A musician who was denied a liver transplant because he used marijuana with medical approval under Washington state law to ease the symptoms of advanced hepatitis C died Thursday. ... Garon died a week after his doctor told him a University of Washington Medical Center committee had again denied him a spot on the liver transplant list because of his use of marijuana, although it was authorized under Washington state law. "He said I'm going to die with such conviction," Garon told an AP reporter at the time. "I'm not angry, I'm not mad, I'm just confused." ( May 1, 2008)

Giving carefully calibrated doses of smoked marijuana to people with neuropathic pain, which can be difficult-to-treat and extremely painful, can ease their pain without clouding their minds, California researchers report. ... "The lower dose did not adversely affect people's thinking," [Dr. Barth] Wilsey said. "There might be a therapeutic window that we could advise for using smoked cannabis in treating nerve injury pain." ( April 30, 2008)

A study released Tuesday [April 29] reported that between 1998 and 2007, the police arrested 374,900 people whose most serious crime was the lowest-level misdemeanor marijuana offense. That is more than eight times the number of arrests on those same charges between 1988 and 1997, when 45,300 people were picked up for having a small amount of pot. ... [T]he Police Department was critical of the role played by the New York Civil Liberties Union in publicizing the report and noted that the research had been backed, in part, by the Marijuana Policy Project, which supports legalization. ( April 30, 2008)

Medical marijuana advocates announced today they will be airing the second installment in a series of ads featuring seriously ill patients who take marijuana for pain. K.K. Forss, Ely, is featured in the 60 second commercial set to begin airing on network and cable stations today. ( April 29, 2008)

Timothy Garon's face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look eight months pregnant. His liver, ravaged by hepatitis C, is failing. Without a new one, his doctors tell him, he will be dead in days. But Garon's been refused a spot on the transplant list, largely because he has used marijuana, even though it was legally approved for medical reasons. ( April 26, 2008)

In an unusual move in the Fox Valley, village police plan to start writing tickets -- instead of making arrests -- for first-timers caught with small amounts of marijuana. Police Chief Bradley Sauer said the change will keep officers from spending long hours in court on minor drug charges and also allow those who slip up just once to keep their records clean. ( April 23, 2008)

The two, upstart Nashua authors of a marijuana decriminalization bill offered to restrict it to first-time offenders in hopes of overcoming the opposition of Gov. John Lynch to the House-approved measure. Reps. Jeffrey Fontas and Andrew Edwards said this would erase fears it would be a get-out-of-jail-free card for repeat offenders and do as intended, give a young person leniency [for a] single mistake. ... Matthew Simon, executive director of New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy said even opponents point out judges ignore the jail punishment and order fines for first-time offenders. "If nobody agrees the penalties are appropriate, why can’t we change that?" Simon asked. ( April 23, 2008)

I've been heartened to follow the progress of the medical marijuana bill in the Legislature but also disappointed to hear that Gov. Tim Pawlenty has threatened to veto it. Medical marijuana could make an enormous difference to seriously ill patients in Minnesota — patients like me. ... I've been fighting a rare disorder called neurosarcoidosis, which causes my body to produce antibodies to my own tissues, including my spinal cord and brain. My symptoms are severe ... my doctor suggested I try marijuana. He felt that even a small dose could relieve my nausea and potentially enable me to gain back some of my weight. ( April 23, 2008)

The [marijuana reform] bill, HB 1623, passed the House on a 193-141 vote. It would set a $200 fine for possession of a quarter-ounce or less of marijuana. Current law calls for a year in jail and a $2,000 fine. Reps. Jeffrey Fontas and Andrew Edwards will ask the committee to amend the bill so lower fines apply only in a first-time offense. ... A poll by Mason-Dixon Research for N.H. Common Sense found 53 percent support for a more liberal bill than HB 1623, imposing a $100 fine for up to an ounce of marijuana held for personal use. ( April 20, 2008)

MINNEAPOLIS — Proponents of a bill to protect seriously ill patients from arrest for using medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation released their latest TV ad today featuring former Fillmore County sheriff and state representative Neil Haugerud, who suffers from severe, intractable pain due to inflammation of the spine. ( May 8, 2008 )

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A little-known federal government program that supplies medical marijuana to a handful of patients will mark its 30th anniversary on May 10. The federal medical marijuana program -- referred to as a Compassionate Investigational New Drug (IND) program -- resulted from a lawsuit filed by glaucoma patient Robert Randall, who successfully showed that his use of marijuana was a medical necessity. ( May 6, 2008 )

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — After being rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a 4-0 vote last Thursday, HB 1623 was defeated this afternoon in a voice vote by the full Senate. The bill, which would have reduced the penalty for possessing less than a quarter ounce of marijuana, had been marked for death since it received a rare veto threat from Governor Lynch following passage by the House. ( May 1, 2008 )

MINNEAPOLIS — In a press conference held today at the statehouse, advocates offered a point-by-point refutation of misleading-to-outright false statements made by some law enforcement officials during testimony before the legislature and in the media regarding the medical marijuana bill pending on the House floor. ( April 29, 2008 )

SPRINGFIELD, IL. – After a meeting with law enforcement officials to address their specific objections to Illinois' medical marijuana bill, advocates will announce significant changes to the legislation in a Wednesday press conference at the statehouse. ... At the press conference, patients will also unveil their latest effort to convince legislators to support the medical marijuana bill under consideration in both chambers of the General Assembly: personal online video testimonies. ( April 29, 2008 )

MINNEAPOLIS — A press conference Tuesday will highlight false and misleading statements made by certain aspects of the law enforcement community during testimony before the legislature, as well as to the press, in an attempt to derail a bill that would protect from arrest seriously ill Minnesotans who use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. Advocates will also unveil their latest TV ad urging the governor not to veto the bill as he has threatened to if it passes in the House. ( April 28, 2008 )

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The New Hampshire Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday to consider a bill – already passed by the House – to reduce penalties for smalltime marijuana violations. ... The legislation received a boost recently with the release of a Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., telephone survey of 625 registered New Hampshire voters showing that 53 percent of Granite Staters favor similar reform. ( April 21, 2008 )

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Officials of the Marijuana Policy Project praised the "Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008," introduced today by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), as an important step toward bringing federal law into line with scientific fact, practical reality and public opinion. "Congressman Frank's bill represents a major step toward sanity in federal marijuana policy," said MPP director of government relations Aaron Houston. ( April 17, 2008 )

DAVIS, CALIFORNIA — A clinical trial conducted at the University of California at Davis and just published online by the Journal of Pain has demonstrated significant relief of neuropathic pain (pain caused by damage to nerves) stemming from a variety of causes. This is the second study in just over a year to show that marijuana relieves neuropathic pain, which is notoriously resistant to treatment with conventional pain drugs, including opioid narcotics. A UC San Francisco study published last year showed relief of HIV/AIDS-related neuropathy. ( April 17, 2008 )

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A clear majority of New Hampshire voters favor legislation to reduce the penalties for the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use, according to a recent poll. The poll of 625 registered voters was conducted by telephone April 7 to 8 by Mason-Dixon Research for the Marijuana Policy Project and NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy. By a resounding 53-34 percent margin, New Hampshire voters support "a change in the law to provide for a $100 fine without jail time for those who possess an ounce or less of marijuana for personal use." ( April 15, 2008 )

MINNEAPOLIS — Advocates announced the first in a new series of TV ads today featuring seriously ill patients asking Minnesotans to urge Gov. Tim Pawlenty not to veto a bill to protect suffering Minnesotans from arrest for using medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. The ad will begin running on broadcast and cable stations throughout Minnesota later this week. ( April 14, 2008 )

MINNEAPOLIS — As the state House prepares to vote on a bill to protect seriously ill patients from arrest for using medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, advocates announced they would unveil a new TV ad campaign at a press conference Monday. The ad, which will be screened at the press conference, features Lynn Rubenstein Nicholson of Minneapolis, who suffers intractable pain after enduring 10 surgeries following a back injury. ( April 11, 2008 )

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA — Minnesota's bill to protect seriously ill patients from arrest for using medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation cleared its final committee hurdle today, passing the House Ways and Means Committee, 13-4. The next stop for the bill, SF 345, is the House floor. The Senate version of the bill was approved by the full Senate last year. ( April 9, 2008 )

AMARILLO, TEXAS — A Texas patient who uses medical marijuana to treat the symptoms of HIV won acquittal on marijuana possession charges March 25 based on a "necessity defense." Though such a defense – which requires the defendant to establish that an otherwise illegal act was necessary to avoid imminent harm more serious than the harm prevented by the law he or she broke – has rarely been successful in Texas, the jury took just 11 minutes to acquit Tim Stevens, 53. The trial was hotly contested. ( March 27, 2008 )

PHILADELPHIA -- A free screening of the medical marijuana documentary, "Waiting to Inhale," takes place March 30, at the Community Education Center here, followed by a panel discussion with local medical marijuana activists. ( March 27, 2008 )

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A letter from Manchester mayor and likely gubernatorial candidate Frank Guinta shocked political observers after being reported in today's Union-Leader. In the letter, Guinta asked State Rep. David Scannell (D-Manchester) to resign from his position as spokesman from the Manchester school district after voting in the 193-141 majority for HB 1623, a bill reducing the penalty for possession of one-quarter ounce of marijuana to a violation punishable by a $200 fine. ( March 20, 2008 )

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — House members today defied expectations and passed a bill to reduce the penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana, 193-141, overriding the recommendation of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, which voted HB 1623 "inexpedient to legislate" last month. ( March 18, 2008 )

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Drug Czar John Walters' scheduled appearance at a press conference this morning to announce a new SAMHSA report on the dangers of teen inhalant abuse flies in the face of his office's misplaced priorities, officials of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. said today. MPP noted that Walters' just-released National Drug Control Strategy virtually ignores deadly inhalants while continuing Walters's obsessive focus on marijuana, the least dangerous of illicit drugs. ( March 13, 2008 )

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA — On Tuesday, March 18, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will conduct a public hearing on the local implementation of the statewide Medical Marijuana Identification Card Program. Although 40 California counties have implemented the program, including Amador, El Dorado, Placer, and Yolo as well as Los Angeles, Orange, and San Francisco, Sacramento has yet to act. Patients and advocates from across the county will be attending the Board of Supervisors hearing, set for March 18 at 3 p.m. in the County Board Chambers at 700 H Street in downtown Sacramento. ( March 13, 2008 )

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS -- Illinois residents favor allowing seriously and terminally ill patients to use marijuana for medical purposes by a 68-27 percent margin according to a new poll. The poll by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, Inc. and paid for by the Marijuana Policy Project was conducted by phone and surveyed 625 randomly selected registered Illinois voters between Feb. 9 and Feb. 16. ( March 10, 2008 )