SmartApproaches

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a bill that decriminalizes marijuana, making possession of less than an ounce of the drug punishable by a small fine rather than arrest and possible jail time. Under the new law, those under age 21 who are caught with marijuana will be required to undergo substance abuse screening.

SAM Co-founder Kevin Sabet, a former senior White House drug policy advisor, responds to The Washington Post’s publication of Doug Fine’s column, headlined: “Five Myths About Legalized Marijuana:” In recent years, The Washington Post has managed to strike a balance between pro- and anti-legalization opinion pieces (e.g. Rauch’s “Let’s Go Down the Aisle Toward Legalized […]

An Organization of American States study is calling for a serious discussion about marijuana policy. The report, issued today, is a good first step, but should not be construed as an endorsement of marijuana legalization or policies outside United Nations drug control treaties, said two former top U.S. drug policy officials who served on the […]

At meeting with state legislators in Atlanta, Ga., today, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said the dichotomy of “punishment versus rehabilitation” oversimplifies the issue of marijuana legalization. He said he worries about legal marijuana being marketed to kids; presumes marijuana revenues will be outweighed by the costs of abuse; and favors arrests for users that […]

Click link to watch video: http://vp.telvue.com/preview?id=T01221&video=151884    

Today, Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) Director Kevin A. Sabet released a statement: “We applaud the President for definitively expressing that legalization is not the answer to our drug problems. President Obama’s drug strategy emphasizes a comprehensive approach to drug policy based on reducing the demand and supply for drugs in the United States. […]

Release: May 6, 2013 Today, Kevin A. Sabet, Director of Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) released this statement on the California Supreme Court decision specifying that cities and towns can ban medical marijuana “dispensaries”:   “It is universally accepted that California’s medical marijuana system is a sad joke. This unanimous decision by the California […]

Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) applauds Temple University’s Center for Substance Abuse Research (CSAR) for their discovery into the potential medical benefits of synthetic derivatives of marijuana for HIV/AIDS patients.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock has issued a strong statement regarding implementation of Amendment 64, the state constitutional amendment Colorado voters approved last year to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

Colorado voters didn’t exactly think through Amendment 64, the state constitutional amendment they approved last year to legalize recreational use of marijuana.

SAM Statement on Pew Poll on Marijuana Legalization: http://www.people-press.org/2013/04/04/majority-now-supports-legalizing-marijuana/ The survey’s results are an indication, more than anything, of the careless discussion about legalization currently going on in this country. That discussion is being funded with millions of dollars from those who will profit off of legalization – marijuana’s version of Big Tobacco – as […]

Denver journalist Christine Tatum, a friend to SAM, writes: “It’s troubling that every regulatory framework of marijuana Colorado is considering is outside the bounds of federal law — and that the one regulatory framework that stands to save more lives and public resources is the very one its lawmakers haven’t found the political will to […]

We at Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) commend the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee for sending two anti-marijuana resolutions to the full state Senate with “do-pass recommendations.”

We appreciate your letters of support which — like this one that arrived today from Joyce Morris in Colorado — encourage and energize(!) our volunteers. We invite you to contact us — and to support SAM.

Columnist Maia Szalavitz devoted 1000 words on TheFix.com last week to single-handedly bash a project she clearly does not know much about.

Kevin Sabet and Dr. Drew spoke in 2011.

Dr. Christian Thurstone: “It really blows my mind that this is even a debate … that we even have to really push hard to get them away from schools.”

Patrick Kennedy spoke with MSNBC in January 2013.

SAM Director Kevin Sabet debates Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance on July 17, 2012 on CNN Newsroom with Carol Costello.

Prohibition — America’s notoriously “failed social experiment” to rid the country of alcohol — took center stage this week as PBS broadcast Ken Burns’ highly acclaimed series on the subject. And already, it has been seized on by drug legalization advocates, who say it proves that drug prohibition should be abandoned. But a closer look […]

When discussing drug policies and their enforcement, the war analogy is not a particularly useful one.

In 1989, just a few months after his inauguration, America’s new president, George H.W. Bush, called up his friend Tom Landry, who had just stepped down as the beloved coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

A radical program in the Pineapple State is shattering myths about how to deal with drug offenders who violate probation. If only the rest of the country would catch on.  Hawaii is revolutionizing probation.

California Assembly Bill 2254—often referred to as the Ammiano bill—and the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis (RCTC) proposition would legalize marijuana use for those 21 and over in California. The Ammiano bill would allow the state to regulate production and distri- bution and initially apply an excise tax of $50 per ounce. The RCTC proposition […]