General

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, […]

Sun Journal Columns and Analysis: Marijuana legalization is the wrong way for Maine by Scott Gagnon As the Portland marijuana ordinance goes into effect, and the discussion has pivoted to statewide legalization in Maine, now is the time to examine what this policy path could mean for Maine. Many Mainers may think marijuana policy doesn’t […]

PRESS RELEASE                                                                                                                                                                                     Contact: Scott Gagnon November 21, 2013                                                       […]

Largest medical group in the US explicitly rejects calls to become “neutral” on legalization; supports full funding of the Office of National Drug Control Policy; calls for proper study of Colorado and Washington policies. It joins the American Psychiatric Association, who issued a statement last week outlining the public health harms of marijuana. NATIONAL HARBOR, […]

Ill Effects of Marijuana, New York Times October 29, 2013 To the Editor: By focusing on changes in California marijuana use since 1996, and then citing a controversial study called into question by some leading think tanks and experts in marijuana policy, “Few Problems With Cannabis for California” (front page, Oct. 27) does not reflect […]

Featured in the Globe Gazette

Kevin Sabet’s featured guest piece on the Economist debate: The argument in favour of legalisation has been incredibly oversimplified by its proponents, presented as a silver bullet to failed, heavy-handed law enforcement efforts. As I argue in my new book, “Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana“, neither incarceration only nor legalisation stands up to […]

Should medical marijuana be legalized in Florida? Listen here

Watch: “Drug Trials: Austrian Testers Tested” As six people are taken ill in England, allegedly due to batch of drugs, Cordelia Lynch visits a scheme in Austria where officials test drugs for clubbers to determine their safety. Followed by a debate by Dr Tim Williams and Kevin Sabet.  

SAM’s, Dr. Kevin Sabet’s op-ed on the front page of cnn.com “Legalized pot would mean more addiction“

Pot: Alaska, Oregon may vote to inhale next year

CNN Opinion: “Be afraid of Big Marijuana” by David Frum

“Conflict Between State and Federal Laws” Written testimony and biography

“Why not…legalize drugs?”

As New National Survey Reveals Skyrocketing Marijuana Use, Major Prevention, Treatment, Recovery, and Criminal Justice Reform Organizations Press Department of Justice on New Marijuana Guidelines On the day that the National Survey on Drug Use and Health revealed a 50% increase in daily marijuana use, an unprecedented group of organizations write to the Department of […]

Signed by an unprecedented group of individuals and organizations Letter to DOJ

  SAM says to “prepare the floodgates” for negative consequences as a result of a new Big Marijuana industry being emboldened; calls for the CDC, Surgeon General, National Institutes of Health to fund public health monitoring systems August 29, 2013 – Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), a national alliance calling for smart marijuana policies […]

Legalization of marijuana could increase marijuana use almost 40% versus current rates among those aged 18 and older, and in the 18-25 year old age group in Colorado   (Denver, CO) – August 22 2013 – According to the newly release Quinnipiac poll asking Colorado voters 18 and older if they would smoke marijuana in […]