The idiocy of our country’s approach to medical marijuana was on full display for all to see at the Minnesota Vikings training camp yesterday. Since the age of 10, Percy Harvin, a Vikings wide receiver, has suffered from chronic, debilitating migraines. Luckily, later in life, Harvin found a therapeutic substance that not only relieved his migraines effectively, but also allowed him to play football. It was marijuana. But during last year’s NFL combine, Harvin, a promising prospect, tested positive…

Many readers have been questioning the accuracy of an Associated Press article I blogged about recently claiming Kentucky GOP Senate candidate Rand Paul, who has defended the rights of states to pass medical marijuana laws, “is opposed to the legalization of marijuana, even for medicinal purposes.” As a former reporter, I always strive for accuracy, so I just got off the phone with a representative of the Paul campaign in order to clarify the candidate’s position — which isn’t as simple as the AP…

Check out former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson (R) -- an expected 2012 presidential contender -- discussing the need to end marijuana prohibition last night on MSNBC. “I think it is at a tipping point, and people are ahead of the politicians on this one, and it’s still gonna happen. It’s gonna happen. I think statistically we’re about two and half years from 50 percent of Americans actually understanding this. From my own experience it’s really thin ice. With just a little bit of knowledge on…

One month after MPP and an ideologically diverse coalition of drug policy reformers and advocacy groups called on President Obama to withdraw Michele Leonhart as his nominee for DEA administrator, a spokesperson for the White House has declared that the president is confident that the Bush holdover is the “right” choice for the job. Mike Riggs has the story in The Daily Caller: Obama is confident that Leonhart is the right choice, the White House staffer said, and that as of Friday the president…

Medical marijuana will soon be more widely available to qualifying patients in Germany, according to a government health spokesperson. From the English-language news site The Local: Doctors could write prescriptions for cannabis, and pharmacies would be authorised to sell the plant once the law had been adjusted, a member of [Germany’s] junior coalition party, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), said Monday. Marijuana would also be permitted for use as a pain reliever for the terminally ill in…

Four years after 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston was shot and killed by Atlanta narcotics officers who falsified evidence before and after a completely unwarranted raid on her home, the city of Atlanta has announced it will pay a $4.9 million settlement to her family.  In November 2006, officers conducted a “no knock” raid on Johnston’s home based on bogus information from an informant who said he had purchased drugs there. (After the raid, the informant told a local news station that he had never even…

UPDATED: Read a more recent post clarifying Paul's comments here. Back in May, when Kentucky Republican Rand Paul defeated an establishment candidate to win his party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate, I pointed out that one of the issues Paul used to win over voters was his support of medical marijuana laws. Now, in a telling political move, the son of Ron Paul has reversed his stance on the issue, telling the Associated Press last week that “he is opposed to the legalization of marijuana, even…

In the latest example of a changing political atmosphere surrounding marijuana issues, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Washington state has been forced to clarify a series of cliché jokes his office made at the expense of medical marijuana research and patients. Last week, Republican Dino Rossi issued an extremely immature and thoughtless press release criticizing federally funded research being conducted at Washington State University into marijuana’s effect on pain medication. The…

Yesterday, organizers of the ballot measure to make up to an ounce of marijuana legal in Detroit filed an appeal to overturn the city election commission’s outrageous decision to remove the question from the November ballot. In June, the Coalition for a Safer Detroit submitted more than 6,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot. Earlier this week, in an affront to democratic ideals, the Detroit Election Commission voted 3-0 to remove the measure, saying they were following a recommendation from…