The Department of Justice is changing its long-standing policy of ignoring state laws that allow marijuana use for medicinal purposes. This federalism question played out several years ago in the Supreme Court in the Raich case; Cato’s amicus brief is available here.

Cato hosted Rob Kampia of the Marijuana Policy Project in March, and you can view the event here. Glenn Greenwald wrote an influential study for Cato on the successful decriminalization of drugs in Portugal. Greenwald notes that he gets more invitations to speak on the subject now than he did when it was published.

A good first step. Fourteen states permit medical marijuana dispensaries; I suspect more are on the way now that this hurdle has been cleared.

Good News on Medical Marijuana is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

On April 3, Cato hosted a special blogger briefing with Glenn Greenwald, who was here to speak about his new paper on the success of drug decriminalization in Portugal.

Here are a few highlights from bloggers who wrote about it:

• Dan Bernath from the Marijuana Policy Project

• Scott Morgan of StopTheDrugWar.org

• Jesse Singal, associate editor of Campus Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress

Also, a few links to bloggers who are writing about Cato:

• Citing new research that shows that the DC school choice pilot program was highly successful, Betsy Newmark linked to Andrew J. Coulson’s commentary on the study results.

• Ilya Somin discussed Patri Friedman’s new essay at Cato Unbound about the Seasteading Institute and the history of libertarian activism.

• Blogger Connie Carr wrote about William Niskanen’s essay in the new Cato Policy Report, “How to turn a Recession into a Depression.”

If you are blogging about Cato, let us know by emailing cmoody@cato.org or catch us on Twitter @catoinstitute.

Who’s Blogging about Cato is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

As of this writing, 13 states have passed legislation legalizing medical marijuana. President Obama’s pledge to stop raiding medical marijuana facilities was met with praise from opponents of the drug war, but what does it mean for the future of drug policy?

In Monday’s Cato Daily Podcast, Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, explains his organization’s goals and strategies for ending marijuana prohibition in the United States.

Our society is not quite ready yet to completely end marijuana prohibition. So what we want to do is keep as many people from being arrested and put in jail as possible in the short run. One way of doing that is to legalize medical marijuana state by state.

Kampia spoke at a policy forum on medical marijuana at the Cato Institute in March.

Monday Podcast ‘The Politics of Medical Marijuana’ is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

Tuesday, March 16

The Politics and Science of Medical Marijuana

12:00 PM (Luncheon to Follow)

In the political realm, the debate over the legal status of medical marijuana continues to rage.

Since 1996, 12 states have legalized marijuana for medical use. What have medical scientists learned about marijuana over the past 10 years? And how have the politics on this contentious issue shifted at the federal and state level?

Join us for a lively discussion of the science and politics of medical marijuana.

Featuring Donald Abrams, M.D., Director of Clinical Programs, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, University of California; Robert DuPont, M.D., President, Institute for Behavior and Health; Rob Kampia, Executive Director, Marijuana Policy Project; Moderated by Tim Lynch, Director, Project on Criminal Justice, Cato Institute.

The event will be simulcast live online.

Event This Week at Cato is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

Harvard Economist Jeff Miron tells CNN that the drug laws make no sense.

On March 17, Cato will be hosting an event about The Politics and Science of Medical Marijuana.  One of our guest speakers, Rob Kampia of the Marijuana Policy Project, was recently interviewed by Glenn Beck.

For more Cato work on the drug war, go here.

End Drug War and Save $77 Billion is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog