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…

On Thursday night's edition of "Anderson Cooper 360," former drug czar John Walters and I were interviewed separately about a new government report claiming an increase in average potency of marijuana seized by law enforcement (we'll have a video link posted soon). I pointed out an obvious fact: When the marijuana is more potent, users smoke less, just as people typically drink a much smaller quantity of bourbon than of beer. Thus, higher-potency marijuana doesn't necessarily mean users take in more…

MPP's Bruce Mirken will appear on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" tonight to add a little rationality to the latest pronouncement regarding rising THC levels in marijuana from the National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded Marijuana Potency Project. Drug warriors love to exaggerate small increases in marijuana potency over time and make vague proclamations linking those increases to increases in marijuana's potential danger, even though no credible research supports such a connection. Of course, if they…

Last November, I mentioned here that I'd undergone treatment for prostate cancer  -- implantation of 85 tiny, radioactive seeds designed to zap the tumor before it zaps me. I'm happy to report that, six months later, it seems to have worked, according to the latest lab tests. Though the risk of recurrence never goes away entirely, I'm as close as one can be to being an official cancer survivor. Endless thanks to all who sent kind thoughts. And since someone is bound to ask: No, I didn't ever need…

In what turns out, sadly, to be the last episode of CNN's "D.L. Hughley Breaks the News," aired Mar. 28 and 29, D.L. devoted a large block of the show to proposals to make marijuana a legally regulated and taxed product for adult consumption. The first segment included an interview with yours truly, followed by Ronald Brooks of the Narcotic Officers Associations Coalition, who wants to keep arresting and jailing marijuana users.

Something is stirring in the U.S. news media that I was beginning to think I'd never see: In last two or three months, a complete rethinking of our marijuana laws has become a legitimate issue in the eyes of the mainstream media -- something it hasn't been for a long time. To illustrate how big this is, let me take you back to early 2002, shortly after I started as MPP's communications director. The first time I ever called CNN to try to pitch them a story on marijuana policy, it went like this: I…

"If something is not legal, you can't regulate it very effectively."             -- Prof. Robin Room, School of Population Health, University of Melbourne   On October 2, the Global Cannabis Commission, a group of top scientists commissioned by the Beckley Foundation, issued its groundbreaking report, "Cannabis Policy: Moving Beyond Stalemate." Your faithful correspondent was able to attend the daylong seminar in which the report was discussed, held in the distinctly imposing Moses Room of the House…

  Every year around this time,  Project Censored recognizes the 25 "most censored" news stories from the prior year -- stories of great public significance that got little or no attention from the mass media. This year, they've honored MPP and NORML's Paul Armentano for pointing out the alarming rise in marijuana arrests. Since The Project Censored materials were written, the latest FBI Uniform Crime Reports survey has been released, showing yet another marijuana arrest record.  

A systematic review and accompanying commentary in the June 17 issue of CMAJ, the medical journal published by the Canadian Medical Association, look at the side effects of cannabinoid medications. The results are generally reassuring. Researchers reviewed published studies of various cannabinoid preparations, including Marinol, the THC pill, and Sativex, a marijuana-based oral spray (but not, unfortunately, smoked or vaporized whole marijuana). They found no increase in serious or life-threatening…

The other day I had a lengthy discussion with two producers at a national TV network. It was an unnerving lesson in what we're up against as we try to educate the mainstream media. The network had just broadcast a completely uncritical story on a report from a private think tank that serves as a drug war cheerleader. It had reported completely preposterous claims about supposed dangers of increased marijuana potency causing lung cancer or sending thousands to emergency rooms as if they were undisputed…