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…

Guess what? A report just published in the journal of the Public Library of Science says more Americans have tried marijuana – as well as cocaine – than people in any of the other 16 countries studied. That includes the Netherlands – where 20% of the population have tried marijuana, compared with 42% of Americans – despite the drug's quasi-legal status there. And while U.S. officials regularly badmouth the Dutch system, in which adults can purchase marijuana from regulated businesses, here's another…

A newspaper in Texas essentially rewrites a recent White House press release about the horrors of increased marijuana potency. Reporters who take time to do some actual research can quickly learn that scientists consider these alarming claims completely unproven. One really does get tired of having to repeat this stuff, but repeat it we must -- and will. 

A smattering of news outlets, including Wired, have picked up on a recent study showing that a cannabinoid in marijuana called beta-caryophyllene may have all sorts of useful medical properties and doesn't make the user high. But this is nothing new: A number of cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol (CBD) have similarly broad medical potential and no psychoactive side effects. Here's a link to one recent scientific article about CBD.

Hank Sims of the North Coast Journal in Humbolt County, Calif., makes a good point about the true likely consequences of the gaudy, high profile federal raids on marijuana grows in Southern Humboldt County this week: "We’ll know soon whether the operation has any connection to actual, bad crimes — violent crimes. Perhaps it does; more likely it does not. In which case, what will it accomplish? Well, the price of dope has fallen steadily over the last few years, and the regular Mom ‘n’ Pop marijuana…

Short answer: Don't hold your breath! It could certainly be interesting though if Senator Obama offered the slot to Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.), who says the following in his new book: "The time has come to stop locking up people for mere possession and use of marijuana. It makes far more sense to take the money that would be saved by such a policy and use it for enforcement of gang-related activities." Other then Webb, Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico stands out for his yeoman's work on getting…

Below is a letter I just sent to the producers of National Public Radio's Morning Edition, as well as to NPR's ombudsman. I think we all need to start insisting that news organizations use accurate terminology, rather than the language used by drug warriors to deliberately cloud the picture. Hello, Listening to Morning Edition today, I was surprised to hear a story about violence related to ongoing battles between law enforcement and Mexican drug trafficking organizations refer to this as "drug violence."…

In a refreshing, though no doubt unintended, bit of honesty, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy seems to be acknowledging that alcohol is the true "gateway drug." In a June 26 post on ONDCP's blog, the federal drug warriors proclaim, "More than 67 percent of young people who start drinking before the age of 15 will try an illicit drug. Children who drink are over 7 times more likely to use any illicit drug, are over 22 times more likely to use marijuana, and 50 times more likely…

Whenever people find out that I work for the Marijuana Policy Project the first question I'm asked is...well, forget the first question, it's usually pretty inane.  The second question I'm generally asked is, "How did you get into that?" or "Why'd you decide to work there?" I have a few reasons.  One of them is social justice.  Rarely do I find myself getting fired up so much as when I talk about the outrages suffered by people of color in the name of the War on Drugs.  Though most of us will never…

A new report from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction has a fascinating chapter on regulated marijuana sales through "coffee shops" in the Netherlands. The bottom line: Despite tall tales spun by U.S. drug warriors, the Dutch system appears to have had little effect on rates of marijuana use. Dutch use rates have shown the same "wave-like" up-and-down trends as in other European countries and the U.S., which pursue prohibitionist policies. "This leads to the conclusion" the…