Okay, I'm a bit behind in my reading, but a study published last month in the journal Addiction casts an interesting light on the so-called "gateway effect" -- the idea that use of one drug, usually marijuana, somehow leads to use of others. Gateway associations have regularly been found between tobacco and marijuana: Young people who use one are pretty consistently more likely to use the other as well. But does tobacco cause kids to smoke marijuana, marijuana cause kids to use tobacco, or are both…

An editorial calling on President-elect Obama to stop DEA raids on California’s medical marijuana patients and providers ran in today’s Sacramento Bee – the state government’s paper of record. California voters overwhelmingly support their 12-year-old medical marijuana law and vehemently oppose federal attempts to undermine it. It’s about time we had a presidential administration that respected the wishes of this important constituency (and the 55 electoral votes they control).

Germany is about to become the fifth country to allow at least some patients to use natural marijuana as medicine. According to a report from the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine, the German government recently notified four patients that they would be allowed to receive medical marijuana produced under the Dutch government's medical marijuana program. The German program remains limited to special cases. Other German patients have been allowed to use a liquid extract made from Dutch…

Join MPP's Dan Bernath as he takes a look at the failures of Alcohol Prohibition and examines how we have still not learned our lesson. Prohibition doesn't work. Taxation and regulation does.

*Prohibition of alcohol, that is.   Prohibition was a disaster, and no one regrets that it ended. The press has taken some notice of this, with varying degrees of perceptiveness. Earlier this week, Reuters columnist Bernd Debusmann nailed the parallels between prohibition of alcohol and current marijuana policies. Amazingly, this morning's San Francisco Chronicle splashes a Prohibition repeal story across its front page and fails to even consider any possible echo in current policies. "When booze…

Last night I had the opportunity to debate medical marijuana policy with the White House drug czar's chief counsel, Ed Jurith. Scott Morgan of StopTheDrugWar.org did a great job covering the event. Nobody expected a drug czar official to get up on stage, slap his forehead and say, "Oh, you're right, arresting patients for using a safe, effective drug recommended by their doctors is shameful and immoral." Still, I thought there were signs in the debate that there could be some common ground somewhere.…

The Washington Post and others reported today on the marked increase in violence along the Mexican border, part of a drug war that has reached terrifying proportions over the last few months. This violent swell has stimulated debate on U.S. drug policies abroad, yet little has been said here at home. The Bush administration’s response took the form of a $400 million aid package focused on police and military involvement in the troubled regions. While the Mexican government surely appreciates this…

Now that her case is settled against the D.C. government over the 2004 death of her quadriplegic son while in prison for marijuana possession, I hope Mary Scott can find at least some comfort. However, the D.C. prison system's incompetence and neglect are not the only culprits in Jonathan Magbie's tragic death. If it weren't for Congress continually blocking the implementation of the medical marijuana initiative 69% of D.C. voters passed in 1998, Magbie would probably be alive today.

The forces that have been working to undermine California’s Compassionate Use Act suffered another legal defeat today – this time from the U.S. Supreme Court. The nation’s highest court refused to hear an appeal in the case of Garden Grove v. Superior Court of California, et al. In this case, the police department for the City of Garden Grove - in defiance of a court order - refused to return marijuana that an officer had seized from a state-legal medical marijuana patient. In October 2005, the city…

In this open letter to Barack Obama, the Marijuana Policy Project suggests just a few of the many changes President-elect Obama could take to begin creating sensible marijuana policies in America. You give us $40, we’ll give you a shirt. We’ll even throw in an official MPP membership.