A commission led by three former Latin American heads of state blasted the U.S.-led drug war as an utter failure in a report released Wednesday. The report, by the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, called for the U.S. to re-examine its punitive, enforcement-based drug policies and consider decriminalizing the use of marijuana. What’s really startling about this report is not its findings – we’ve long known the war on drugs was a failure – but rather our government’s response.  As…

No one cares that Barack Obama used marijuana, why should Michael Phelps be treated differently?

Newsclip from KSTP-TV on the Minnestoa Medical Marijuana Hearing before the Senate Committee of Health, Housing and Family Security.

One of the purposes of this blog is to highlight the insanity of our war on marijuana users. So I have to admit I'm a little resentful that in such a short time Sheriff Leon Lott has done such an effective job illustrating that point in his hot pursuit of Michael Phelps. The Richland County, S.C., sheriff had announced earlier he would investigate and – god willing – arrest the Olympic champion after he was photographed smoking from a bong at a college party. As if he hadn't already done enough…

Last week the Washington Times reported that the Obama administration had reaffirmed the president's position that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state medical marijuana laws and expected departments to reevaluate their policies in light of that position -- signaling a death knell for Drug Enforcement Administration medical marijuana raids. A particularly antediluvian group of prohibitionists called "Save Our Society From Drugs" is now sounding the alarm, urging their supporters…

Breakfast cereal giant Kellogg's has announced it won't renew Michael Phelps' endorsement contract  because he's been photographed apparently smoking marijuana. Some are already arguing for a boycott of Kellogg's in response. Others are urging people to contact the company and politely complain. Given that Kellogg's apparently thought a prior drunk driving arrest was not a problem, endorsement-wise, there certainly seems to be a hypocrisy issue here. Boycotts are notoriously difficult to pull off,…

After a frustrating period of silence and a flurry of Drug Enforcement Administration medical marijuana raids in the Los Angeles area this week, a spokesman for President Obama has finally reaffirmed his intent to end such attacks on state medical marijuana laws. Here's the money quote from the story in Thursday's Washington Times: “The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of…

Last week, MPP's Dan Bernath compared the DEA's continuing to raid state-legal medical marijuana providers and obstructing research to those of a chicken with its head cut off. Yesterday, that damn chicken continued to wreak havoc on California. While new attorney general Eric Holder was being sworn into office in Washington, D.C., DEA agents armed with semi-automatic weapons were kicking in the doors of medical marijuana collectives in Los Angeles. These raids looked a lot more like armed robberies…

This is a clip from CNBC of MPP's Aaron Houston debating former DEA administrator Asa Hutchinson.

MPP's Bruce Mirken appeared on CNN Sunday night to discuss the news that a 23-year-old American male had been photographed using marijuana at a college party. Bruce's interview occurs at about 6:40 on the video below. In it, he shoots down the "gateway" myth, demonstrates prohibition's many failures, and points out how absurd it is that of the 100 million Americans who have used marijuana, anybody should care that one of them is Michael Phelps.