(WASHINGTON, DC) – Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and a three-time White House drug policy advisor, released the following statement in advance of the anniversary of commercial marijuana sales in Missouri on February 3:
“Trends across the nation have universally shown that sales of today’s high-potency marijuana and THC-infused drugs are resulting in more DUI accidents, more youth-use, more workplace accidents, a larger illicit market, and lower than expected tax revenue. Missouri has been no different. Lawmakers at the state and federal level – many of whom count pot profiteers among their donors – refuse to acknowledge the damage being done and have been resistant to advance policies that can save Missourians from physical, psychological and economic clutches of this predatory industry.”
Since the passage of legalization in December 2022, Missouri has seen:
- The number of marijuana-related poison control calls involving children aged 5 or under increased from 7 in 2018 to 168 in 2023.
- The number of marijuana-related emergency department visits for children aged 5 or under increased from 12 in 2018 to 59 in 2022 and 58 for the first 9 months of 2023.
- In August 2024, the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services announced, “In Missouri, there has been a 600% increase in the number of children 5 and under experiencing cannabis poisoning that resulted in emergency room visits or hospitalizations since 2018.”
- It has been reported that, “Although marijuana is now legal in Missouri, illegal black market sales continue to happen, along with the dangers of street-level drug dealing.”
- In August 2024, the state issued two recalls that involved 135,000 marijuana products.
“The last two years have demonstrated again that Big Marijuana will stop at nothing to hook a new generation of users on increasingly potent pot products. Significant reforms are needed, including requiring clear warning labels that spell out the harms associated with these dangerous psychoactive drugs. Those labels should make clear to the public that THC drugs are increasingly medically associated with depression, suicidality, IQ loss, psychosis and schizophrenia, especially for young people. Lawmakers should also advance strict potency caps, enact bans on advertising that can be seen by those under 21, and invest greater resources in prevention and treatment programs to help those who are bearing the consequences of the state’s failed experiment with marijuana legalization.”