It's never easy to know for sure, but this week could be huge for medical marijuana reform if things go just right in state legislatures across the country. The senates in Illinois, Minnesota, and New Hampshire all could vote to pass medical marijuana bills as early as tomorrow. At the same time, the Rhode Island Senate could vote on a bill creating medical marijuana compassion centers, making safe access to qualified patients in the state far less burdensome. So stay tuned – we'll let you know…

Aaron Houston, MPP's director of government relations, has just posted some thoughts on President Obama's first 100 days on the Congress Blog of the Capitol Hill political paper, The Hill. You can read all of Aaron's thoughts here. The bottom line: "While we have a pretty good idea of where Obama is heading on issues like the economy and health care, his direction on marijuana and drug policy remains unclear."

After a lengthy hearing, Judge George Wu once again deferred his sentencing decision in the case of the federally prosecuted California medical marijuana provider, Charles C. Lynch. Judge Wu indicated that he's leaning toward a more lenient sentence than the five-year mandatory minimum sought by the federal prosecutor and said he needs a way around the mandatory minimum and alternatives to prison for Lynch, who operated his medical marijuana collective in compliance with state and local law. The…

On Monday, National Public Radio marked the unofficial marijuana holiday 4/20 with a story called, "What If Marijuana Were Legal? Possible Outcomes?" We were not impressed, but you can listen to the story and read a transcript here. After reviewing it, I wrote the following e-mail to the reporter and assorted NPR honchos: I read the transcript of this -- haven't had the chance to hear it on the radio today -- and I must say I'm profoundly disappointed. You weren't interested in talking to us for…

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…