Pot Profiteers Seek Future Generations Hooked on Addiction to Fuel Corporate Profits
(VIENNA, AUSTRIA) – As nations around the world continue to deal with the repercussions of the addiction industry’s efforts to inject more dangerous, psychoactive drugs into populations, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS) President Dr. Kevin Sabet heads to the 68th Session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs with an urgent message about the need for greater focus on prevention and treatment.
CND68 (March 10 – 14, 2025) is taking place at a time when countries like the United States, Canada, and Germany are under pressure to broadly legalize and normalize marijuana, psychedelics, and other drugs, despite those substances being placed under international control by the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
At the Commission’s Session, SAM’s leadership will participate in multiple events, including “Lessons Learned from Cannabis Legalization” (Tuesday, 11 March at 15:00 in M0E05) and “The Hyannis Consensus: The New Path for Anti-Drug Policy,” (Tuesday, 11 March at 9:00 in VIC Restaurant Salon ABCD) where partner organization, the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS), will announce the global launch of its seminal blueprint for drug policy.
SAM and FDPS President Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former three-time White House drug policy advisor, issued the following statement before departing for Vienna:
“It remains deeply concerning that the United States, Canada, and other nations continue to support actions that violate both the spirit and the letter of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. It has become increasingly clear that legalization as a philosophy is failing. From Thailand to Europe to Oregon and San Francisco in the U.S. and British Columbia in Canada, decision makers and the public are waking up to this reality and looking for another path forward. As we have said previously, we should embrace interventions that promote treatment and recovery. There is no such thing as safe drug use.
“We should meet people where they are, but we should not leave them there. Addiction is a complex disorder and policy makers must empower those on the front lines with the ability to offer those suffering from drug use different paths to recovery. But the data is clear, legalizing drugs and expanding a multi-billion-dollar industry under the guise of safe supply will not lead us to recovery.”
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