a dramatic role reversal.

Check out the complete article at Reason.com.

Last Friday, MPP's Dan Bernath appeared in this CNN Headline News Showbiz Tonight segment on marijuana in the media.

A comment posted to a BBC blog by the former director of Britain's anti-drug unit (scroll down, it's comment #73) criticizing the drug war as pointless and harmful has gotten some attention lately across the pond. In it, Julian Critchley dismisses the tough-on-drug policies he once promoted as "wishing drug use away," saying many of his colleagues privately agreed.

Perhaps he should consult his counterparts in the White House drug czar's office; they could assure him he just wasn't wishing hard enough.

Join host Noah Brozinsky as he explores shocking and gruesome tales of death by marijuana overdose!

After you check out the video, be sure to leave a comment and tell us what you like!  And hey, go ahead and tell us what you don't like, too.  We're always trying to improve our online video efforts and your feedback is really valuable in helping us do that.

Enjoy!