General

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), the nation’s leading organization opposed to the commercialization of marijuana, released a comprehensive roadmap for the Biden Administration centered on the President-Elect’s marijuana policy position and the platform of the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force. The release of the report coincides with today’s swearing-in of former White House Office of National […]

A systematic review of over 500 studies on marijuana use and military veterans published in the journal Clinical Psychology Review — the first of its kind — found that marijuana use among veterans was associated with primarily negative outcomes such as other substance abuse, mental health issues, and instances of self-harm/suicidality. The review stated that […]

State-level data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the most authoritative study on drug use conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), found significant increases in youth marijuana use in several recently legalized marijuana states versus last year. At the same time, mental illness indicators worsened across the country […]

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont called upon the state to commercialize marijuana during his annual State of the State address. Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and a former senior drug policy advisor to the Obama Administration, released the following statement in response: “In the midst of an unprecedented respiratory pandemic and […]

As part of the rollout of his agenda for the year, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has renewed his call to commercialize marijuana. Dr. Kevin Sabet, former senior drug policy advisor to the Obama Administration and president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and its NYS affiliate, SAM New York, released the following statement in […]

New data released today from the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future study has found stagnant levels of drug use among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders this year, but several statistics were nonetheless alarming. Increases in daily marijuana use among 12th graders continue to trend upwards, at 6.9% in 2020, versus 5.8% in 2018. And […]

The United States House of Representatives passed the MORE Act, a bill to federally legalize marijuana. Despite bipartisan opposition, the bill reached the threshold needed to pass. Notably, more Democrats voted against the bill than Republicans voted in support of it. The lame-duck vote comes months after mounting criticism from both Democrats and Republicans forced House […]

On Tuesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee released a comprehensive report on drug policy compiled by the congressionally mandated Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission, composed of a small handful of appointees, including former Obama Administration officials and Members of Congress. The report provided a list of policy recommendations for the upcoming administration to help improve […]

The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs narrowly voted by 27-25-1 to reclassify medically approved derivatives of the marijuana plant, recognizing such non-smoked medications as Epidiolex within the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Marijuana remains in the Schedule I classification alongside cocaine and opioids, meaning the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs has not approved of […]

A coalition comprised of the leadership of more than sixty public health and substance abuse organizations in the United States sent a letter to President-Elect Joe Biden and his transition team urging the President-Elect to focus on reprioritizing the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and re-elevate the Director of the ONDCP to its […]

(Washington, D.C.) – According to multiple media outlets, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. has secured more than 270 Electoral College votes and is now officially the president-elect. Accordingly, Dr. Kevin Sabet — president and co-founder of the non-partisan organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and a former senior drug policy advisor to the Obama Administration — […]

Ahead of the first presidential debate, Smart Approaches to Marijuana — the nation’s largest non-profit dedicated to opposing marijuana commercialization — released its fourth annual report on the impact of marijuana legalization today, as well as a companion guide designed to educate candidates for office on marijuana policy. “In pot legal states, stoned driving is […]

Today, after weeks of pushback, House Democratic leaders canceled a vote on the MORE Act, a bill to federally legalize and commercialize marijuana. Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and a former senior drug policy advisor to the Obama Administration released the following statement in response: “This is a massive victory […]

Marijuana use among young adults (aged 18-28) has reached an all-time high according to new data from the largest, most comprehensive drug use survey of students in the United States. The Monitoring the Future survey, compiled by researchers at the University of Michigan and funded by the National Institutes of Health, is the benchmark for […]

Today, a coalition of social justice, drug prevention, recovery, family, and faith organizations penned a joint letter to the leadership of the United States House of Representatives strongly opposing the MORE Act, a bill to federally legalize the commercial marijuana industry that is tentatively scheduled for a vote the week of September 21st. According to […]

US Health Department also singles out Colorado in its report for the state’s high weed use and addiction rates, as well as its co-occurring mental illness problems with marijuana On Friday, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released the 2019 Annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the most comprehensive survey […]

National data released by Quest Diagnostics found that rates of marijuana positivity in the workforce have sharply risen both over the last year (2018-2019) and since legalization was implemented. Furthermore, Quest Diagnostics also reported that workforce drug positivity hit a sixteen-year high in 2019. “While overall workforce drug positivity rates have risen only slightly over […]

Today, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced his fall legislative agenda, which included a call for the legislature to commercialize marijuana to fund “business grants and restorative justice.” Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former Obama Administration advisor and president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), the nation’s largest non-profit dedicated to opposing marijuana commercialization, released the following […]

Today, new data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBS), an annual survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Prevention (CDC) confirms concerning trends when it comes to substance abuse, especially marijuana use, in high school students. Notably, the data finds that lifetime marijuana use is the number one risk factor for prescription opioid […]

Today, a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that among pregnant women surveyed in 2017, those who gave live birth in marijuana-legal states Alaska and Maine had the highest rate of marijuana use, followed by medical marijuana states Illinois, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. “Marijuana use […]

According to a new Canadian study published in Nature Medicine, women who use marijuana during pregnancy have a more than 50 percent greater chance to give birth to a child with autism versus non-users. The study also found the risk for other neurodevelopmental disorders was heightened. “This is an extremely concerning development,” said Dr. Kevin […]

Today, a new survey released by the state of Colorado finds that marijuana use has skyrocketed in the last two years with nearly 21% of young people in the state reporting past-month use. Notably, use in young teens (aged 15 and younger) has increased to 15.5%, up from 2017 (the last time data was collected). […]

A study recently released by the University of Washington finds that marijuana legalization and commercialization may have begun a reversal of previous downward trends in teen marijuana use. The study, which followed 230 teens and young adults, found that young people may be more likely to use marijuana after commercialization, due to normalization as a […]

A broad, diverse group of renowned scientists, led by the first Black United States Magistrate Judge and researchers from Johns Hopkins and Harvard Medical School, sent a letter to former Vice President and current presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, commending him for his unwavering commitment to a well-reasoned approach to marijuana policy. The researchers, members […]