+Viewpoint | April 6, 2012

Are Medical Marijuana Raids the Price We Must Pay for National Health Care?

By Maia Szalavitz

The legal precedent that allows federal raids on state-permitted medical marijuana providers may be the key ruling that will enable President Obama’s health care plan to survive the Supreme Court.

+Drugs | December 19, 2011

The Case Against the Ban on ‘Bath Salts’ and Fake Marijuana

By Maia Szalavitz

No one would suggest leaving potentially dangerous, untested drugs on the market. But an outright ban hinders valuable research on compounds that could hold clues to treatments for diseases like Alzheimer’s.

+Pain | December 12, 2011

Could Medical Marijuana Reduce Patients’ Need for Opioid Painkillers?

By Maia Szalavitz
Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

A small, new study backs a long-standing claim of advocates of medical marijuana: pain patients can safely use cannabis while taking opioid painkillers, and may actually need fewer pills because of it.

+Drugs | November 3, 2011

Study: Legal Medical Marijuana Doesn’t Encourage Kids to Smoke More Pot

By Maia Szalavitz
Getty Images

Despite warnings from opponents of medical marijuana, legalizing the drug for medical purposes does not encourage teens to smoke more pot, according to new research that compared rates of marijuana use in Massachusetts and Rhode Island after the latter state changed its laws.

+Childhood | October 31, 2011

Trick or Treat: L.A. Sheriff Warns of Marijuana-Laced Halloween Candy

By Maia Szalavitz
Bob Berg / Getty Images

From the department of incipient urban legends comes a press release from the L.A. County Sheriff, warning that officers have seized medical marijuana products “packaged to resemble licensed commercial candy and snacks” and that some tricksters may try to sneak them into youngsters’ Halloween candy.

+Drugs | October 24, 2011

Obama’s Misguided Crackdown on Medical Marijuana

By Maia Szalavitz
Getty Images

(Updated) Why is the U.S. government cracking down on medical marijuana, a $1.7 billion business — and one of the few that seems to be thriving in a moribund economy?

+Drugs | July 11, 2011

U.S. Rules That Marijuana Has No Medical Use. What Does Science Say?

By Maia Szalavitz
Getty Images

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) ruled on Friday that marijuana has “no accepted medical use” and should therefore remain illegal under federal law — regardless of conflicting state legislation allowing medical marijuana and despite hundreds of studies and centuries of medical practice attesting to the drug’s benefits.

+Regulation | March 24, 2011

Medical Marijuana Sales Grow to Rival Viagra’s: New Report

By Maia Szalavitz
Jon Paciaroni / Aurora via Getty Images

Medical marijuana is becoming big business — racking up sales totals that rival those for Viagra, according to a new report.

+Quotes | February 11, 2011

“We were duped.”

—REP. MIKE MILBURN, Montana House speaker, who said he thought arguments for medical-marijuana use — which 62% of voters approved in a statewide referendum in 2004 — were a ploy to encourage recreational use and ease the way to full legalization. A bill to repeal Montana's medical-marijuana law, sponsored by Milburn, passed the Republican-controlled House [...]

+Quotes | February 10, 2011

“He's not taking the marijuana to get high, believe me.”

—SHAN MOORE, father of a 16-year-old Colorado Springs high-school student who was prescribed medical marijuana pills to treat a rare, life-threatening seizure disorder that has kept him out of school for a year. Moore says his son's school will not allow him to possess, ingest or be under the influence of marijuana on campus, which [...]