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Treatment or Jail: Patrick Kennedy Wages Fierce Anti-Pot Crusade By Tony Dokoupil, NBC News As a hard-partying teenager, Patrick Kennedy met President Reagan at a fundraiser for the JFK Library, a meeting captured in a photograph that the former Rhode Island congressman now hangs in his home office. He used to think of it as a […]

Toxicology Lab Results Show Increase in Share of Marijuana Driving Cases in Washington State Since Drug Was Legalized A 33% increase in delta-9-THC witnessed in Washington since 2012, which is far greater than percentage increases seen in previous years. SEATTLE, WA – Data adapted from the Washington State Patrol and Washington State Toxicologist shows that in […]

Affiliated Tribes of the Northwest Indians (ATNI) Partners with SAM In Opposition to Marijuana Legalization in Oregon and Alaska The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians partners with Smart Approaches to Marijuana, opposing the legalization of marijuana and in favor of a public-health approach to marijuana policy. FERNDALE, WA – The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI), […]

SAM LAUNCHES WEBSITE TO TRACK VIOLATIONS OF JUSTICE DEPARTMENT MEMO; THC-POSITIVE DRUG TESTS IN COLORADO SKYROCKET SINCE LEGALIZATION  National group launches www.legalizationviolations.org and announces that positive THC drug tests in Colorado have risen 44% since the state began retail marijuana sales (FEBRUARY 17, 2014) – Smart Approaches to Marijuana, chaired by former Congressman Patrick J. […]

National anti-marijuana group teams up with Connecticut Association of Prevention PractitionersHugh McQuaid, The Middletown Press February 10, 2014 HARTFORD — A national anti-marijuana organization put down roots Monday in Connecticut and warned that legalization efforts are poised to create a public health crisis in the form of the “next Big Tobacco.” At a press conference, […]

PRESS RELEASE January 31st, 2014                                                                                                                                          THE MAINE PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION ENDORSES […]

PRESS RELEASE KENNEDY GROUP LAUNCHES ANTI-MARIJUANA AD NEAR SUPER BOWL STADIUM TODAY Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) places ad near MetLife stadium to raise awareness about the harms of marijuana WASHINGTON– Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), a nonpartisan alliance of lawmakers, scientists and other concerned citizens, chaired by former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy and […]

WHITE HOUSE: DO NOT MISINTERPRET THE PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS Despite his comments in the New Yorker last week comparing marijuana to alcohol, the White House Press Secretary states that “The President’s position on these matters has not changed.” In response to a question from CNN today, Jay Carney, the White House Press Secretary, told reporters that […]

Today, Patrick J. Kennedy, Chairman of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, released a statement on President Obama’s interview about marijuana: We at Smart Approaches to Marijuana (Project SAM), joined by leaders of major medical associations, recognize that marijuana legalization goes against the President’s own goals of effective education and health care reform. We have identified many […]

MULTIMILLION DOLLAR MARIJUANA INVESTING GROUP ANNOUNCES SPECIAL CONFERENCE ON HEELS OF PRESIDENT’S REMARKS ON MARIJUANA  In an email obtained by Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), The ArcView Group, a network for investors and entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry, announced a special “Shark Tank” conference on January 23 in Las Vegas, where marijuana entrepreneurs will promote […]

Colorado Will Show Why Legalizing Marijuana is a Mistake Kevin Sabet, The Washington Times On Jan. 1, Colorado made history as the first jurisdiction in the modern era to license the retail sales of marijuana. To be sure, there were no bloody fistfights among people waiting in line and, as far as we know, no […]

Watch SAM’s chair, Patrick Kennedy, on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, discussing President Obama’s recent comments about marijuana.

“Marijuana legalization opponent Kevin Sabet brings his message to Oregon” By Noelle Crombie, The Oregonian January 16, 2014 The country’s most high-profile anti-marijuana spokesman brought his message to Oregon this week, warning that legalizing the drug will boost addiction rates, hook young people and enrich a powerful marijuana lobby. Kevin Sabet is scheduled to appear […]

SAM’s Director, Kevin Sabet, joins the Marijuana Policy Project’s Dan Riffle on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal to discuss the recreational sales of marijuana in Colorado. Watch here.

Ben Cort, SAM Board Member and director of the Colorado Centre for Dependency, Addiction & Rehabilitation speaks with BBC News about the risks of legalizing marijuana in Colorado. Watch on YouTube here.

Kevin Sabet, Director of SAM, talks about the use of legal recreational pot in Colorado. Watch here.

Patrick Kennedy joins Anderson Cooper and others on AC360 to discuss the drawbacks of legalizing marijuana. Watch here.

Dr. Thurstone discusses the medical and health concerns of legalizing marijuana in Colorado. Watch here.

Congressman Kennedy discusses the harms of marijuana and the implications of its legalization in Colorado. Watch here on CNBC.com  

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 […]

AMA delegates easily defeat a proposal that would have called for decriminalization and rescheduling of cannabis The “war on drugs”—combatting the supply of cannabis and other illicit drugs through law enforcement and incarceration—is not working. That’s what AMA delegates asserted last month when they approved a report by the AMA’s Council on Science and Public […]

NATIONAL SURVEY: MORE THAN ONE THIRD OF 12TH GRADERS LIVING IN MEDICAL MARIJUANA STATES GET MARIJUANA FROM SOMEONE ELSE’S “MEDICAL RECOMMENDATION” 60% OF 12TH GRADERS NOW VIEW MARIJUANA AS NOT HARMFUL The Monitoring the Future Study, the only nationally representative sample surveying students in the US, finds that marijuana is a growing problem WASHINGTON, DC […]

SAM RESPONDS TO NEW URUGUAY MARIJUANA POLICY Today, from a meeting on drug policy in Colombia, SAM co-founder and Director, Dr. Kevin Sabet, made the following comments about Uruguay’s legalization of marijuana: “Against the vast majority of the will of its citizens, leaders from its own hemisphere, and even medical doctors in its own legislature, […]