General

Legalizing marijuana encourages use of harder drugs and sets back the cause of social justice. By Patrick Kennedy and Kevin Sabet Sens. Cory Gardner and Elizabeth Warren have introduced a bill to legalize marijuana at the federal level in the name of “states’ rights.” In reality, it would give birth to Big Tobacco’s successor. This […]

Today, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Kevin Sabet released this statement on the Senate vote for the legalization of marijuana in Canada: “Despite warnings and opposition from major medical groups, and international treaties outlawing the legal sales of marijuana, Canada has, on a mainly party-line vote, sided with the mariijuana industry and legalized the […]

Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted down the Merkley amendment which would have allowed full banking access to the marijuana industry. Dr. Kevin Sabet, founder and president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana released the following statement in response: “Last week, public health notched a decisive win against Big Marijuana when the House Appropriations Committee voted […]

Today, the House Appropriations Committee voted down the Joyce amendment which would have allowed full banking access to the marijuana industry. Dr. Kevin Sabet, founder and president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action released the following statement in response: “This is a major victory for public health and families in communities across this country. Allowing […]

In honor of the upcoming World Drug Day – or the UN International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking – SAM is dedicating June 26th to the millions of volunteers who advocate for wider awareness about the growing problem of marijuana. “On this day, we should remember the people on the front lines every […]

Today, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) celebrates the results of several local level ballot initiatives in California and Massachusetts that prohibit pot shops in communities. In Jarupa Valley, California, the pot industry got hit with a double whammy by losing two ballot measures. The first, Measure A, would have overturned a city-wide ban on commercial […]

More details soon, but check out this time-lapse of our staff putting up our new sign at a soon-to-be opened new office! And if you want to apply to any of the several new openings, tell us!  

[Alexandria, VA] – In response to today’s announced legislation by Colorado Senator Cory Gardner and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Dr. Kevin Sabet released the following statement:   “Why is Senator Gardner standing for the same companies that were caught red-handed recommending pot to pregnant women? The state of Colorado […]

Leading Marijuana Policy Group Celebrates Victories as State-Level Marijuana Legalization Bills Fail [Alexandria, VA] – Today, Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action and its state affiliates celebrated the victory of public health and safety over the marijuana industry in states across the country as multiple marijuana legalization bills died at the end of legislative sessions.   […]

Monitoring the Future study finds percentage of 12th graders admitting they would use marijuana reaching levels never before seen in 43-year history More 12th graders than ever admitted they would use marijuana if it were legal, according to new numbers from the largest drug use survey in the United States. Specifically, one in four 12th graders thought […]

May 10th (Hartford, CT) Today, the legislative session in Connecticut comes to a close. After pro-pot advocates claimed a victory in moving a bill to legalize marijuana out of committee, they almost immediately suffered a crushing defeat as neither chamber took up the bill in question. The push to legalize and commercialize marijuana in Connecticut, […]

[Alexandria, VA] – According to a new study by Quest Diagnostics, one of the leading drug testing and analysis organizations in the country, drug use in the U.S. workforce is at the highest levels it has been in the last decade, driven in large part by states that have legalized the sale of marijuana. Disturbingly, the […]

[Alexandria, VA] – New data released by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission indicate several troubling trends have emerged since marijuana legalization. Most notably: Marijuana-impaired driving fatalities have more than doubled (13 in 2012 to 27 in 2016). One in five drivers are under the influence of marijuana. That is up from one in 10 prior […]

Regulatory body will likely be slow to roll-out implementation, local opposition will continue [Augusta, ME] – Today, SAM and SAM Maine released this statement on the Maine Legislature’s vote to override Governor LePage’s veto on a bill legalizing marijuana. Bill 1719 will now become law, but it is unlikely that Governor LePage will push to […]

A big thank you to everyone who made the trip to Atlanta, GA for our 5th Annual Smart Approaches to Marijuana Summit! As SAM Founder and President Dr. Kevin Sabet said during his opening remarks, those who are standing up and pushing back against the commercialization and normalization of marijuana are on the right side […]

[Washington, DC] – Today, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) officials, including a former Congressman and the nation’s first African-American magistrate judge, joined members of the New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus, faith-based leaders, researchers from the National Institutes of Health, and other public health and safety experts at a press conference warning about the dangers of marijuana and […]

Today, the day before the unofficial “marijuana holiday,” Healthy and Productive Illinois (HPIL) – a project of Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action (SAM Action) – released a comprehensive working paper on the projected costs of legalization in Illinois, finding that legalization would cost the state $670.5 million, far outweighing estimated tax revenue projections of approximately $566 million. The report will be released […]

Contact: Colton Grace Colton@learnaboutsam.org (864) 492-6719 [Alexandria, VA] – Today, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) issued the following statement from SAM President Dr. Kevin Sabet in response to a reported deal between President Donald Trump and Senator Cory Gardner to protect Colorado’s marijuana industry from federal law:   “This discussion is far from over. In the […]

[Alexandria, VA] – Today, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) issued the following statement from SAM President Dr. Kevin Sabet in response to two new studies that purport to show marijuana legalization as an aid to the opioid epidemic:   “These studies fall into the same logical fallacy as other similar studies. First, they do not show directly that […]

Elizabeth, NJ — Today, New Jersey Responsible Approaches to Marijuana and Smart Approaches to Marijuana officials will testify at a New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus hearing on marijuana legalization. WHO: New Jersey Responsible Approaches to Marijuana Policy (NJ-RAMP) Coalition Members, including: Kevin Sabet, PhD., President of SAM and NJ affiliate NJ-RAMP, former drug policy advisor […]

(Alexandria, VA) – Today, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) Founder and President Dr. Kevin A. Sabet released the following statement in response to the release of the text of the Fiscal Year 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Act: “SAM Action and its partners in public health, research, law enforcement, drug prevention, family, treatment and recovery made significant progress […]

Dramatic Increases in Fatal Drugged Driving Crashes, Workplace Accidents, Arrest Rates, Black Market Activity in States That Have Legalized Marijuana  (Alexandria, VA) – Today, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), the leading, nonpartisan U.S. organization offering a science-based approach to marijuana policy, released the most comprehensive study to date today entitled: Lessons from Marijuana Legalization in […]

These Legislators are Putting Profits Before Public Health (Denver, CO) – Today, The Marijuana Accountability Coalition (MAC) unveiled the results of the “Brought to You by the Pot Industry” campaign. This campaign sought to expose the top recipients of money from the pot industry as it works to become the next Big Tobacco. These lawmakers […]

(Alexandria, VA) – Today, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), a national organization dedicated to promoting evidenced-based marijuana laws and policies, released the following statement in response to a new report from the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) calling for the decriminalization of all drugs: “We cannot incarcerate our way out of our nation’s drug problem,” said […]