Kansas City, Missouri – Today, Luke Niforatos, Executive Vice President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), issued the following statement in response to the newly proposed Missouri ballot initiative backed by American Shaman and other hemp industry players:
“What American Shaman is attempting in Missouri is nothing short of a hostile corporate takeover of the state’s public health.
“THC is bad news, no matter the delivery platform or legal and regulatory regime that surrounds it. This initiative doubles down on that danger.
“Cloaked in language about ‘streamlining,’ it reclassifies high-potency THC as ‘hemp’ to bypass existing marijuana laws and flood gas stations, liquor stores, and convenience stores with unregulated, psychoactive drugs.”
“This scheme would further endanger consumers by putting dangerous, addictive THC products next to alcohol, encouraging dual use and ramping up the risk of impaired driving and the tragic injuries and deaths it causes, to say nothing of ER visits, psychosis, and addiction.
“It’s like putting prescription opioids in a vending machine.
“Missouri voters deserve to know the truth. Hemp industry business leaders don’t care about ‘reform,’ only about rewriting the rules to make it easier for companies like American Shaman to hook a new generation on high-potency drugs. We urge voters, lawmakers, and public health leaders across the state to reject this reckless initiative before it does irreversible harm.”
###