STATES 2.0 Act Would Put Nation’s Addiction Crisis on Steroids
(WASHINGTON, DC) – Today, Representatives Dave Joyce (OH-14), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05), Brian Mast (FL-21), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), and Troy Carter (LA-02) introduced reckless legislation that would legalize unlimited potency concentrates and kid-friendly pot gummies at the federal level. Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former White House drug policy advisor to Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton and president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action (SAM Action), released the following statement in response:
“Big Marijuana is relentless in its pursuit of a new generation of users for their dangerous THC drugs. Scientific data increasingly links THC drug use with depression, IQ loss, suicidality, psychosis, schizophrenia and other consequences. The rapid normalization and proliferation of these dangerous psychoactive drugs is already having serious down-stream consequences as more and more young people fail to understand the risks associated with the use of THC and other drugs. Despite this reality, Rep. Joyce and his colleagues want to supersize the industry and give them carte blanche to unleash more high-potency drugs on communities across the nation.”
“America’s addiction crisis is not new, but it is clearly getting worse. Legalizing and normalizing marijuana and high-potency THC drugs at the federal level, as this bill does, would make the situation even more dire for millions of Americans and their families.”
“What Reps. Joyce, Mast and others are taking about is allowing for the advertising and sale of 99 percent THC potency concentrates and kid-friendly pot gummies, candies, ice creams, and sodas that have come under significant scrutiny for causing massive increases in emergency room visits in legalized states and have been shown to increase the risk of psychosis. It opens the floodgates for institutional investors and Big Tobacco to swoop in and buy up the marijuana industry.”
“Big Pot has spent millions of dollars on lobbyists who have brought back this disastrous legislation because they’re losing their fight to parents, law enforcement, educators and medical professionals who have all raised serious concerns about the industry, its practices, and the harms associated with these products. For these members of Congress to help Big Marijuana turn into the next Big Tobacco, all at the expense of public health, safety, social justice, and common sense, is outrageous and they should be ashamed.”