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In dark bluejeans and work shirt, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stood in a Texas farm field, faced a camera and outlined his plan to combat drug addiction. “I’m going to bring a new industry to these forgotten corners of America, where addicts can help each other recover from their addictions,” he said in a 45-minute […]

(WASHINGTON, DC) – Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS) President Dr. Kevin Sabet, a three-time White House drug policy advisor, released the following statement today upon the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States of America:  “In November, voters across red and blue states rejected the legalization of drugs like marijuana […]

A study published last month in the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine identified 5 risk factors and 3 protective factors for adolescent marijuana use. The study, based on the 2021 Planet Youth survey, drew on a sample of 4,404 15–16-year-olds in Ireland.  Perhaps not surprisingly, the use of other substances was a risk factor for […]

(PHOENIX, AZ) – Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM)and a three-time White House drug policy advisor, released the following statement in advance of the anniversary of commercial marijuana sales in Arizona:  “Trends across the nation have universally shown that sales of today’s high-potency marijuana and THC-infused drugs are resulting in more THC-related […]

(WASHINGTON, DC) – Parents whose children have been negatively impacted by today’s commercially-produced THC drugs are sounding the alarm after national online delivery service DoorDash announced it is now offering on-demand delivery of hemp-derived THC and CBD products, including gummies and beverages – substances known to be associated with mental and physical health consequences, especially […]

The Trump-Vance administration has the opportunity to take decisive action to curb the devastating effects of drug normalization and addiction. Americans, meanwhile, are waking up to the harms of the failed experiment of pot legalization—voters rejected 7 of the last 10 ballot measures to legalize the drug. Prevention is key, and we cannot forget that […]

New Yorkers aren’t stupid, but apparently Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes thinks we are. The architect of the state’s dubious marijuana “social equity program,” is proposing we throw more taxpayer dollars at the pot industry to prop up the insidious lie that commercial weed would be an economic boon to minority communities. Her “social equity loans” have […]

A study that was published last week in Addictive Behaviors found that alcohol and tobacco are more likely to be used on days when marijuana is used.   The study found that individuals consumed an average of 0.45 more alcoholic drinks on days when marijuana was used, compared to days when marijuana was not used. Similarly, the study found that […]

(HARTFORD, CT) – Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM)and a three-time White House drug policy advisor, released the following statement in advance of the anniversary of commercial marijuana sales in Connecticut:  “Trends across the nation have universally shown that sales of today’s high-potency marijuana and THC-infused drugs are resulting in more THC-related […]

Luke Niforatos, executive vice president at Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a nonprofit that  opposes marijuana legalization, is staunchly against rescheduling cannabis. He agreed that the move would likely help the industry’s bottom line. And as far as he’s concerned, that’s the problem. “Marijuana, if anything, has gotten more harmful since states started legalizing it,” Niforatos […]

(SACRAMENTO, CA) – Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and a three-time White House drug policy advisor, released the following statement in advance of the anniversary of commercial marijuana sales in California:  “Trends across the nation have universally shown that sales of today’s high-potency marijuana and THC-infused drugs are resulting in more THC-related […]

(SPRINGFIELD, IL) – Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and a three-time White House drug policy advisor, released the following statement in advance of the anniversary of commercial marijuana sales in Illinois:  “Trends across the nation have universally shown that sales of today’s high-potency marijuana and THC-infused drugs are resulting in more THC-related […]

(HELENA, MT) – Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM)and a three-time White House drug policy advisor, released the following statement in advance of the anniversary of commercial marijuana sales in Montana:  “Trends across the nation have universally shown that sales of today’s high-potency marijuana and THC-infused drugs are resulting in more THC-related […]

(DENVER, CO) – Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM)and a three-time White House drug policy advisor, released the following statement in advance of the anniversary of commercial marijuana sales in Colorado:  “Trends across the nation have universally shown that sales of today’s high-potency marijuana and THC-infused drugs are resulting in more THC-related […]

Between 2022 and 2023, the number of marijuana-related emergency department (ED) visits increased by 4.6%, from 857,289 to 896,418, according to the federal Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). This represents an 11.5% increase compared to the 804,285 marijuana-related ED visits in 2021. In 2023, marijuana was the second most frequently cited drug in ED visits, surpassing the number of […]

(Washington, D.C.) – New data released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) in its 2023 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) report shows that marijuana is now second in frequency for emergency department (ED) visits, only after alcohol. The report further finds that there were more instances of marijuana ED visits in 2023 than […]

As the addiction industry and its pro-drug allies continue to spend big on commercial pot and THC drugs, the annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) Survey conducted by the University of Michigan and funded by the National Institutes of Health, shows that young people across the nation are starting to heed warnings the dangers by increasingly abstaining. However, […]

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report that warned that carfentanil has “reemerged in the U.S. drug supply.” Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid that is 100 times more potent than fentanyl and 10,000 times more potent than morphine.  Between the periods of January–June 2023 and January–June 2024, the number of overdose […]

International Drug Policy Experts Share Warnings About the Dangers of Drug Legalization and Promote Good Policy in the African Continent (ARUSHA, TANZANIA) – As leaders from dozens of members countries convene at the African Union’s Continental Consultation on Drug Demand, international drug policy experts from Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS) are […]

(WASHINGTON, DC) – This weekend, the House and Senate jointly agreed to cut a controversial provision prohibiting marijuana testing for military recruits out of the National Defense Authorization Act. After the House included the ban, led by former Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action (SAM Action) worked to neutralize the language in the […]

According to the 2023 Monitoring the Future survey, 8th and 10th graders who reported seeing advertisements for marijuana on billboards were more likely to have used marijuana in the past year and the past month. Compared to those who never saw these marijuana billboards, those who reported seeing them more than once a day were […]

Over the last four years, as street fentanyl overdose deaths surged, the Biden administration scrambled to fund addiction treatment programs and expand use of opioid-treatment medications like buprenorphine and naloxone. There are signs those efforts may be helping, with fatal overdoses dropping 14.5% over the last year. But during the campaign that led to President-elect Donald Trump’s […]

As the federal government considers loosening restrictions on marijuana, the Drug Enforcement Administration is scheduled to convene a court hearing to flesh out the Biden administration’s historic policy shift. But cannabis-reform advocates this week asked a judge to remove the DEA from its own hearing, arguing the agency has improperly communicated with antimarijuana groups in […]