We told readers a few weeks ago that MPP would update them on how the government was responding to the American Medical Association’s new policy on marijuana. To refresh everyone’s memory, the AMA’s new policy is: Our AMA urges that marijuana’s status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods. This should not be viewed as an endorsement of state-based…

A new survey showing, among other things, a slight uptick in teen marijuana use, got considerable press yesterday and today. A widely-circulated Associated Press story, along with many other reports, included this claim: “The increase of teens smoking pot is partly because the national debate over medical use of marijuana can make the drugs seem safer to teenagers, researchers said.” Baloney. Medical marijuana burst onto the national scene in 1996, when California passed the first effective medical…

A measure seeking to make personal marijuana possession and cultivation legal for adults appears to be headed to California’s November 2010 ballot. Proponents of the initiative -- led by Oaksterdam University founder Richard Lee -- say they have more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot next year. The initiative, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act, would allow adults over 21 to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and cultivate a garden of up to 25 square feet. It would give local…

MPP spokesman Mike Meno discusses implementation of a medical marijuana program in Washington D.C. and the benefits it will have for seriously ill patients in the District. 12/14/2009

Tobacco kills at least 5 million people every year and the number could rise to 8 million by 2030, according to a new report released by the World Health Organization.  By contrast, there is not a single record of someone dying from using marijuana.  So, why is the extremely dangerous and lethal substance legal and the safer substance, sometimes used as medicine, illegal?

MPP spokesman Aaron Houston appears on ABC 7 Washington D.C. to discuss the Congressional approval of a budget that will allow medical marijuana in the District of Columbia. D.C. voters overwhelmingly approved an initiative to allow medical access to marijuana in 1998, but were prevented from implementing it until now by the Barr amendment. 12/14/2009

The federal government just released the latest ‘Monitoring the Future’ survey of teen drug use, and the results do not bode well for current policies. More high school seniors report smoking marijuana in the past 30 days than smoked cigarettes: 20.6 percent vs. 20.1 percent. And marijuana use is up (albeit in the same general range it’s been in for several years) while teen cigarette smoking continues to decline, and has dropped markedly since the early ‘90s. Regulation of tobacco, combined with…

The U.S. Senate today passed historic legislation to end the decade-long ban on implementing a medical marijuana law in Washington, D.C. This marks the first time in history Congress has changed a marijuana law for the better. Only Obama’s signature is needed for the change to become law. This is not only a huge victory for medical marijuana patients in the nation’s capital, it marks a historic shift on the medical marijuana issue nationwide. This is the first time Congress has given its assent to…

Check out this point/counterpoint on medical marijuana on the new medical Web site, Pain.com. They tell us that as of this morning it was the most popular item on the site.

The following clip aired last night on "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer.