The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) raised the threshold for a positive test for marijuana from 15 nanograms per milliliter to 150 nanograms per milliliter, significantly reducing the likelihood of detection for athletes who use the drug.

“We wanted to focus on the athletes that abuse the substance in competition,” said Julie Masse, WADA’s director of communications. “This should exclude cases where marijuana is not used in competition.”

Although marijuana is not considered a performance-enhancing drug, WADA included it on its initial list of prohibited substances in 2003 after caving in to pressure from U.S. sports officials.

“From a sports perspective, I was rather ambivalent (toward marijuana),” stated Richard Pound, an attorney who was WADA’s initial chief and still serves on the Foundation Board. “As we morphed into WADA, the USA was very keen to have it included.”

Although marijuana thresholds and testing are vague indicatives rather than precise measurements of use, WADA hopes that the new limit will lessen the chance that responsible recreational users will suffer disciplinary action. In recent years, a number of athletes, some of them legitimate medical marijuana patients, have faced suspensions and huge fines failing post-competition marijuana tests.

“There is no desire to go soft on the list,” WADA’s Athlete Committee announced, “but members want cheaters to be caught for cheating, not for recreational usage.”

According the latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll, 78% of Kentuckians support the legalization of medical marijuana, and 25% say they would be okay with regulating recreational use as well. Only 38% oppose any form of legalization.

Proponents were split when it came to legislative action. Almost half thought the decision should be left up to voters, 23% thought state legislators should change the law, and another 23% believed ending prohibition was the job of the federal government.

[caption id="attachment_6427" align="alignright" width="141"] Sen. Perry Clark[/caption]

Citizens of Kentucky will be happy to know that State Senator Perry Clark (D-Louisville) has been tireless in his push to introduce medical marijuana legislation; unfortunately, his bill has yet to receive a hearing.

Let’s hope more Kentucky lawmakers start listening to the people they claim to represent.

Despite a previous lack of clinical data to support their claims, thousands of people suffering from PTSD have reported finding great relief from their symptoms by using marijuana. Now there is some research to add to the anecdotal evidence.

Patients’ gravitation towards marijuana inspired researchers at New York University Langone Medical Center to examine the brain’s response to cannabinoid (CB1) receptors, a first-of-its-kind study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

They found that when an individual consumes some of the cannabinoids found in marijuana, CB1 receptors are activated in the brain, impairing memory and reducing anxiety, a blessing for those scarred by past events. With this information, scientists hope to manufacture a “CB1 equilibrium”-promoting, trauma-targeting drug.

It should be noted that NIH departments rejected a study proposal in 2011 that sought to test the effects of whole-plant marijuana on a group of veterans suffering from PTSD.

Currently, New Mexico, Delaware, and Connecticut explicitly allow PTSD as a qualifying condition to use medical marijuana, and a bill to do so will likely pass in Oregon this year. Doctors in California and Massachusetts may recommend medical marijuana for PTSD patients if they think it will ease debilitating symptoms.

The more people you know who use marijuana, the harder it becomes to say that they should be arrested for possessing it. After all, the vast majority of marijuana users are productive and otherwise law-abiding members of society. This fact has become increasingly evident as more and more people come out of the “cannabis closet” and become open about their experiences with the substance.

[caption id="attachment_6417" align="alignright" width="210"] Dominic Lakhan[/caption]

Last Friday, House Speaker John Boehner’s daughter Lindsay married Dominic Lakhan, a Jamaican-born construction worker. Lakhan was arrested for possession of a small amount of marijuana in 2006.

[caption id="attachment_6418" align="alignleft" width="180"] Rep. John Boehner[/caption]

Is it possible that Boehner, who has consistently opposed marijuana policy reform, will start to come around now that he has a convicted marijuana user for a son-in-law? Does he think Lakhan is better off with an arrest record or that Lakhan deserves to be arrested again for using marijuana? Would he care about how it affects his daughter? Only time will tell.

Let’s hope his experience is similar to that of Republican Senator Rob Portman, who changed his stance on gay marriage after learning that his son is gay. While this position initially caused a slight loss in approval among Republicans in his state, the growing acceptance of gay marriage (which has been nearly mirrored by the increasing support for marijuana policy reform) could actually help him in the long run.

Politicians’ thinking traditionally lags far behind the general public on social issues, but it gets a little harder to ignore when that thinking hurts your own family.

Last week, legislators in the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services heard compelling testimony on Assembly Bill 351. This modest and sensible bill would exempt Nevada’s medical marijuana patients from the state’s unscientific limit on how much THC they can have in their systems while driving.

For medical marijuana patients – who can legally consume marijuana – prohibiting small amounts of THC from showing up in blood tests is patently unfair. Active THC can remain in the bloodstream for days after consumption, even when it does not affect a person’s ability to drive. In effect, many medical marijuana patients are prohibited from driving because of this unfair law. Assemblyman William Horne aims to change this in his bill.

[caption id="attachment_6409" align="alignright" width="180"] Assemblyman William Horne[/caption]

Nevada’s patients should not be prohibited from driving simply because they benefit from the use of medical marijuana. DUI’s should be based on impairment – not whether drivers have a legal substance in their bloodstream.

If you are a Nevada resident, please send a message to members of the Senate committee and voice your support for this bill!

State lawmakers gave final approval Monday to a measure that will decriminalize possession of limited amounts of marijuana in Vermont. The bill will now be transmitted to Gov. Peter Shumlin, who is expected to sign it into law in coming weeks, at which time Vermont will become the 17th state in the nation to decriminalize or legalize marijuana.

H. 200, introduced by Rep. Christopher Pearson (P-Burlington) with a tripartisan group of 38 co-sponsors, will remove criminal penalties for possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and replace them with a civil fine, similar to a traffic ticket. Those under age 21 would be required to undergo substance abuse screening. Under current state law, possession of up to two ounces of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail for a first offense and up to two years in jail for a subsequent offense.

The Vermont victory marks another big step toward ending marijuana prohibition in our country, but there's still a lot more work to be done. Marijuana policy reform bills have been introduced in 30 state legislatures this year, and even more are expected next year.

Regular marijuana use does not increase one’s chances of developing lung cancer, reported UCLA’s Dr. Li Rita Zhang during the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research.

Dr. Zhang dually analyzed data from six case-control studies conducted from 1999 to 2012 in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, which, when combined, tallied a subject pool of 2,159 lung cancer cases and 2,985 controls.

Dr. Zhang’s examination found that when compared with marijuana smokers who also used tobacco, habitual users (i.e., individuals who smoked one joint a day per year) had no notable increase in cancer risk. There were also no significant differences among marijuana-only smokers.

Pulmonologist and chief medical officer of the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. Dr. Michael Alberts stated that although other published studies have shown a correlation between smoking marijuana and lung cancer “the conventional wisdom is that cannabis smoking is not as dangerous as cigarette smoking."

He then argued that while smoking anything is not ideal for the respiratory system, when it came to medical marijuana, the benefits could outweigh the risk, a sentiment supported by multiple studies such as those conducted by the Temple University School of Pharmacy, researchers at Harvard, and the California Pacific Medical Center.

We are pleased that the Senate Health, Education, and Human Services Committee unanimously voted Tuesday to approve HB 573 and send it forward to the Senate floor. However, we were sad to watch as the bill was compromised by several amendments that were insisted upon by Gov. Hassan.

The worst was the removal of the home cultivation provision. If no patient or caregiver in the state is allowed to cultivate, patients will likely have to wait two or more years for safe, legal access through alternative treatment centers. Another offensive amendment requires patients to secure written permission before using marijuana on private property.

Senators felt they had little choice but to accept these mandates, because to do otherwise would be to risk having the bill vetoed. MPP held a press conference following the Senate vote, and our concerns were reported by media outlets including NHPR, The Union-Leader, The Concord Monitor, and The Nashua Telegraph.

Please share this news and add your voice to the voices of patients like Clayton Holton, who published this excellent letter in The Portsmouth Herald, and Hardy Macia, a cancer patient who recorded a sad, compelling video message for Gov. Hassan from his hospital bed.

In this interview posted today, Cato Institute’s Caleb Brown talks with Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) about the federal government’s reaction to the end of marijuana prohibition in Colorado and Washington and the future of marijuana policy reform. Take a few minutes to watch this:

Rep. Cohen is a great ally to reformers, whether he is sponsoring legislation to stop federal interference with state marijuana laws, proposing commissions to examine federal marijuana policy, or grilling DEA Bush-holdover Michele Leonhart on her politically driven inability to understand science.

As you have probably heard, there was big news in Denver yesterday. The Colorado Legislature approved legislation to tax and regulate the distribution and sale of marijuana to adults 21 and older! The measures now go to Gov. John Hickenlooper so that he can sign them into law. This marks the first time in history that a state legislative body has passed legislation to regulate marijuana for sale to all adults.

The legislation, in fact, was introduced and passed because voters directed their lawmakers to regulate the production and sale of marijuana in Colorado when they voted “yes” on Amendment 64 this past November. Since passage of that ballot measure, MPP has been carefully monitoring the implementation process and has worked with a team of lobbyists and advocates to make sure the legislature got it right. When it comes to most of the major issues, such as allowing adults from out-of-state to purchase marijuana legally, we are happy to report that they did.

Once Gov. Hickenlooper signs off on the legislation, the Department of Revenue will have until July 1 to promulgate rules and regulations that Colorado’s new retail marijuana businesses must follow. We will once again be monitoring this process and will work with our allies to help craft rules that provide adults safe and reliable access to marijuana, while preventing diversion to young people and the underground market.

As MPP's Mason Tvert told Huffington Post:

"The adoption of these bills is a truly historic milestone and brings Colorado one step closer to establishing the world's first legal, regulated, and taxed marijuana market for adults," Mason Tvert, co-director of the Yes on Amendment 64 campaign and director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, told The Huffington Post. "Facilitating the shift from failed policy of prohibition to a more sensible system of regulation has been a huge undertaking and we applaud the many task force members, legislators, and others who have helped effect this change. We are confident that this legislation will allow state and local officials to implement a comprehensive, robust, and sufficiently funded regulatory system that will effectively control marijuana in Colorado."