UPDATE: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will testify at the hearing. U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) announced Monday that the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on “Conflicts Between State and Federal Marijuana Laws." Sen. Leahy has reportedly invited U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Deputy Attorney General James Cole to speak to the committee. The hearing is scheduled for September 10 at 10 a.m. ET in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building. Sen. Leahy has said he believes…

On Monday, Politifact published the results of its research into the accuracy of MPP’s statement in a recent ad that marijuana is objectively safer than alcohol. As expected, the statements in the ad were true (despite Politifact giving a strange conclusion as to why it was only mostly true). What was unexpected, however, was the response from the National Institute on Drug Abuse: "Claiming that marijuana is less toxic than alcohol cannot be substantiated since each possess their own unique set of…

New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate John Liu made headlines this week when he proposed regulating and taxing marijuana sales for adults 21 and older. In a formal statement, he said: New York City’s misguided war on marijuana has failed, and its enforcement has damaged far too many lives, especially in minority communities. It’s time for us to implement a responsible alternative. Regulating marijuana would keep thousands of New Yorkers out of the criminal justice system, offer relief to…

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D) informed state lawmakers Thursday that the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will be moving forward with drafting regulations for a medical marijuana dispensary program. This is very welcome news that is long overdue. In a letter to the legislators who sponsored the state's medical marijuana law, Markell said: As a result of our review of policies in Rhode Island, New Jersey and other states, I have become convinced that proceeding with our program, while…

CNN reports today that it's not just the network's medical expert Dr. Sanjay Gupta who has come around on marijuana policy reform. [caption id="attachment_6862" align="alignright" width="104"] Beau Kilmer[/caption] The nation has moved from the abstract matter of "if" to the more tangible debate over "how," said Beau Kilmer, co-director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center and co-author of "Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know." Changing attitudes about…

MPP  released a video last week listing the country's "Worst State Legislators of 2013" on marijuana policy issues. The seven state representatives and one state senator were selected based on their legislative efforts to maintain or expand marijuana prohibition policies, as well as statements they made, during the 2013 legislative sessions. Watch the video countdown below.  The Huffington Post reports: The video counts down the MPP's top eight marijuana policy offenders, alongside some direct quotes…

One of the more horrific examples of how the war on marijuana hurts families is making the rounds right now, and it illustrates just one of the more serious hypocrisies of prohibition. Last week, the story broke that a two-year-old child had sustained fatal injuries at the hands of her foster care provider. After the parents were called to the hospital for the last days of their Alexandria Hill's life, the death was ruled a homicide and the foster guardian charged with murder. [caption id="attachment_6853"…

[caption id="attachment_6849" align="alignright" width="180"] Dr. Sanjay Gupta[/caption] CNN’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has spent the last year creating an investigative report on marijuana, and the former critic of marijuana policy reform has changed his mind drastically on the subject. On Wednesday night, Dr. Gupta told Piers Morgan that "We've been terribly and systematically misled in this country for some time and I did part of that misleading,” when it comes to marijuana…

A recent investigation into drug treatment centers in southern California found rampant financial corruption and inflated reporting of patient attendance. The investigation, conducted by the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting and CNN, found that dozens of clinics showed signs of deception and questionable billing practices. The two worst offenders, Able Family and GB Medical Services, were virtually empty storefronts run by convicted criminals that bribed clients and submitted fake names…

[caption id="attachment_6842" align="alignright" width="183"] District Attorney Mitch Morrissey confused by science[/caption] At a Denver City Council hearing held on Monday to discuss implementing a 5% marijuana sales tax, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey held the floor to claim that medical marijuana dispensaries are a haven for assaults, robberies, and murder. “We have had 12 homicides related directly to medical marijuana,” Morrissey told the council. “We have had over 100 aggravated…