Medical Marijuana

And now there are 14 -- medical marijuana states, that is. The Garden State joined the list this week, although under the restrictive terms of the new law, the only pot gardens there will be in a handful of dispensaries.

It's been a wild week for weed in Washington. Hearings and initiatives and polls, oh, my!

A bill that would make New York the next medical marijuana state has won an Assembly committee vote.

San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi wants the city's residents to vote on a measure that would make it city policy to license, tax, and regulate marijuana cultivation and sales, and not just medical. Now, he has to convince the rest of the Supes to agree with him -- or at least a majority.

With the Obama administration having removed the threat of federal prosecutions, the door is swinging open for an expansion of medical marijuana dispensaries. Activists in Oregon are walking through that door, and they are carrying a whole bunch of gathered signatures with them. Look for a dispensary initiative on the ballot there this fall.

In a pair of votes Monday afternoon and evening -- the last day of the legislative session -- New Jersey lawmakers gave final approval to a medical marijuana bill, which Gov. Jon Corzine (D) has said he will sign. The bill is one of the most restrictive yet, but it's one more state on the bandwagon.

A California judge can order a medical marijuana patient to hand in his ID card and give up his medicine if he wants to go on probation instead of to prison, an appeals court has ruled in a 2-1 decision. The ruling provoked a harsh dissent.

A Colorado judge has delivered a shot across the bow to towns and cities moving to ban medical marijuana dispensaries on the grounds they violate federal law.

What a year! A lot happened in 2009 when it comes to drug policy, much of it good. Last issue we reviewed the international developments. This last week of the year, we take a look at what we see as the ten most important domestic drug policy stories the year brought us.

Rhode Island approved adding a dispensary system to its medical marijuana program this spring, and now the state Department of Health has promulgated proposed rules to regulate it. But even if all goes well -- and non-controversially -- it could be another year before a dispensary actually starts dispensing.