General

[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 […]

SAM Statement Regarding Removal of DOJ Marijuana Enforcement Barriers from Proposed CJS Appropriations Bill [Alexandria, VA — June 29, 2017]  “On April 4, Representatives Rohrabacher and Blumenauer, two Members of Congress funded by illegal marijuana operations selling pot candies to kids, wrote appropriators asking to include their pro-marijuana language in a base spending bill—and they […]

[ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 28, 2017]–A proposed government spending bill released today eliminated a provision that has protected the marijuana industry from federal prosecution for violating the Controlled Substances Act. The Rohrabacher-Farr language was eliminated from the Commerce, Justice, Science bill that funds the Department of Justice. In addition, the Financial Services bill retained language preventing […]

Statement from SAM President Kevin Sabet Regarding Marijuana Study Committee in Rhode Island   Contact: Anisha Gianchandani anisha@learnaboutsam.org (703) 828-8182   [Alexandria, Va.] –  Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) issued the following statement from SAM President Kevin Sabet in response to the passage of a Rhode Island bill to study the effects of marijuana legalization (H.5551): […]

Coalition of Concerned Citizens in Compton, CA Urge Attorney General Sessions to Stop Marijuana Commercialization   Leaders in Underserved Community to Speak Out About Marijuana Industry Takeover of Neighborhoods; Present Citizen Petition Asking Department of Justice to Intervene   (Alexandria, VA, June 12, 2017) – Today, a grassroots and broad-based coalition of concerned residents and […]

Tobacco Wholesalers Seeking Marijuana Monopoly   More evidence emerged today about the intent of corporate interests to take over the legal marijuana industry.  According to a report published in the Boston Globe today, the industry involved in delivering and taxing cigarettes sold in Massachusetts is now trying to take advantage of the new law to […]

SAM President Dr. Kevin Sabet went live on NPR Chicago this morning. Take a listen to his complete rundown on marijuana policy (including legalization’s worsening impact on racial disparity, and why legalizing marijuana won’t make Illinois richer) here.

Statement from SAM President Kevin Sabet Regarding Marijuana Bill Veto in Vermont   Contact: Anisha Gianchandani anisha@learnaboutsam.org +1 (703) 828-8182   [Alexandria, VA, May 24, 2017] – Today, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) issued the following statement from SAM President Kevin Sabet in response to Governor Scott’s decision to veto marijuana legalization in Vermont:   […]