Washington DC June 30, 2006 -- A potentially controversial new ad campaign from the Marijuana Policy Project names prominent public officials, including President George W. Bush, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Vice President Al Gore, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as having admitted to using marijuana. The ad then asks, "Is it fair to arrest three quarters of a million people a year for doing what presidents and a Supreme Court justice have done?"

The spot [>>>]

Hollister, CA June 30, 2006 -- A county medical marijuana identification program approved by supervisors is getting closer to completion, but issuing the ID cards is as far as San Benito County will go in condoning the use of the controversial weed for medical purposes.

County staff [>>>]

Washington DC June 29, 2006 -- An amendment to stop the U.S. Justice Department from arresting medical marijuana patients in the 11 states where medical marijuana is legal received a record vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives today. Although the measure failed to pass, 163-259, medical marijuana advocates hailed the record vote as the result of a growing groundswell of support for medical marijuana from across the political spectrum. Last summer, the amendment received 161 votes, which was the previous record until today's vote.

The improvement [>>>]

Washington DC June 28, 2006 -- The House on Wednesday voted to continue to allow federal prosecution of those who smoke marijuana for medical purposes in states with laws that permit it.

A year [>>>]

San Francisco, CA June 27, 2006 -- Thieves apparently took advantage of Sunday’s 36th Annual San Francisco Gay Pride Parade and Celebration to commit this year’s second robbery of a medical marijuana dispensary.

According to [>>>]

Pomona, CA June 22, 2006 -- The question of how to address the presence of a medical marijuana dispensary will return before the City Council in the middle of September.

Until then [>>>]

Washington DC June 21, 2006 -- On the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision allowing the federal government to overrule state medical-marijuana laws, a new lobbying group is trying to persuade some of the House’s most conservative members to protect the terminally ill’s right to use the drug.

Americans for [>>>]

Lawndale, CA June 21, 2006 -- The Lawndale City Council imposed a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries this week, temporarily squelching a South Bay couple's plan to set up shop in town while at least two similar businesses already operate in the city.

Becoming the [>>>]

Narcotics officers [>>>]

Pomona, CA June 17, 2006 -- Two resolutions, one granting an exemption to a medical marijuana dispensary and the other denying an exemption, will go before the City Council on Monday evening.

Council members [>>>]

Riverside, CA June 16, 2006 -- Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone wants to know how the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is going to respond to marijuana smokers in Riverside County who use the drug to ease the pain caused by their medical condition.

Stone has [>>>]

Baltimore, MD June 16, 2006 -- Scientists have long known that the brain possesses natural chemicals similar to marijuana. While little is known about their precise function in the brain, studies suggest that these compounds, known as cannabinoids, and the receptors they bind to, play a role in diseases, including schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, and obesity.

Now researchers [>>>]

Juneau, AK June 8, 2006 -- The American Civil Liberties Union sued the state of Alaska today over a new law penalizing marijuana possession for personal use in the home.

The civil [>>>]

Trenton, NJ June 7, 2006 -- Television personality Montel Williams plans to tell a New Jersey senate panel on Thursday how marijuana relieves his chronic pain caused by multiple sclerosis, and urge New Jersey lawmakers to enact medical marijuana laws, as 11 other states already have.

Williams, 49 [>>>]

Trenton, NJ June 4, 2006 -- When the wave of pain brought on by her multiple sclerosis sets in, Patty Jurick said she only has one thing to turn to for relief.

Problem is, [>>>]

Fairfield, CA June 1, 2006 -- About a dozen medical marijuana advocates held an orderly protest Wednesday in front of the Solano County courthouse, saying local law enforcement has been ignoring state law and arresting patients for having marijuana.

But Solano [>>>]

San Francisco, CA Thursday, June 1, 2006 -- Once again, San Francisco voters are outraged that law enforcement resources are wasted by arresting cannabis cultivators at a time when violence prevention programs are threatened with budget cuts.  According to anonymous sources in the SFPD, two or more unidentified Asian males were taken into custody on Wednesday, May 30th, 2006, for allegedly operating cannabis gardens in the Sunset District.  Narcotics Officers from the SFPD made the arrests in direct violation of the City's Sanctuary Ordinance which states:  "that the San Francisco Police Department...[are] not to assist in the harassment, arrest or prosecution of physicians, medical cannabis dispensaries, individual patients, or their primary caregivers attempting to comply with section 11362.5 of the California Health and Safety Code".

Enormous resources [>>>]

Los Angeles, CA May 25, 2006 -- Long term or heavy use of marijuana does not cause lung or neck cancers even though marijuana produces more resin and tar than tobacco, a study, by researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine in the University of California, has found. The study also absolved marijuana of all blame in tongue, mouth, throat and esophageal cancers.

Under the [>>>]

What: Rally, march, testimony and filing of petitions concerning Lt. Martin Halloran SFPD #772
When: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 at 4:20 PM and 5PM

Where: San Francisco Hall of Justice and San Francisco City Hall

Press Release


San Francisco, CA May 24, 2006 -- For the past six years, Lt. Martin Halloran SFPD #772 has engaged in the entrapment, intimidation and harassment of San Francisco medical cannabis patients and caregivers,ignoring the orders of his superiors and going so far as to falsify police documents after arresting legitimate medical cannabis patients. Lt. Halloran has also made public statements against medical cannabis at many neighborhood group meetings. We believe his actions are in direct violation of the policy of the City and County of San Francisco which states: "that the San Francisco Police Department...[are] not to assist in the harassment, arrest or prosecution of physicians, medical cannabis dispensaries, individual patients, or their primary caregivers attempting to comply with section 11362.5 of the California Health and Safety Code".

We demand [>>>]

Richmond, CA May 19, 2006 --With the crafting of a medical marijuana regulating ordinance stalled, the Richmond City Attorney's office has ordered the immediate closure of two cannabis clubs, the only ones known to operate in the city.

One, Natural [>>>]

Marina del Rey, CA May 18, 2006 -- Medical marijuana dispensaries will soon be permitted in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, including Marina del Rey.

The Los [>>>]

West Hollywood, CA May 14, 2006 -- - Four men were arrested Friday for investigation of trying to burgle a medical marijuana clinic after someone used a garden hose to climb down from the roof, authorities said.

The men, [>>>]

New York, NY May 8, 2006 -- In a preliminary study, U.S. researchers failed to find damage to the developing adolescent brain had occurred in those who had used marijuana moderately.

Lynn DeLisi [>>>]

Juneau, AK May 6, 2006 -- The Alaska House passed legislation Friday night that would restore criminal penalties for marijuana possession and make it tougher to buy the ingredients to manufacture methamphetamine.

The bill [>>>]

Prague, The Czech Republic May 6, 2006 -- Several thousands of people attended the annual gathering in support of marijuana legalisation at Prague's Letna plain, which was preceded by their march through Prague streets.

The march [>>>]

Tel Aviv, Israel May 6, 2006 -- Municipal inspectors pull plug on International Marijuana Day events in Tel Aviv after organizers failed to obtain permit to play music during celebration

People across [>>>]

Salem, OR May 5, 2006 -- The Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a lower court’s ruling that required employers to make allowances for workers who use medical marijuana.

Judges on [>>>]

Boulder, CO May 5, 2006 -- A University of Colorado freshman who said he smokes marijuana "religiously" plans to sue the University of Colorado for posting his photo online, after campus police took the unusual step to identify students last week.

Benjamin A. [>>>]

New York, NY May 5, 2006 -- “We got it! For Washington Square Park! First time in 10 years, man!” Dana Beal elated on Tuesday after saying he had gotten word from the Parks Department that his Yippie memorial for the late Stew Albert and pro-ibogaine rally had been granted a permit for the park for Sat. May 6 at 11 a.m. Beal is a proponent of ibogaine, an African plant that some believe can cure heroin addiction, as well as a range of other addictions.

After the [>>>]

Mexico City, Mexico May 3, 2006 -- Mexican President Vicente Fox refused to sign a drug decriminalization bill Wednesday, hours after U.S. officials warned the plan could encourage "drug tourism."

Fox sent [>>>]

Palm Desert, CA May 4, 2006 -- CannaHelp, the medical marijuana dispensary on El Paseo in Palm Desert, is once again open to all customers, not just those with state-issued medical marijuana ID cards.

A phone [>>>]

Providence, RI May 4, 2006 -- A Washington-based advocacy group is offering financial help to medical marijuana patients who can't pay a state licensing fee.

Patients with [>>>]

Santa Cruz, CA May 4, 2006 -- Concerns about adequate parking, lighting and litter removal have brought a halt to the opening of the medical marijuana dispensary unanimously approved by the city Planning Commission last month.

Two appeals [>>>]

Dublin, CA May 4, 2006 -- Medical marijuana users will have to look outside the city of Dublin to find a dispensary.

Following the [>>>]

Pittsburgh, PA May 3, 2006 -- The use of marijuana for medical purposes has been debated for many years. While some consider the plant to be a phenomenal ailment reliever, others believe that the psychoactive and harmful effects overpower the possible benefits. In the most recent chain of events, on April 20, the FDA rejected medical use for marijuana. Although a number of states have passed legislation allowing for marijuana to be used medically, the FDA says that these laws are inconsistent with the new rulings.

Canada has [>>>]

Dublin, CA May 3, 2006 -- The future of medical marijuana dispensaries in Dublin is that they likely will not have a future in the city.

After looking [>>>]

Whittier, CA May 3, 2006 -- The Planning Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to require a medical marijuana dispensary to close within two years from when an ordinance is adopted to regulate such establishments.

The Whittier [>>>]

Marina, CA May 2, 2006 -- Interest in opening a medical marijuana clinic in Marina triggered a request by city administrators for an urgency measure to give them time to investigate the issue.

The Marina [>>>]

Whittier, CA May 2, 2006 -- A medical marijuana dispensary, which has been open since September 2005, may have to close in fewer than two years.

The Whittier [>>>]

Palm Desert May 2, 2006 -- Forced to turn away about 25 customers who didn't have state-issued ID cards Monday, the owner of Palm Desert's medical marijuana dispensary said his business may have to fight for survival.

"It's a [>>>]

San Pablo, CA May 2, 2006 -- The San Pablo City Council on Monday extended for a second year a moratorium on the opening of medical marijuana dispensaries, or cannabis clubs. But the council signaled it does not want the issue to drag on for much longer, ordering the city staff to schedule a study session on the matter within a "reasonable" period.

City Attorney [>>>]

Los Angeles, CA Apr 30, 2006 -- The plainly labeled brown door on the second floor of a Studio City office gives no indication of the marijuana being sold inside.

Valley Collective [>>>]

Los Angeles, CA Apr 30, 2006 -- One of the San Fernando Valley's newest medical marijuana dispensaries sits in a black stucco building, adjacent to the Xposed full nude club.

Racy business [>>>]

Boulder, CO May 1, 2006 -- Hundreds of people called University of Colorado police Friday to name people photographed at last week’s “4/20” marijuana smoke-out on Farrand Field.

Police posted [>>>]

San Pablo, CA  Apr 30, 2006 -- San Pablo could become the latest East Bay city to punt -- and more than once -- on the issue of medical marijuana. Monday night the City Council is expected to vote on an emergency ordinance that would extend for a second year a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, popularly known as cannabis clubs.

The point [>>>]

Riverbank, CA Apr 30, 2006 -- Medical marijuana dispensaries will be banned from opening here at least through the end of the year.

The City [>>>]

Alameda, CA Apr 29, 2005 -- It's no coincidence that the new O'Shaughnessy's includes five articles on post traumatic stress disorder and three on forgotten aspects of the history of cannabis as medicine. When a medical student named Tod Mikuriya first became interested in cannabis in the early 1960s, he realized that understanding might be found in two directions: clinical experience (input from patients, then unavailable) and the pre-Prohibition medical literature. So it makes sense that some 40 years later the journal Mikuriya founded would focus on a psychiatric condition that cannabis is being used to treat, and would publish documents filling in the gaps in our historic miseducation.

The PTSD [>>>]

Mexico City, Mexico Apr 29, 2006 -- Mexico's Congress approved a bill Friday decriminalizing possession of small quantities of drugs for personal use--including cocaine and heroin--raising potential questions about joint U.S.-Mexican anti-narcotics operations.

The only [>>>]

Washington DC Apr 28, 2006 -- One week after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a baseless, one page press release claiming that marijuana had no medical benefits, Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) led a bipartisan group of 24 House members in calling on the agency to explain its reasoning and show scientific proof to support its view. Hinchey, who has offered an amendment in the House three times that would bar the federal government from prosecuting medical marijuana patients, doctors, and suppliers in states where medical marijuana is legal, and his colleagues said the FDA's action appears to be politically motivated and defies the results of a White House-commissioned Institute of Medicine (IOM) study from 1999 that detailed the benefits of medical marijuana use.

"Despite the [>>>]

Vancouver, B.C. Apr 29 , 2006 -- The B.C. man wanted in the United States to stand trial for selling marijuana seeds by mail thinks a jail term south of the border could be his springboard to a political career in Canada.

"I get [>>>]

Dublin, CA Apr 29, 2006 -- The City Council will once again consider the controversial issue of whether to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to operate in the city.

The council [>>>]

Temecula, CA Apr 28, 2006 -- The Temecula City Council sidestepped California Proposition 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act, at last Tuesday’s meeting and voted unanimously to amend the city’s municipal code and prohibit the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits.

Despite an [>>>]

Washington DC Apr 29, 2006 -- Craig X Rubin founded temple420.org as a result of the landmark Supreme Court Case “Gonzales vs. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal”. In a unanimous decision (8-8) The Supreme Court's Chief Justice Roberts delivered the opinion that, ... "religious freedom is more important than drug laws."

Craig X

Oakland, CA Apr 28, 2006 -- Supporters of marijuana activist and author Ed Rosenthal, whose felony convictions were overturned Wednesday by a federal appeals court, said Thursday a pending House bill would save the government millions while ensuring nobody else need endure what he and his jurors did.

A "Truth [>>>]

Rohnert Park, CA Apr 28, 2006 -- The Rohnert Park City Council has extended its ban on medical marijuana dispensaries.

The council [>>>]

London, UK Apr 27, 2006 -- Marijuana is medically useful, whether politicians like it or not

IF CANNABIS [>>>]

Palm Desert, CA Apr 27, 2006 -- Customers of Palm Desert's medical marijuana dispensary won't have their names turned over to police after all.

Cannahelp clients [>>>]

Ashbury Park, NJ Apr 27, 2006 -- The mission of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey is to bring about safe and legal access to marijuana for New Jersey patients who are under the care of licensed physicians. We believe no one should suffer needlessly, and no one should go to jail for following the advice of their doctor.

The New [>>>]

Hermosa Beach, CA Apr 27, 2006 -- Faced with a large gap between what federal and state law allow regarding medical marijuana dispensaries and the prospect of an influx of potential customers looking to score a legal high, local cities are moving to impose temporary bans as they explore guidelines on such establishments.

Hermosa Beach [>>>]

San Francisco, CA Apr 27, 2006 -- A federal appeals court overturned the marijuana cultivation convictions of pot advocate Ed Rosenthal today, ruling that a juror engaged in misconduct by asking an attorney friend for advice during deliberations.

In a [>>>]

Moscow, Russia Apr 27, 2006 -- Attempts by supporters of the legalization of marijuana to hold a march in Moscow in early May are a provocative act, head of the Federal Drug Control service's interdepartmental affairs and information department Lt. Gen. Alexander Mikhailov told Interfax on Thursday.

"Russia is [>>>]

Tracy, CA Apr 27, 2006 -- Americans have been getting mixed messages from their governments about medical marijuana use. And we got another one last week that sounds like a scary blast from the past — about 70 years ago when the feds began to crack down on pot.

Since then, [>>>]

San Francisco, CA Apr 26, 2006 -- San Francisco is home to a wide variety of drug users, from the hardcore smack addicts on Sixth Street to the club kids high on ecstasy or crystal meth to the yuppies snorting lines off their downtown desks or getting drunk after work to the cornucopia of people across all classes smoking joints in Golden Gate Park or in their living rooms on weekends.

Drug law [>>>]

San Francisco, CA Apr 26, 2006 -- A few weeks before Marisa Garcia started her first semester of college in 2000, a cop found a pipe with marijuana residue in her car. The pipe was hers, so she fessed up, went to court, paid her fine, and thought the case was closed.

Soon after [>>>]

San Francisco, CA Apr 21, 2006 -- Today, the day after 4/20, Tommy Chong gave the keynote luncheon speech at the NORML conference in San Francisco, delivering pot jokes and an intriguing life story to a packed main auditorium at the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway.

“The government [>>>]

Riverside, CA Apr 26, 2006 -- A county supervisor complained Tuesday that the county is receiving mixed signals from state and federal authorities over how to deal with the issue of marijuana use.

The Board [>>>]

Santa Clarita, CA Apr 23, 2006 -- It looks like the Showtime comedy series “Weeds” is quickly turning into reality TV.

Produced at [>>>]

Storrs, CN Apr 25, 2006 -- This declaration, "Marijuana should be legalized in the United States," has long been a contentious issue. Social values, health concerns, economics and politics are all at work in the debate over legalizing marijuana.

The war [>>>]

Madison, WI Apr 25, 2006 -- Ah, marijuana. The "wicked weed" of the '60s is in the news again. This time, despite previous studies showing otherwise, the Food and Drug Administration said this past week that it does not support the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The FDA [>>>]

Vancouver, British Columbia Apr 24, 2006 -- The federal government will be asking a British Columbia Supreme Court judge today to remove a potential obstacle in its attempt to extradite Marc Emery, the so-called Prince of Pot, and his two co-defendants to the United States to stand trial on marijuana-trafficking charges.

Mr. Emery, [>>>]

Moscow, ID Apr 24, 2006 -- People of all ages were out in the sun at East City Park in Moscow. They were playing frisbee and hacky sack, walking their dogs and shopping at the stands full of brightly-colored crafts. There was a folk band on the stage, whose audience sat to listen on haystacks or danced in the grass.

This was [>>>]

San Francisco, CA Apr 24, 2006 -- Marijuana is still illegal in the eyes of the United States government, but that hasn't deterred the efforts of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Allen St.

San Francisco, CA Apr 23, 2006-- IN AN AGE when so many politicians pander to popular opinion, why is it impossible to imagine Washington restoring so much as an ounce of sanity to the so-called war on drugs?

A Zogby

San Francisco, CA Apr 23, 2006 -- ”I'm now America's oldest marijuana smoker,” is how the founder of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Keith Stroup, started the closing comments of the 2006 conference.

He thanked [>>>]

Sacramento, CA Apr 21, 2006 -- Two women who run a Sacramento medical marijuana dispensary said Friday they are willing to go to prison if it means helping patients who seek out cannabis as an alternative medication.

"We took [>>>]

Washington DC Apr 22, 2006 -- A Food and Drug Administration statement on Thursday denying any medical benefits of marijuana reinforced the divide between federal officials and the states that have approved the drug's use to ease some medical conditions.

"It's consistent [>>>]

Alameda, CA Apr 22, 2006 -- In the 1980s Melanie Dreher and colleagues at UMass Amherst began a longitudinal study to assess the well-being of infants and children whose mothers used cannabis during pregnancy. The researchers lived in rural Jamaican communities among the women they were studying. Thirty cannabis-using pregnant women were matched for age and socio-economic status with 30 non-users. Dreher et al compared the course of their pregnancies and their neo-natal outcomes, using various standard scales.

No differences [>>>]

St Paul, MN Apr 21 -- A Minnesota college canceled a student-sponsored festival advocating legalized marijuana hours before the kickoff.

Officials at [>>>]

Seaside, CA Apr 21, 2006 -- The city of Seaside Thursday unanimously approved an emergency 45-day moratorium on marijuana dispensaries while it closely studies a request made earlier this month from a San Francisco Bay Area man who has proposed opening one in the city.

John Rico [>>>]

Washington DC Apr 21, 2006 -- According to an FDA statement, marijuana is listed in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) - this is the most restrictive schedule. The FDA agrees with this Schedule I listing, as does the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

The three [>>>]

For more than 30 years, advocates of marijuana legalization have marched in cities across the country and around the world on May Day (or the first weekend in May). This year is no different, with organizers anticipating rallies in more than 200 cities on the weekend of May 6-7. From Albuquerque to Amsterdam to Auckland, from Mexico City to Missoula to Moscow, and from Vancouver to Vienna to Vladivostock, the pro-pot contingent will be hitting the streets, holding rallies, and throwing concerts for the cause.

While rallies [>>>]

Juneau, AK Apr 21, 2006 -- The Alaska House of Representatives Wednesday defeated a bill that would have recriminalized marijuana possession. Pushed aggressively by Gov. Frank Murkowski (R), the bill sought to set up a challenge to previous Alaska Supreme Court rulings that found the state constitution's privacy provisions protected the right of Alaskans to possess up to one-quarter pound in their homes.

In an [>>>]