On Tuesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee released a comprehensive report on drug policy compiled by the congressionally mandated Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission, composed of a small handful of appointees, including former Obama Administration officials and Members of Congress. The report provided a list of policy recommendations for the upcoming administration to help improve drug policy in the Americas.
Notably, the report mentioned issues with thriving illicit marijuana markets and other issues with the legalization of marijuana. Not only was marijuana legalization not among the recommendations for future drug policy, the report mentioned the negative consequences we are seeing in legal states.
Dr. Kevin Sabet, president and co-founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and a former senior drug policy advisor to the Obama Administration released the following statement in support of the report:
“I am pleased to see this report highlight the fact that efforts to ‘legalize’ marijuana in a handful of states here in the U.S. have by and large failed to properly regulate the substance. Given the fact that some activists are pushing for the legalization of all drugs, this report should be a cautionary tale for future consideration of broad policy changes.
“The report acts as an important reference point for future U.S. drug policy, and its findings should be discussed and debated among the incoming Administration. We urgently need a more cohesive Western Hemisphere drug strategy in this new decade.”