| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEApril 17, 2023 | Media Contact: Jaime Zerbe jaime@learnaboutsam.org 540-849-0107 |
| MEDICAL AND ADULT USE MARIJUANA EXPANSION DANGEROUS, RISKS ARIZONANS HEALTH AND SAFETY |
| (PHOENIX, AZ) – Citing the serious risks to patients, a lack of peer reviewed research, and the potential to exacerbate the ongoing opioid and addiction crisis, SAM Action President and CEO Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former drug policy advisor to Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama, called on Arizona legislators to reject legislation that would alter and expand the state’s medical and adult use marijuana program. The legislation also adds new medical conditions to the list of approved uses for medical marijuana despite the lack of any peer reviewed research in a respectable medical journal to warrant such an expansion. “As U.S. Surgeons General and HHS officials have said, marijuana is not medicine nor is it designed to treat any ailment. Expansion of so-called medical marijuana programs has been part of a strategy to establish a commercial market for THC in every state where programs like these have been passed,” Sabet said. “Not only would this legislation be illegal under federal law, its effects on public health and safety are troubling. Current data demonstrates that youth-use, drugged driving fatalities due to marijuana, and hospitalizations have all increased in states with commercial marijuana markets. Beyond these significant liabilities, the science also demonstrates clearly that mental health issues including psychosis are increasing, and calls to the poison control centers for marijuana ingestion have also risen in states with legal markets.” “Worst of all, this drug industry-sponsored legislation creates serious health and safety risks for pregnant and nursing women, and their fetuses and babies, by eliminating warning labels that present the dangers associated with marijuana-use. Research has also demonstrated that THC, causes many different types of mental and physiological health problems— especially in fetuses, newborns, children and youth.” John Daviau, Smart Approaches to Marijuana’s (SAM) Director of State and Local Affairs submitted written testimony to members of the House Rules and Appropriations committees outlining the serious flaws in the legislation and its risks to public health and safety. |