SmartApproaches

SAM Director Kevin Sabet explains many of the dynamics figuring into the debate about marijuana legalization. 

Job Title: Internship Start: Rolling Length and Commitment: Negotiable Compensation: Negotiable About Policy Solutions Lab (PSL): PSL is a public policy consulting firm which focuses primarily on illicit drug policy in the United States. PSL’s clients include nation-wide anti-drug coalitions, United Nations agencies and other international organizations, and government agencies. Project SAM (www.learnaboutsam.org) is a nonpartisan […]

The Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area has been dedicated to tracking the impact of marijuana legalization in Colorado — and the findings aren’t pretty.

Dr. Christian Thurstone, a member of SAM’s board of directors, gives several reasons why children with severe epilepsy should avoid the CBD oil product known as “Charlotte’s Web.”

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd ate a marijuana edible in Denver, and we hope you’ll read her full report about the experience.

There is no debate: marijuana is addictive and harmful to brain development, and current trends showing increased use among adolescents are profoundly troubling, Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told thousands of people gathered last week in Washington, D.C., for an annual meeting of the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, […]

Of the 2.4 million Americans who try marijuana for the first time each year, 58 percent are under the age of 18. That’s why when we’re debating drug policy and the impact of marijuana on society, we cannot ignore kids. Because the brain isn’t fully formed until about the age of 25, youth are especially […]

A statement issued by the University of Colorado School of Medicine: AURORA, Colo. (May 15, 2014) – The proportion of marijuana-positive drivers involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes in Colorado has increased dramatically since the commercialization of medical marijuana in the middle of 2009, according to a study by University of Colorado School of Medicine […]

SAM is pleased to team with more than 50 drug-prevention groups and agencies in Missouri to present the Missouri Marijuana Prevention Tour!

A groundbreaking, new study, published April 16 in the Journal of Neuroscience, is consistent with research showing that the more marijuana people use, and the earlier they start using the drug, the more likely they are to harm what one researcher said is “part of the brain you do not want to mess around with.”

We are SAM. Smart Approaches to Marijuana. We are professionals working in mental health and public health. We are bipartisan. We are medical doctors, lawmakers, treatment providers, preventionists, teachers, law enforcement officers and others who seek a middle road between incarceration and legalization. Our commonsense, third-way approach to marijuana policy is based on reputable science […]

If we, as a nation, were so concerned about lead exposure that we worked hard to remove it from gasoline, paint and air, what should be our collective response to marijuana given everything responsible science already knows about that drug?

Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), an alliance of organizations and individuals, including medical professionals from Harvard Medical School, Children’s Hospital Boston, University of Colorado, University of Kansas, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and leaders from other major public health groups, released a statement, through SAM Director Dr. Kevin Sabet, about CNN’s Sanjay Gupta’s […]

Even parents who support marijuana legalization expect strong regulation of the drug that includes bans on public use and advertising of any kind, according to the results of a national survey released today in Denver by The Partnership at Drugfree.org.

Join members of the Washington Association for Substance Abuse & Violence Prevention to hear the latest information about evidence-based interventions that potentially prevent marijuana use in the youth you care about.

In line with recent calls for Washington to “get it right” and for “strict controls” on the state’s new marijuana marketplace, the Washington Association for Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention (WSAVP) recommends the implementation of policies to prevent youth marijuana use and promote healthy communities.

As The Daily Chronic reports, Washington is many months away from implementing a state-regulated marijuana market.

Owners of rental property in Washington are reviewing their housing policies in light of the legalization of recreational marijuana by voters in that state.

“The legalization of marijuana is moving fast in parts of the United States and it looks as though the domino effect could quickly move to other states such as Hawaii,” said former U.S. Congressman Patrick Kennedy, Project SAM chairman. “We decided to bring SAM to Hawaii to spur discussions about marijuana use and misuse.”

The bill’s death concluded weeks of debate about the drug that attracted fervent testimony from both marijuana advocates and law enforcement officials.

To track information about the rules concerning medical marijuana in Massachusetts, visit this page on the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services’ website.

The 52 pages of regulations that were approved unanimously by the state Public Health Council will allow patients approved for medical marijuana to receive up to 10 ounces as a 60-day supply, though some acutely ill patients could receive more with permission from their doctors.

As Boston magazine reports, the official medical marijuana regulations crafted by the Department of Public Health aren’t even fully in effect, and already, activists are planting the seed for the next step in the pot saga — full legalization of the drug.

“While the current conversation in Vermont about marijuana is decriminalization, the legalization of marijuana is moving fast in parts of the United States, and it looks as though the domino effect could quickly move to other states such as Vermont,” said former U.S. Congressman Patrick Kennedy, Project SAM’s chairman.