After a 12-hour hearing in which hundreds of medical marijuana advocates testified, the Colorado Board of Health Monday rejected a proposal limiting the number of medical marijuana patients a caregiver can serve to five. The proposal, which attorneys testified violated the 2000 constitutional amendment passed by voter initiative protecting valid medical marijuana patients from arrest, was designed to hinder legally operating medical marijuana dispensing centers. Opponents of medical marijuana tried…

Today the New Hampshire Legislature approved a medical marijuana bill custom tailored to addresses the governor's concerns in hopes of avoiding a veto that would leave the state’s medical marijuana patients vulnerable to arrest, even if they have their doctor’s recommendation. Gov. John Lynch told lawmakers that he would veto the bill in its original form, which passed both chambers last month, if eight specific concerns of his were not addressed. A special legislative committee spent the past month…

In a historic first, Rhode Island legislators today made their state the first ever to expand an existing medical marijuana law to allow for state-licensed compassion centers to grow and distribute marijuana to registered patients. Legislators easily overrode the veto issued by Gov. Donald Carcieri with override votes of 67-0 in the House and 35-3 in the Senate. This marks the second time the Rhode Island Legislature has expanded the medical marijuana law it established in 2006, which indicates the…

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…

Last night, after years of work -- and months of intense pressure by patients, advocates, and supportive legislators -- the Illinois Senate passed a bill that would protect qualified Illinois medical marijuana patients from arrest for the first time ever, 30-28. But there's still more work to accomplish before seriously ill Illinois medical marijuana patients can safely acquire and use their medicine without fear of arrest. If you're an Illinois resident, please help us build on the momentum from…

We just got word that the Rhode Island Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill, 35-2, that would establish "compassion centers" to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients, making access for the seriously ill far safer and more reliable. Just to recap, that means three huge victories for medical marijuana patients and advocates today. Earlier, the senates in New Hampshire and Minnesota both passed bills that would protect seriously ill patients from arrest for using medical marijuana with their…

It's never easy to know for sure, but this week could be huge for medical marijuana reform if things go just right in state legislatures across the country. The senates in Illinois, Minnesota, and New Hampshire all could vote to pass medical marijuana bills as early as tomorrow. At the same time, the Rhode Island Senate could vote on a bill creating medical marijuana compassion centers, making safe access to qualified patients in the state far less burdensome. So stay tuned – we'll let you know…

Dear President Obama: Like millions of Americans, I choked up watching you take office Tuesday. And like hundreds of millions -- maybe billions -- around the world, I watched and listened to your inaugural address, riveted by the moment. One line jumped out at me: "We will extend a hand," you said, "if you are willing to unclench your fist." Your words were directed at hostile governments around the world, but they also embody how hundreds of thousands of suffering Americans view their own government. I'm…

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…

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…