Python Queue get()/task_done() issue

My consumer side of the queue:

m = queue.get()
queue.task_done()

<rest of the program>

Questions:

1. Does task_done() effectively pops m off the queue and release whatever locks the consumer has on the queue?

2. I need to use m during the rest of the program. Is it safe, or do I need to copy it before I call task_done() or is m usable after task_done()?

be happy