PRESS RELEASE
KENNEDY GROUP LAUNCHES ANTI-MARIJUANA AD NEAR SUPER BOWL STADIUM TODAY
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) places ad near MetLife stadium to raise awareness about the harms of marijuana
WASHINGTON– Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), a nonpartisan alliance of lawmakers, scientists and other concerned citizens, chaired by former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy and directed by former White House adviser Kevin A. Sabet, launched a new Super Bowl ad which will be placed on digital and vinyl billboards throughout the New York-New Jersey area.
The ad depicts a football player with the words “Motivation, Perseverance, Determination” above it, and a marijuana leaf below the words “None of the Above.” The ad reads, “Marijuana kills your drive. Don’t lose in the game of life.”
“Marijuana use saps motivation, perseverance, and determination, – the opposite of what it takes to win the Super Bowl,” remarked Mr. Kennedy. “It is not a safe drug, especially for kids, and we need to reiterate the message to coaches, parents, players, and teens alike that it has no place in football.”
“This country is on the brink of creating a massive marijuana industry that will inevitably target teens and other vulnerable populations. Misconceptions about marijuana are becoming more and more prevalent,” said former Obama Administration adviser, Dr. Kevin A. Sabet “It’s time to clear the smoke and get the facts out about this drug.”
According to the National Institutes of Health, marijuana is addictive, reduces IQ, and contributes to car crashes. The American Medical Association released a statement last month opposing the legal sales of marijuana and calling the use of the drug “a public health concern.”
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is supported by a scientific advisory board comprising the heads of major medical associations and widely respected national researchers and scientists.
The ad will be displayed throughout the region and they will be running continually in three locations from tonight until next week. Two of them will be on I-80, visible to seven lanes of traffic (minutes from George Washington bridge) and one is located between I-78 and Route 22, covering traffic heading towards Newark Airport and the New Jersey Turnpike and reading to 12 lanes of traffic.
The ad is funded by Policy Solutions Group, Inc., a consulting company headed up by Dr. Sabet that sponsors Project SAM.
Project SAM, has four main goals:
• To inform public policy with the science of today’s potent marijuana.
• To prevent the establishment of “Big Marijuana” — and a 21st-Century tobacco industry that would market marijuana to children.
• To promote research of marijuana’s medical properties and produce, non-smoked, non-psychoactive pharmacy-attainable medications.
• To have an adult conversation about reducing the unintended consequences of current marijuana policies, such as lifelong stigma due to arrest.
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About Project SAM
Project SAM is a nonpartisan alliance of lawmakers, scientists and other concerned citizens who want to move beyond simplistic discussions of “incarceration versus legalization” when discussing marijuana use and instead focus on practical changes in marijuana policy that neither demonizes users nor legalizes the drug. Project SAM has affiliates in almost twenty states, including New York, California, Colorado, Vermont, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Missouri, and other jurisdictions.