From time to time drug warriors tell us that no one goes to jail for marijuana possession. Tell that to Cynthia Prude, whose daughter Theresa died in a Houston, Texas jail over the weekend while serving a two and one-half week jail sentence for marijuana possession. Thus far, officials aren't revealing the circumstances or the cause of death, but this isn't the first time someone has died serving a short jail sentence for marijuana possession. In September 2004, quadriplegic Jonathan Magbie -- who…

Here in the U.S., medical marijuana is still routinely branded as some sort of sinister "drug legalizer" conspiracy. In Israel, according to a fascinating article in the newspaper Haaretz, the leading conspirator appears to be the Ministry of Health. Officials have authorized over 700 patients to use marijuana for medical purposes, and expect the number to rise to 1,200 within three months. Authorities are in the process of authorizing five or six producers to handle the needs of this growing patient…

One year after a SWAT team shot and killed two Labrador retrievers in a marijuana raid on an innocent small-town mayor's family, the Prince George's County, Md., sheriff responsible has announced his department did nothing wrong. Here's The Washington Post's summary of the incident that occurred last July: Members of the SWAT team killed [Cheye] Calvo's black Labrador retrievers after deputies broke down his door and raided his home in search of a drug-filled package that had been addressed to Calvo's…

MPP Communications Director Bruce Mirken debates Terrence Farley on the legitimacy of medical marijuana, prohibition, and Rhode Island on CNBC Reports and effectively counters outdated drug war arguments. 06/18/2009

I don't normally blog about my own TV appearances, but Thursday night on CNBC, debating medical marijuana with former prosecutor and Drug Watch International board member Terrence Farley, I found myself almost feeling sorry for him. Not because I'm such a hotshot debater -- watching the encounter later, I could easily spot a dozen things I could have done better -- but because I suddenly saw what it was like to be on the losing end of history. Now I think I know what it must have been like to be,…

Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) introduced legislation today to remove criminal penalties for marijuana possession at the federal level. The Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2009 would remove penalties for possession of up to 3.5 ounces of marijuana and the not-for-profit transfer of 1 ounce. Please take action today to support this important legislation. Congressman Frank’s legislation seeks to bring federal law in line with reality. 99% of all marijuana arrests occur at…

Last night, as part of the ongoing "AC 360" series on marijuana, Dr. Sanjay Gupta weighed in on marijuana's medical benefits and health risks. The transcript of the show is here (scroll down about 2/3 through the page to get to Dr. Gupta). It's no secret that we haven't always been thrilled by CNN's coverage, but Gupta -- given time constraints that inevitably truncated his answers a bit -- gave a balanced, accurate assessment of the science of marijuana that was remarkably solid, much more so than…

For those who missed it, here's the clip of Rob debating marijuana policy with drug war cheerleader David Evans on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" that Bruce mentioned a couple days ago. By the way, although these things are always subject to last minute changes, it looks like MPP's Bruce Mirken will be on CNBC discussing ending marijuana prohibition this evening sometime after 8:30 p.m. EST.

MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia debates the benefits of marijuana over Marinol, the FDA drug approval process, and how an end to marijuana prohibition could help America on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360. Arguing for the Prohibitionist position is David Evans of the Drug Free America Foundation. This is part of a week-long program on the debate over the future of marijuana policy. 06/16/2009

All this week, CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" is doing a series of reports on marijuana and marijuana policy. MPP executive director Rob Kampia is scheduled to appear on tonight's show, possibly debating a prohibitionist. While TV news schedules are always subject to last-minute change, the segment featuring Rob is presently set to air around 10:30 p.m. Eastern time.