MPP's Assistant Director of Communications is interviewed by WUSA-TV 9 in Washington, DC, about the removal of a legal provision that prevented the District of Columbia from enacting any marijuana reform legislation. Also discussed was the case of Jonathan Magbie, a medical marijuana patient who died in the DC jail due to lack of medical treatment while serving a sentence for marijuana possession. 06/29/2009

Steve Fox, MPP’s new director of state campaigns (who was also MPP’s federal lobbyist from 2002-2005), sends in the following dispatch: While riding the Metro’s Red Line yesterday, I spotted former drug czar John Walters entering the train. When he ended up standing right beside me, I realized I couldn’t pass up the chance for a conversation. I know it sounds like a fruitless endeavor, but I’m an eternal optimist and thought, “Maybe if we have a casual lunch together, he’ll come to see the folly…

From time to time we get some flack for pointing out that as a "recreational" substance, marijuana is safer than alcohol. Anyone who doubts that claim might want to look at this new study from The Lancet, one of the world's top medical journals. Researchers reviewed information on deaths in three major Russian cities from 1990 to 2001 and questioned family members about the decedents' alcohol use, reporting the astonishing finding that "in several recent years, alcohol was a cause of more than half…

MPP's Neal Levine talks with Dana Gentry about the increasing support for taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol and the rewards of such a system. He also discusses the plans for a ballot initiative to be voted on in 2012. Mr. Levine is the Director of the Marijuana Policy Project of Nevada. 06/11/2009

Today the New Hampshire Legislature approved a medical marijuana bill custom tailored to addresses the governor's concerns in hopes of avoiding a veto that would leave the state’s medical marijuana patients vulnerable to arrest, even if they have their doctor’s recommendation. Gov. John Lynch told lawmakers that he would veto the bill in its original form, which passed both chambers last month, if eight specific concerns of his were not addressed. A special legislative committee spent the past month…

From time to time drug warriors tell us that no one goes to jail for marijuana possession. Tell that to Cynthia Prude, whose daughter Theresa died in a Houston, Texas jail over the weekend while serving a two and one-half week jail sentence for marijuana possession. Thus far, officials aren't revealing the circumstances or the cause of death, but this isn't the first time someone has died serving a short jail sentence for marijuana possession. In September 2004, quadriplegic Jonathan Magbie -- who…

Here in the U.S., medical marijuana is still routinely branded as some sort of sinister "drug legalizer" conspiracy. In Israel, according to a fascinating article in the newspaper Haaretz, the leading conspirator appears to be the Ministry of Health. Officials have authorized over 700 patients to use marijuana for medical purposes, and expect the number to rise to 1,200 within three months. Authorities are in the process of authorizing five or six producers to handle the needs of this growing patient…

One year after a SWAT team shot and killed two Labrador retrievers in a marijuana raid on an innocent small-town mayor's family, the Prince George's County, Md., sheriff responsible has announced his department did nothing wrong. Here's The Washington Post's summary of the incident that occurred last July: Members of the SWAT team killed [Cheye] Calvo's black Labrador retrievers after deputies broke down his door and raided his home in search of a drug-filled package that had been addressed to Calvo's…

MPP Communications Director Bruce Mirken debates Terrence Farley on the legitimacy of medical marijuana, prohibition, and Rhode Island on CNBC Reports and effectively counters outdated drug war arguments. 06/18/2009

I don't normally blog about my own TV appearances, but Thursday night on CNBC, debating medical marijuana with former prosecutor and Drug Watch International board member Terrence Farley, I found myself almost feeling sorry for him. Not because I'm such a hotshot debater -- watching the encounter later, I could easily spot a dozen things I could have done better -- but because I suddenly saw what it was like to be on the losing end of history. Now I think I know what it must have been like to be,…