The final installment of Marijuana: It's Time for a Conversation.

In the marijuana reform movement, one of the comments I often overhear in conversations, see posted in online message forums, or read in blog comments relates to the Netherlands and their treatment of marijuana. "Treat marijuana like the Netherlands does" seems to be the rallying cry for lots of misinformed people. Jeffrey Stinson recently did a short piece on how marijuana is treated in the Netherlands for USA Today. Though brief, the story zeroes in on one important fact: Marijuana in the Netherlands…

Could marijuana be helpful for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? The possibility is raised by a newly published case report in Cannabinoids, the journal of the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine. Doctors from the Heidelberg University Medical Center in Heidelberg, Germany, report on an adult ADHD sufferer who exhibited classic ADHD behavior -- pushy, impatient, having trouble focusing or responding to questions appropriately -- and who had not been helped by Ritalin,…

Here's part two of the Rick Steves and ACLU venture, Marijuana: It's Time for a Conversation.

A New York cable station, Regional News Network, will air a half-hour discussion on medical marijuana in the state tonight at 8 p.m. EST. The show, which streams live at www.rnntv.com, will feature advocate Glenn Amandola, a medically retired New York City police officer who suffers from chronic pain after being injured on the job, and Rep. Richard Gottfried, who sponsored a medical marijuana bill that passed the Assembly this year, 89-52. The show will also feature a discussion that allows phone…

Those of us working to reform marijuana laws often criticize government officials and the news media for using inaccurate or misleading terminology, but occasionally we pick up some of those bad habits ourselves. I just fell into this trap myself, in a column I just wrote for AlterNet about a recent WHO study and its implications for our drug laws. I used the phrase "whenever a state considers liberalizing its marijuana laws," to refer to proposals to tax and regulate marijuana like alcoholic beverages. But,…

Recently, the ACLU, with the help of travel guru Rick Steves, began airing a 30-minute television program in Washington state to address the issue of marijuana in America. The program, titled Marijuana: It's Time for a Conversation, briefly covers some of the history of marijuana's legal status in America, the problems associated with our treatment of it, and the reasons why we should reconsider how we approach marijuana. Today we present part one of that video, and later this week we'll have parts…

The drug czar's office wants us to believe that marijuana causes or worsens depression. Too bad science keeps moving in precisely the opposite direction, as noted in two articles just published in Cannabinoids, the journal of the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine. In one, Viennese physician Kurt Blass discusses successful treatment of depression with dronabinol (Marinol), the THC pill. In the second, University of Texas researcher Regina A. Mangieri discusses the animal studies in…

Medical marijuana patients in Washington state are allowed to have a 60-day supply of medicine. A process to define what that means in practical terms, overseen by the state Health Department and based on expert input from doctors, researchers, and patients, was going just fine until Gov. Christine Gregoire stepped in, apparently trying to override science with politics. Having tossed out science-based recommendations in favor of a political compromise, it now seems the mess is only worsening and…

Tom Riley's nonchalant statement about the relationship (or lack thereof) between tough drug laws/enforcement and rates of use, cited in Dan's earlier post, contradicts just about everything ONDCP has been saying for years whenever a state considers loosening its marijuana laws. In a March 19 press release, deputy Drug Czar Scott Burns railed against a New Hampshire proposal to decriminalize marijuana, saying such a move "sends the wrong message to New Hampshire's youth, students, parents, public…