Medical Marijuana

ProCon.org is a series of in-depth web sites presenting information and views from on current issues, several with relevance to drug policy. The Chronicle is running a series of info items from ProCon.org over the next several weeks -- this first one from medicalmarijuana.procon.org -- and we encourage you to check it out.

There's dollar signs coming with marijuana legalization laws, Rand Paul moves to protect medical marijuana, medical marijuana comes too late for one New York girl, there's a new opiate pain reliever out there (with a twist), and more.

Rand Paul has filed an amendment to Senate Bill 2569, the "Bring Jobs Home Act," that would explicitly allow states to pass medical marijuana laws despite the provisions of the federal Controlled Substances Act. The amendment would also bar prosecutions of patients and doctors for engaging in medical marijuana activities in states where it is legal.

Medical marijuana takes another step toward self-regulation, patients and supporters rally for a fired Arizona medical marijuana researcher, Illinois expands its medical marijuana program, and more.

South Portland, Maine, will vote on marijuana legalization in November, medical marijuana researcher Dr. Sue Sisley's campaign to be reinstated is picking up steam, Mississippi officials get an earful at a public forum on a welfare drug testing law, and more.

This is the Drug War Chronicle, not the Marijuana Policy Chronicle, but that's how the news breaks sometimes. It's all marijuana and medical marijuana news today.

The World Health Organization calls for drug decriminalization (and more), international drug reform and harm reduction groups warn of an AIDS prevention crisis, marijuana policy is popping up in some Republican primaries, and more.

Tens of thousands of federal drug prisoners could get out early after the US Sentencing Commission votes to make guideline reductions retroactive, the Ohio Supreme Court moves to cut some crack sentences, FedEx gets indicted for shipping pills for Internet pharmacies (and not taking a deal with the feds), and more.

Marijuana decriminalization comes to the nation's capital, Vermont is set to study marijuana legalization, New Jersey residents press for "decarceration," Canadians are ready for marijuana reform, and more.

A St. Paul drug raid is raising questions about police tactics, the hemp industry wants to clarify something, Tennessee gets its first bust under a law criminalizing drug-using pregnant women (and its first threat of a legal challenge), Pennsylvania issues opiate prescribing guidelines, and more.