For the first time in my life, I've just been prescribed an opioid painkiller: hydrocodone/acetaminophen, commonly known by the brand name Vicodin. The occasion was a medical procedure known as brachytherapy. I'll explain more about that below, but it's pretty low on the fun meter. There can be lingering pain for a few days, hence my introduction into the fabulous world of narcotic pain drugs. I can't help but notice some odd contrasts with medical marijuana. My prescription bottle came with a warning…

Update to Bruce's post yesterday about the British government's effort to increase penalties for small marijuana violations over the objections of its scientific advisors: In what was really an expected formality, the House of Lords approved the move. As Bruce pointed out, with its relatively good track record of science-based marijuana policy, it's difficult to imagine why Britain would suddenly want to ape our politically and ideologically driven approach. After all, superstition and zealotry are…

Yesterday, George W. Bush began the time-honored tradition of granting pardons to convicted felons in the president’s final days in the White House. 14 pardons and two commuted sentences were announced late last night, and more are expected to be handed down before he leaves office on January 20. Two former politicians who have been convicted of public corruption charges are looking to the president in hopes that he will shorten their prison sentences. Some pundits are even speculating that he may…

Forces of common sense are making a last-ditch stand in Britain today. Earlier this year, the British government announced its intention to "upgrade" marijuana from "Class C," the lowest category of illicit drugs, where it's been since 2004, to "Class B": drugs considered more dangerous and subject to stiffer penalties. The move directly contradicted the advice of the government's official scientific advisers, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Today, a last-ditch effort to delay the change…

Join MPP's Nydia Swaby as she answers this week's question about marijuana: Is marijuana addictive? Do you have questions about marijuana? E-mail us at [email protected] with the subject line "Ask Nydia," and we'll film a response as soon as we can. Have you considered signing up for our free e-mails? It's the easiest (and cheapest!) way to help out. We'll keep you up to date on the latest breaking marijuana-related news nationwide. www.mpp.org/subscribe

The Dutch have evolved a mostly workable but somewhat contradictory system for handling marijuana: While technically illegal, possession and sale of small amounts through regulated "coffee shops" have been tolerated since the mid-'70s. This has effectively separated the retail market for marijuana from more dangerous drugs like cocaine and heroin, but because marijuana cultivation remains banned, coffee shops have no legitimate source for their product. A group of 30 Dutch mayors has now proposed…

We're actually going to miss John Walters when he finally leaves his post as drug czar. He and his minions keep making our points for us -- and apparently don't even know they're doing it. Take, for example, this post from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's blog, reproduced here in full: In Case You Missed It: Leno and O'Reilly on Medical Pot in San Francisco Our recent post on the large and undocumented number of medical pot clubs in California gained a national audience last…

Folks, it's official: Opposition to safe, legal access to medical marijuana for seriously ill patients has dwindled to the point where only the most obnoxious blowhards like Bill O'Reilly even bother stoking it. Here he is spouting off on the latest lie from the White House drug czar's office that medical marijuana dispensaries outnumber Starbucks coffee shops in San Francisco. My colleague Aaron Smith has already exposed this nonsense as a complete fabrication, and it's already been reported in…

This little brouhaha is generating a lot of attention. Now Wired News weighs in with an amusing item. But it's important to remember that this is serious stuff. While ONDCP continues to denounce medical marijuana as a "fraud," here's what the city of San Francisco's health director, Dr. Mitchell Katz, had to say about federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in a letter to the U.S. Senate a few years ago: ""Patients who use medical cannabis are persons with immune disorders, glaucoma, multiple…

Yesterday, the San Francisco Chronicle’s “City Insider” blog picked up my last post about ONDCP’s spurious claims that San Francisco houses more medical marijuana facilities than Starbucks shops. A senior health inspector for the city told The Chronicle that ONDCP's claim that nearly 100 medical marijuana facilities are operating downtown was “extremely incorrect.” The city official confirmed that there are actually 24 medical marijuana facilities in the entire city. The Chronicle further pointed…