There is evidence that marijuana may work synergistically with opioid pain drugs, allowing equal or better relief with reduced doses of narcotics and reduced development of tolerance to the drugs. But most of this evidence comes from animal studies, so data from human clinical trials is urgently needed. Dr. Donald Abrams of the University of California, San Francisco, is doing just such a study right now and needs volunteers who are suffering from chronic pain and currently taking OxyContin or MS…

Dealing with White House drug czar John Walters increasingly feels like a trip into some sort of alternate universe. Last week he told The New York Times that he supports a Mexican government proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana or other illicit drugs.  How shocking is that? Well, in a March 19, 2008, press release, deputy drug czar Scott Burns called a New Hampshire proposal to impose a $200 fine rather than jail time for possession of a small amount of marijuana "a…

What else will happen on November 4? As Bruce Mirken pointed out in another post, Rep. Mark Souder, a stalwart drug warrior, may lose his seat in Congress this year.  Souder’s possible departure is part of a larger trend of drug warriors losing elections to more sensible candidates. This change is largely due to the unpopularity of President Bush and the fact that most virulent prohibitionists have maintained close ties with his policies for the last eight years.  Their departure is significant for…

I don't know how much attention this is going to get in the press, but this strikes me as an extraordinary – and as far as I know, unique – instance of cowardice and cruelty: SILVER CITY, N.M. (AP) — A woman was told to move out of her apartment when the landlord discovered she has marijuana for medical use. Bobbie Wooten, 47, uses a wheelchair because she was paralyzed from the waist down in a car crash several years ago and suffers severe spasms. She joined the state's medical marijuana program…

We have special feelings for Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) here at the Marijuana Policy Project, because a few years ago he called our executive director, Rob Kampia, "an articulate advocate for an evil position." Souder is perhaps the most implacable foe of medical marijuana in the U.S. Congress. And he may be in trouble. Last week CQ Politics, which tracks House races, changed its rating of Souder's Indiana 3rd District from "Republican Favored" to "Leans Republican," writing that "Republican strategists…

The Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care, the committee backing Proposal 1 on the state's November ballot, has gone on the air with its first TV spots. One commercial features George Wagoner, M.D., whose wife Beverly died of ovarian cancer in 2007. The other features Deb Brink, a registered nurse and four-time cancer survivor. The initiative has been endorsed by many of the state's leading newspapers, including the Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, and Lansing State Journal. MCCC has assembled…

A new study, published in the journal Schizophrenia Research, adds to the growing evidence that marijuana may be helpful to some who suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. The study also sheds light on the ongoing controversy over marijuana's relationship to schizophrenia. Researchers looked at three groups of young people, age 14-21 -- non-psychotic siblings of schizophrenia patients (considered at "genetic risk" for psychosis), adolescents with ADHD, and healthy controls…

The California Supreme Court rejected San Diego and San Bernardino counties' challenge of a state law requiring a medical marijuana patient identification card system Thursday, but San Diego supervisors vowed to appeal for a fourth time – this time to the U.S. Supreme Court. The counties' argument rests on the disingenuous notion that federal law prevents them from establishing the I.D. card program in accordance with a 2003 state law designed to make it easier for law enforcement to verify legitimate…

Funny Bruce should mention White House drug czar John Walters' taxpayer-funded boondoggle to Michigan to throw his political weight against the state's medical marijuana voter initiative yesterday. It just so happens the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released its report on White House abuses of the Hatch Act, which governs executive branch employees' participation in partisan political events, the very same day. The report singles Walters' office out for its audacity, saying,…

Once again, the White House drug czar is on the road spreading disinformation at taxpayers' expense -- this time campaigning against Proposal 1, the Michigan medical marijuana initiative. In a series of appearances in Lansing and the suburbs of Detroit, John Walters condemned the measure, as described by the Detroit Free Press: LANSING -- A team of top national antidrug officials joined the late-starting campaign to defeat Michigan's medical marijuana initiative Tuesday, telling reporters Proposal…