Wednesday, July 21, 2004

7/21/2004 10:42:28 AM

Scientists Say Marijuana Research Blocked — All marijuana for research in the United States must come from a crop grown on a federally contracted farm in Mississippi.  That product has been only "inconsistently available to researchers and is infamous for its low quality," the researchers contend.

Thursday, December 18, 2003

12/18/2003 08:23:17 AM

Federal Government Cannot Prohibit Patients' Use of Medical Marijuana — Yesterday (Dec. 16, 2003), a federal appeals court ruled that federal drug laws prohibiting the use or cultivation of marijuana are unconstitutional when applied to medical patients in California who are using marijuana with their doctor's approval. The momentous decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has far reaching implications and can potentially apply to similarly situated patients in the six other states that allow the use of medical marijuana within the Ninth Circuit (Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington).

Thursday, October 16, 2003

10/16/2003 07:52:31 PM

Davis Signs His Last Legislation: Good News and Bad for Drug Policy — Medical marijuana patients and advocates scored a surprising and important victory with the passage of SB 420 (Vasconcellos, D-San Jose). SB 420 will create a voluntary identification card system for patients and caregivers to protect them from police harassment and arrest. If the hooligans in Washington are jailed before the world ends, organizations like the Drug Policy Alliance will inherit their jobs.

10/16/2003 07:34:57 PM

Supreme Court Upholds Doctors' Right to Recommend Medical Marijuana — In a major victory for doctors [and] patients [...], the U.S. Supreme Court decided Tuesday not to review a lower court's decision upholding a doctor's right to recommend medical marijuana to patients.

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

10/14/2003 06:14:55 PM

Supreme Court Declines to Hear Government Appeal in Medical Marijuana Case: Affirms First Amendment Rights of Doctors and Patients — In a victory for medical marijuana proponents, the United States Supreme Court today declined to hear the government's appeal in Walters v. Conant, a case in which California physicians challenged the federal government's attempts to revoke their power to prescribe medications if they discussed medical marijuana with their patients.

Sunday, October 12, 2003

10/12/2003 06:15:57 PM

An Important Change to the Drug Czar Bill — The Drug Policy Alliance would like to publicly thank Rep. Maxine Waters (D-35th/CA), the only member of the House of Representatives with the courage to oppose HR 2086, the Office of National Drug Control Reauthorization Act, on the House floor yesterday. Congresswoman Waters called the war on drugs "a joke" and said she rose "in strong opposition both to the process that has brought this bill to the floor under suspension of the rules and to the substance of the underlying bill."

10/12/2003 12:17:24 PM

German Studies Support Use of Marijuana Extracts for Epilepsy, Pain — Two new German studies provide more evidence for the medical uses of marijuana. According to the BBC News Online, researchers at the Max-Planck Institute — who have been seeking ways to prevent epileptic seizures — report that "natural brain chemicals which resemble cannabis extracts can interrupt a process which can trigger a seizure."

10/12/2003 12:16:16 PM

Australia: Doctors To Prescribe Medical Marijuana — People will be able to register to use marijuana for medical conditions in Australia's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), starting next year. The legislation is due to be released within weeks and has already won the support of the Federal Government.

10/12/2003 12:15:17 PM

Chretien Waiting to Inhale — Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, set to retire in February 2004, said in an interview published today that he may smoke marijuana after he leaves office. "I don't know what is marijuana," Chretien told the Winnipeg Free Press. "Perhaps I will try it when it will no longer be criminal."

10/12/2003 12:12:46 PM

California: Ninth Circuit Hears Raich v. Ashcroft — Many of the same issues raised during a similar appeal by several medical cannabis dispensaries three weeks ago were discussed, including Congress's power to regulate intrastate commerce, state's rights, fundamental right to relief from suffering, and interference of liberty by the DEA.

10/12/2003 12:11:29 PM

Doctors' Prescriptive Rights and Medical Marijuana: U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Whether to Hear Case — The Drug Policy Alliance helped initiate a class action lawsuit on behalf of California's physicians and patients to uphold a medical doctor's right to recommend medical marijuana to his or her patients. On Tuesday, October 14 the U.S. Supreme Court will announce whether or not they will hear the case.