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Just one day before Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved their state’s medical marijuana ballot measure, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) falsely claimed that there are currently 98 medical marijuana dispensaries operating in downtown San Francisco.

After drawing attention to the ONDCP’s boldface lie here on our blog, I decided to check in with San Francisco’s Health Department – the agency responsible for licensing medical marijuana facilities within the city.

Sure enough, according to them, the ONDCP’s figure is inflated by more than 400 percent: there are actually only 24 medical marijuana dispensaries operating in all of San Francisco.

One would think that the federal government would have done its homework before spending your hard-earned tax dollars posting lies online and even going so far as to fabricate a map showing make-believe medical marijuana club locations.

Sadly, in classic drug-warrior form, the ONDCP are continuing to lie to the public about medical marijuana without even an attempt to back their claims.

On a more jovial note about the ongoing anti-marijuana nonsense, our friend Mark Hughes in MPP’s Communications Department developed this hilarious parody of the ONDCP’s absurd new advertising campaign — enjoy:

A news story from a Bend, Oregon TV station bears the alarming headline, “Medical Marijuana’s Link to Crime.” As this is becoming a recurring subgenre of local news stories, it bears some comment.

The gist of this and similar stories is that sometimes people who possess or grow medical marijuana get robbed. Well, sure. So do people who possess other items of value — jewelry, cars, high-end electronics, etc.

For example, 1995 Honda Civics were the most-stolen vehicle in 2007 according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, but we have yet to see any news stories shouting, “Honda Civics Linked to Crime!”

What’s happening, of course, is that some in law enforcement are trying to blame the victim in order to discredit medical marijuana, and some in the media are acting as their unwitting accomplices.

Yesterday we told you about a bizarre new anti-marijuana ad campaign from the increasingly beleaguered shop of White House drug czar John Walters. Well, to paraphrase Alice in Wonderland, things just get curiouser and curiouser.

It turns out the ad agency that put the new ads together is an outfit called McKinney. And according to McKinney’s Web site, one of the agency’s clients is Southern Comfort, a brand of liquor — a drug that’s not only more addictive than marijuana, it’s vastly more toxic and orders of magnitude more likely to induce violence or aggression.

Oddly missing from ONDCP’s new ad blitz is any warning about the dangers of booze. But part of McKinney’s work for Southern Comfort is something called the SoCo Night Institute, which is pretty explicitly aimed at students. “Featured Courses” include “Dancing With a Drink in Your Hand.”

Meanwhile, blogger Radley Balko was so amused by ONDCP’s new campaign that he’s asking readers to send in names of successful, important people who’ve used marijuana. We suspect it will be a very long list.

On Nov. 4, voters spectacularly rejected eight years of the most intense government war on marijuana since the days of “Reefer Madness,” led by outgoing White House drug czar John Walters — voting overwhelmingly for a variety of reform proposals, including marijuana decriminalization in Massachusetts and medical marijuana in Michigan.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy has reacted with eerie silence, making no statements and issuing no press releases. But today on ONDCP’s blog, the drug czar’s office unveiled what may be their lamest anti-marijuana campaign yet. Yes, your tax dollars are actually funding this. For now.

By the way, jobs held by people who’ve acknowledged smoking marijuana include governor of California (Arnold Schwarzenegger), astronomer (Carl Sagan), mayor of New York (Michael Bloomberg), billionaire rock star/songwriter (Paul McCartney), and — well, you get the point. 

Yesterday marked the 12th anniversary of the passage of the first state law that effectively lifted criminal sanctions on the medical use of marijuana, California’s Proposition 215. In the years since 56% of California voters decided to stop criminalizing the ill, and public support for legal access to medical marijuana has grown to nearly 80%. That public sentiment has translated into policy reforms in at least 12 other states.

One would think that California’s law enforcement officials would do just that: enforce the law. But some of them spend time and even tax dollars lobbying against the state’s medical marijuana laws.

The California Narcotics Officers’ Association’s (CNOA) position paper on medical marijuana asserts, “There is no justification for using marijuana as a medicine.” The CNOA ignores hundreds of studies on the efficacy of marijuana as medicine and the dozens of credible scientific and medical organizations that have publicly supported medical marijuana access.

Disinformation about medical marijuana isn’t limited to privately funded Web sites like cnoa.org. The Sheriff’s Department in California’s capital county uses local tax dollars to maintain a Web page that claims, “There are no medically accepted uses for smoking marijuana.”

The medical community doesn’t share the sheriff’s medical opinion. Even the U.S. government’s Institute of Medicine (IOM) found, “Nausea, appetite loss, pain, and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting and all can be mitigated by marijuana … there are patients with debilitating symptoms for whom smoked marijuana might provide relief.”

The Sacramento Sheriff’s Department makes even more bizarre claims in its attempt to play doctor on the Internet — such as claiming that marijuana could cause “increased facial and body hair” in women or that it can cause “diminished or complete loss of sexual pleasure.” Fortunately for the 14.5 million people who use marijuana, none of these far-fetched claims have been substantiated by science.

The sad fact is that California’s law enforcement lobby began campaigning against Proposition 215 in 1996 and when voters didn’t side with them, some its members never stopped.

Not only did Tuesday’s election produce two major marijuana policy victories, but we also saw signs of progress in Washington, D.C.

Barack Obama has consistently said that he does not support the federal government arresting medical marijuana patients in states where medical marijuana is legal. He also affirmed to MPP that he would not use federal resources to raid medical marijuana dispensaries in California, something his predecessor’s administration has done countless times.

And the Politico reported that Obama’s pick for drug czar may be Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton.  Bratton is “totally supportive of the concept of medical marijuana” (Source).

There were some promising changes in Congress as well.  With several elections still undecided, the Democrats are likely to pick up 22 new seats in Congress — 17 of which belonged to medical marijuana opponents in the last Congress. And every single Democratic incumbent who lost Tuesday was a medical marijuana opponent.

As I noted in an earlier post, a number of the most outspoken medical marijuana opponents faced tough opposition going into the election — and several of them were sent packing. Congressman Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), Congressman Ric Keller (R-Fla.), and Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) are the most notable lawmakers who MPP will not miss. Congressman Mark Souder (R-Ind.), who once called MPP’s executive director a “an articulate advocate for an evil position,” held on to his seat despite predictions that he might lose.

Additionally, candidates who are close allies of MPP won spots in the House of Representatives, like Nevada State Senator Dina Titus, who is a strong supporter of medical marijuana.

Consider this: As I write this, with 67% of precincts reporting, marijuana decriminalization is passing in Massachusetts with 65% of the vote. Obama, who is carrying the state handily, is getting 62%.

In Michigan it’s similar. With 40% of the vote in, medical marijuana is passing with 63% while Obama is carrying the state with 55%.

And this is not just a blue state phenomenon. In 2004, George W. Bush carried Montana with 59% of the vote, while medical marijuana passed with 62%.

Memo to the new Congress and President-elect Obama: Sane marijuana policies are not controversial.

We’ll have more on this soon, but voters in Massachusetts and Michigan appear to have passed both MPP ballot initiatives, making this one of the biggest nights for marijuana policy reform ever.

Massachusetts is now the 12th state to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana — and the first to do so by voter initiative in the world! — and Michigan is now the 13th medical marijuana state and the first in the Midwest. That means that one in four Americans now live in a state that protects patients who use doctor-recommended medical marijuana from arrest.

Like I said, it’s a big night. Congratulations and thanks to everybody who worked so hard to pass these important reforms and to all the voters who saw past the fear-mongering and distortions from opponents of these sensible policies. Check out our complete list of marijuana policy-related ballot initiatives and their results here.

Last week, the illustrious Bruce Mirken told us about how opponents of Michigan’s “Proposal 1” are lying to voters by saying that there are “pot-smoking clubs” in every neighborhood in California.

Now the marijuana-obsessed Drug Czar’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is spewing more hogwash about California’s medical marijuana situation.

The ONDCP’s blog is claiming that there are more medical marijuana dispensaries in San Francisco than Starbucks coffee shops. Their “analysis” concludes that “in downtown San Francisco alone, there are 98 marijuana dispensaries, compared to 71 Starbucks Coffee shops.”

Surprise! Contrary to their own stated policy of “maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information” the ONDCP is lying to us.

There are only 25 medical marijuana dispensaries in the entire city of San Francisco. This figure was reported in a San Francisco Chronicle article just last month.

San Francisco’s dispenaries are tightly regulated by local land-use ordinances and, contrary to the ONDCP’s claims, there is no evidence that they cause an inordinate amount of crime.

Most patients in San Francisco actually want to see more points of access to medical marijuana in their city. After all, there are almost 60 Walgreens pharmacies successfully dispensing Oxycontin, morphine, and a number of other potentially dangerous medications within city limits.

Every time I think the murder of 22-year-old Rachel Hoffman couldn’t get more repulsive, new details emerge suggesting there’s no end to the incompetence, recklessness, and misplaced values of the officers who caused her death.

The young woman – whom the Tallahassee Police Department recruited as a confidential informant after threatening her with a marijuana charge – was murdered by the drug dealers she’d been sent to ensnare in a sting operation.

One of the many confounding aspects of the case to me was why they would send Rachel to buy not just an uncharacteristically large amount of drugs, but a gun as well. She had never been in legal trouble for anything except a couple relatively low-level drug offenses mostly involving marijuana, and she had absolutely no history of violence.

It now appears she suggested purchasing the gun herself because the cops had led her to believe a more high-profile bust would mean the end of her obligations as a CI, and that she would then be allowed to move on with her life.

The officer supervising her CI activities also continues to stick to his dubious claim that Rachel was a big-time drug dealer making $26,000 a week, even though her friends say they never saw her with that kind of cash or drugs, and her dad still paid her rent. Curiously, the officer also said he trusted her with the money she was given for the sting operation because she was a “very religious, family-oriented girl,” and that stealing would have been out of character for her.

I suspect that Rachel’s handlers in the Tallahassee Police Department knew she wasn’t really a criminal in any practical sense. She was just an unlucky soul who got caught up in the ridiculously wide net created by our marijuana laws. In our cruel system, that means those sworn to protect her were now entitled to exploit her, and that she had forfeited her claim to our most basic civil right: life.

The last of three Atlanta police officers pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the shooting death of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston nearly two years ago, thus concluding the federal investigation of that tragic incident.

It appears likely the investigation report will fault shortcuts taken by Atlanta narcotics officers to secure illegal search warrants, which, if you’ll read our summary of the incident, you’ll see is a grotesque understatement in Ms. Johnston’s case. These officers arbitrarily targeted the woman’s home as a crack house, lied to secure a no-knock warrant, shot her five or six times, and then attempted to plant a small amount of marijuana in order to justify their rampage.

Vile abuses of authority are a terrible, inevitable part of human nature. Accountability and harsh justice for the men involved in Ms. Johnston’s death are necessary and appropriate. But until we look at the policies that embolden such men, expect more abuse.

After all, these drug enforcement professionals believed they might get away with the senseless slaying of a 92-year-old woman if she were found possessing marijuana. What does that say about the attitudes that underlie our marijuana policies?

The opposition to Proposal 1, the Michigan medical marijuana initiative, is going on the air with this new TV ad – a spot so egregiously dishonest that even my very jaded jaw dropped when I saw it. It may set an all-time record for the most lies ever packed into a 30-second commercial, spoken by a narrator over grainy, black-and-white footage of what purports to be a medical marijuana dispensary. The most obvious:

1) California’s medical marijuana law is “just like Proposal 1.” No, it’s not. California’s law has almost none of the limitations and restrictions the Michigan proposal does — including a defined list of qualifying conditions and a mandatory patient registry and ID card system. And unlike California’s law, Michigan’s initiative does not authorize dispensaries. Period.

2) “Hundreds of pot-smoking clubs opened in strip malls all over the state. They grow pot there. They smoke it there. In every neighborhood.” Even if this had the slightest relevance to Michigan (which it doesn’t — see above), the statement is just plain false. I say this with some certainty, since I live in San Francisco, perhaps the most medical marijuana friendly city in the state. California dispensaries are not in every neighborhood: Most communities have none at all, while others have strictly regulated where they can locate. Many do not allow smoking on site, and almost none grow on site.

I happen to think medical marijuana dispensaries — when appropriately regulated and well run — are a perfectly fine thing, but they are simply irrelevant to the Michigan debate. But the opponents know the facts won’t help them, so in desperation they resort to shameless lies.

Please take a second to learn the truth about Proposal 1 and how you can help.

It turns out that three of the Massachusetts district attorneys leading the fight against Question 2, the Massachusetts marijuana decriminalization initiative, admit to having used marijuana themselves in the past. To our knowledge, they have yet to explain how their having criminal records that would have barred them from their present careers would leave the state  better off.

You may remember a few weeks back when Dan posted a couple of John Walters’s question and answer segments from a drug czar press conference where Walters claimed that “finding somebody in jail or prison for a first time, non-violent offender [sic] for possession of marijuana is like finding a unicorn.”  More recently, Ben found plenty of unicorns by Walters’s definition.

Over at MPP-TV, we decided to take a look at the drug czar’s numbers and do the math ourselves … and came up with this video on his bizarre claims. Enjoy!

There is evidence that marijuana may work synergistically with opioid pain drugs, allowing equal or better relief with reduced doses of narcotics and reduced development of tolerance to the drugs. But most of this evidence comes from animal studies, so data from human clinical trials is urgently needed.

Dr. Donald Abrams of the University of California, San Francisco, is doing just such a study right now and needs volunteers who are suffering from chronic pain and currently taking OxyContin or MS Contin. Compensation and assistance with transportation to San Francisco are available. If you or anyone you know might be eligible to participate, please check out the details here and consider joining this important effort.

Dealing with White House drug czar John Walters increasingly feels like a trip into some sort of alternate universe. Last week he told The New York Times that he supports a Mexican government proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana or other illicit drugs. 

How shocking is that? Well, in a March 19, 2008, press release, deputy drug czar Scott Burns called a New Hampshire proposal to impose a $200 fine rather than jail time for possession of a small amount of marijuana “a dangerous first step toward complete drug legalization.”

Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s proposal is much more sweeping than the New Hampshire bill, applying not only to marijuana, but also to drugs like cocaine, heroin, and meth. And there would be no fine at all, just drug treatment for those who are addicted or drug education for those who aren’t. And yet our drug czar told The Times, “I don’t think that’s legalization.”

Hypocrisy, thy name is John P. Walters.

What else will happen on November 4?

As Bruce Mirken pointed out in another post, Rep. Mark Souder, a stalwart drug warrior, may lose his seat in Congress this year.  Souder’s possible departure is part of a larger trend of drug warriors losing elections to more sensible candidates.

This change is largely due to the unpopularity of President Bush and the fact that most virulent prohibitionists have maintained close ties with his policies for the last eight years.  Their departure is significant for MPP and other drug policy organizations that hope to pass legislation in the next Congress.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the more exciting contests. 

Kentucky Senate Race:  Senator Mitch McConnell (R) v. Bruce Lunsford (D)

Sen. McConnell is currently in a dead heat with his opponent, Democrat Bruce Lunsford.  McConnell prides himself on securing millions of dollars in federal funding for marijuana eradication in Kentucky.  Come November, he may be seeking a new job.

Florida’s 24th District:  Congressman Tom Feeney (R) v. Suzanne Kosmas (D)

Rep. Feeney introduced an amendment in 2003 that would have forced federal judges to hand down harsh sentences to minor drug offenders and has opposed every sensible piece of drug policy legislation that’s come across his desk.  His opponent, Democrat Suzanne Kosmas, is currently leading by a 23-point margin. The only catch here is that Kosmas supported the Marijuana Grow House Eradication Act, a Florida law that MPP opposed. However she has supported alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders.

Colorado’s 4th District:  Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave (R) v. Betsy Markey (D)

Rep. Musgrave has been a consistent opponent of medical marijuana legislation in Congress.  In 2006, Musgrave took significant contributions from the National Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association while opposing a Colorado initiative to legalize adult marijuana use.  She’s currently losing to Democrat Betsy Markey by nearly 10 points.

Florida’s 8th District:  Congressman Rick Keller (R) v. Alan Grayson (D)

Rep. Keller has pushed for legislation to increase penalties for marijuana users and has always opposed medical marijuana legislation.  He currently trails his opponent by 4 points.

Michigan’s 7th District:  Congressman Tim Walberg (R) v. Mark Schauer (D)

In a state where MPP hopes to pass a medical marijuana initiative this fall, Walberg stands out as a strong opponent to medical marijuana legislation in Congress.  He is currently losing by 9 points to his Democratic rival.

Washington’s 8th District:  Congressman Dave Reichert (R) v. Darcy Burner (D)

Rep. Reichert, despite hailing from a medical marijuana state, has opposed efforts to protect Washington’s state law from federal interference.   He currently trails by 3 points in the polls.

I don’t know how much attention this is going to get in the press, but this strikes me as an extraordinary – and as far as I know, unique – instance of cowardice and cruelty:

SILVER CITY, N.M. (AP) — A woman was told to move out of her apartment when the landlord discovered she has marijuana for medical use.

Bobbie Wooten, 47, uses a wheelchair because she was paralyzed from the waist down in a car crash several years ago and suffers severe spasms. She joined the state’s medical marijuana program when it went into effect last year. …

“My lease provides for a drug-free environment,” said David Kotin of Kay-Kay Realty. “Obviously, she is in violation of my lease.”

I suppose Kotin will also be going through the building checking for beer, Tylenol, and coffeepots now, right? That, or he and Kay-Kay Realty are unforgivably stupid, intellectually lazy, and inhumane. Or both.

Has anybody out there heard of similar instances of housing discrimination toward qualified medical marijuana patients operating within legal limits?

We have special feelings for Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) here at the Marijuana Policy Project, because a few years ago he called our executive director, Rob Kampia, “an articulate advocate for an evil position.” Souder is perhaps the most implacable foe of medical marijuana in the U.S. Congress. And he may be in trouble.

Last week CQ Politics, which tracks House races, changed its rating of Souder’s Indiana 3rd District from “Republican Favored” to “Leans Republican,” writing that “Republican strategists are concerned about Souder, even though he represents a strongly Republican-leaning district.”

His latest troubles involve a report that he sought a congressional earmark for a company in which he owned stock. That would seem to be a pretty blatant ethical no-no, even though Souder’s stock holdings were fairly minor. 

The Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care, the committee backing Proposal 1 on the state’s November ballot, has gone on the air with its first TV spots. One commercial features George Wagoner, M.D., whose wife Beverly died of ovarian cancer in 2007. The other features Deb Brink, a registered nurse and four-time cancer survivor.

The initiative has been endorsed by many of the state’s leading newspapers, including the Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, and Lansing State Journal. MCCC has assembled a collection of recent news clips, including the endorsements.