Big news! California's Tax Cannabis 2010 campaign announced today that they have submitted nearly 700,000 signatures to qualify their initiative for the November 2010 ballot. The initiative seeks to make personal possession (up to 1 oz.) and cultivation (up to 25 square feet) legal for adults 21 and up. The proposal also gives cities and counties the option to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana sales. Supporters only needed to collect 433,971 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. Submitting…

President Obama has created a YouTube channel where anyone with an Internet connection and an idea can hold an “exclusive interview with the president.” The project is called CitizenTube, and it is very similar to the Open For Questions forum the Obama team unveiled one year ago. And just like last year, marijuana reform questions are by far the most popular. Here is MPP’s entry: You can visit the site to vote and help our question be one of the few chosen by Obama for a live YouTube event next week.…

President Obama has nominated the acting head of the DEA, Michele Leonhart, to take on the post permanently. We have been generally happy with the Justice Department during Obama’s freshman year, but it would be nice to see a new face at the DEA. Here’s why. Early in Leonhart’s career, she was the Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Division, where she oversaw President George W. Bush’s brutal tactic of raiding and arresting medical marijuana patients. Most readers will remember the…

MPP assistant director of communications Mike Meno talks about marijuana prohibition and the announcement of a bill to allow medical marijuana in the state of Maryland. In this interview, he explains that the current affirmative defense for medical marijuana patients does not go far enough to protect their safety. 01/26/2010

Yesterday, a team of bipartisan Maryland legislators announced the details of two bills that would make medical marijuana legal and accessible for qualified patients in the state. The bill’s main sponsor in the House is Del. Dan Morhaim (D-Baltimore County), who, as an internist and emergency medical physician, has been very effective at explaining why patients and doctors need access to a range of treatment options, including marijuana. As proposed, the bill would allow patients with a “debilitating…

After more than two years of deliberation -- and just plain foot-dragging -- on the issue, the Los Angeles City Council voted 9-3 today to enact an ordinance regulating the operation of medical marijuana facilities in the city. It's certainly a significant milestone that the second largest city in the nation (eighth in the world) has a law on the books allowing marijuana to be sold through locally regulated storefronts. However, upon digging into the details of the ordinance, it doesn't seem to be…

Yet another myth about marijuana takes a beating thanks to some splendid research out of Scandinavia. Although it’s no surprise to MPP’s fans, marijuana use has no link to suicide. A thorough study of Swedish military men confirms that those who use marijuana are no more likely to take their own lives than those who don’t. Prohibitionists often grab results like these and squeal “the sample is too small to mean much,” but this research focused on more than 50,000 people. If you can’t get marijuana…

Ad from Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws asking about the actions of Washoe county's DA Gammick, a staunch opponent of the taxation and regulation of marijuana.

MPP Director of Communications Kurt A. Gardinier appears on Broadband Network 3 to discuss marijuana prohibition and the impending law allowing Washington DC residents to use medical marijuana for serious conditions. Also featured is Wayne Turner, one of the persons responsible for the original ballot initiative to allow medical marijuana in the District of Columbia. 01/20/2010

“Can an employer punish someone for doing something that is constitutionally protected?” That’s the question raised by a pair of articles in Colorado today that lay out the precarious work situation many medical marijuana patients find themselves in. While the constitutional amendment that established medical marijuana in Colorado says that nothing “shall require any employer to accommodate the medical use of marijuana in any work place,” the state also has a “Lawful Off-Duty Activities Statute”…