Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate today that sought to undermine the 13 state medical marijuana laws. Coburn’s legislation was defeated in committee (13-10) on a party-line vote. Offered as an amendment to the Family Smoking and Tobacco Control Act, Coburn’s legislation would have placed state medical marijuana laws under the regulatory control of the FDA – not necessarily a bad thing on its own. But Coburn's intentions become apparent when you realize that FDA approval…

MPP Director of Government Relations Aaron Houston discusses the contradictions between State and Federal law regarding the use of marijuana. Specifically, he addresses the U.S. Supreme Court decision not to review a challenge to California medical marijuana law brought by two counties in that state. The counties had been defeated in lower court decisions that affirmed the right of States to make laws that violated Federal law. 05/19/2009

Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota's Republican governor (pictured below), has "great empathy for the sick." I know it's true because he said so. He just thinks they belong in jail if they need medical marijuana. He announced his intention to veto the medical marijuana bill at his news conference today. Then, amazingly, he went on to wax rhapsodic about how "The sky is blue, the sun is out. The minds of Minnesotans are turning to Memorial Day, summer, fishing." Tell that to Joni Whiting, whose daughter Stephanie…

The latest news from Minnesota is a classic good news/bad news situation. The good news is that the state House of Representatives passed a medical marijuana bill, which is now on its way to the desk of Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty. This is the first time that a state legislature in the Midwest has ever passed a modern, effective medical marijuana bill. The bad news is that before passing the bill, they watered it down seriously. There are honest disagreements about this issue, but parts of the…

California's medical marijuana laws just received their latest legal vindication today - this time at the nation's highest court. The U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will not be hearing a case lodged by the counties of San Diego and San Bernardino aimed at gutting California's medical marijuana law. The two counties claimed that the federal law banning all marijuana trumped the state's medical marijuana law. The challenge was initially filed in 2006 at the San Diego County superior court after…

On Thursday night's edition of "Anderson Cooper 360," former drug czar John Walters and I were interviewed separately about a new government report claiming an increase in average potency of marijuana seized by law enforcement (we'll have a video link posted soon). I pointed out an obvious fact: When the marijuana is more potent, users smoke less, just as people typically drink a much smaller quantity of bourbon than of beer. Thus, higher-potency marijuana doesn't necessarily mean users take in more…

MPP's Bruce Mirken responds to claims that the marijuana available today is far stronger than it has ever been, asserting that these claims are made to promote needless fear and are not harmful even if true. Also featured is John Walters, prohibitionist and ex-Drug Czar under G.W. Bush. 05/14/2009

MPP's Bruce Mirken will appear on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" tonight to add a little rationality to the latest pronouncement regarding rising THC levels in marijuana from the National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded Marijuana Potency Project. Drug warriors love to exaggerate small increases in marijuana potency over time and make vague proclamations linking those increases to increases in marijuana's potential danger, even though no credible research supports such a connection. Of course, if they…

In his first interview as White House drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske signaled a huge shift – at least rhetorically – in federal drug policy. "Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war on drugs' or a 'war on a product,' people see a war as a war on them," he told the Wall Street Journal. "We're not at war with people in this country." Yes, the fallacy of pursuing U.S. citizens who use illegal drugs as though they were enemy combatants was obvious the minute President Nixon made it official…

A 1999 study showed a modestly increased risk of certain types of head and neck cancer among marijuana smokers. Due to methodological limitations, the researchers warned that their "results need to be interpreted with some caution in drawing causal inferences." But warnings about this alleged risk have shown up from time to time in materials put out by prohibitionist types, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse. A new study, just published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers,…