This video is being distributed by a group opposing legislation to tax and regulate marijuana in California. Seriously. We are not making this up.

Today the California state Assembly will hold a historic hearing looking at whether marijuana prohibition should be replaced with a system of regulation and taxation. The growing push for change in California – which also includes a handful of ballot initiatives in circulation -- was covered by this morning’s New York Times in an article that perhaps unintentionally reveals the feebleness of opponents’ arguments. The story quotes John Lovell, lobbyist for several California police groups and the…

To their great credit, the editors at Forbes.com offered us the opportunity to respond today to last week's absurd column by Rachel Ehrenfeld. Enjoy.

Sometimes the only appropriate response is to laugh out loud. Forbes.com columnist Rachel Ehrenfeld has discovered that the National Institute on Drug Abuse is presently soliciting proposals from a contractor to grow marijuana for research and other purposes. Apparently unfamiliar with The Google and other search tools available on the Intertubes, Ehrenfeld actually thinks this is part of "Obamacare," and the fact that NIDA is "venturing into the marijuana cigarettes production and distribution"…

A quick item from our Aggressive Stupidity files. Whom would you trust more on medical issues? The California Narcotics Officers Association, from its official training materials: "Marijuana is not a medicine. ... There is no justification for using marijuana as a medicine." [emphasis in original] Or... The American College of Physicians, from its position statement on medical marijuana: "Preclinical and clinical research and anecdotal reports suggest numerous potential medical uses for marijuana.…

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…

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…

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.

In what may be some sort of modern record for fact-free grandstanding on drug issues, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, a Republican from the suburbs north of Chicago, has introduced a bill to ratchet up penalties for so-called "super pot". Under Kirk's proposal, penalties would be massively increased for those producing or selling marijuana with THC levels 15% or higher -- to the point where a single plant could land someone in jail for 25 years. Small problem: THC is, for all practical purposes, nontoxic. Higher-THC…

I've recently been corresponding with a medical marijuana patient and Navy veteran, Eugene Davidovich, who was recently arrested in a particularly slimy undercover sting operation. Eugene, a member of a San Diego medical marijuana collective, was contacted by an undercover cop posing as a registered, licensed medical marijuana patient who asked for his help obtaining his medicine. You can probably guess the rest, but here's a link to a good comprehensive story on his arrest. Prosecutors argue that…