Medical Marijuana

The Drug Policy Alliance's 2009 International Drug Policy Reform Conference got underway Thursday in Albuquerque, and it looks like the biggest yet. Here's an initial report from the conference opening. Look for much more next week, too.

With both the White House and Capitol Hill under the control of Democrats, there are signs that the Bush-era blockade of federal drug reform legislation is ending. Here's an update on what's moving -- and what's not -- on Capitol Hill this year.

In a historic shift of position, the American Medical Association now says that marijuana is medicine, more research is needed, and its status as a Schedule I drug should be reviewed.

To be a caregiver or not be a caregiver? That is the question in Colorado, and the criminal courts, civil courts, state bureaucrats, and the medical marijuana industry are all fighting over it.

Maine has become the latest state to approve state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries. It joins New Mexico and Rhode Island. But locally-allowed (or not) dispensaries are the rule in California, Colorado, and Washington. Both paths have their pluses and minuses.

Medical marijuana caregivers must actually know the patients for whom they are growing pot, the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled. The opinion, if upheld on appeal, could put a crimp in the state's fast-growing medical marijuana industry.

Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) has reintroduced the Truth in Trials Act, which would allow medical marijuana providers prosecuted under federal law to introduce medical evidence during their trials.

New Hampshire will not become the 14th medical marijuana state -- at least, not yet. An effort to override Gov. Mark Lynch's veto fell two votes short in the state Senate Wednesday. Supporters vow to keep working.

The Justice Department this week formalized earlier statements from Attorney General Eric Holder that the federal government would not go after medical marijuana patients and providers in compliance with state laws. But in places where state law is contested terrain -- California, in particular -- plenty of confusion remains.

A California Superior Court judge is blocking the city of Los Angeles from enforcing its moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries. This as local prosecutors declare that all dispensaries are illegal, and as their numbers continue to grow.