News

This week, SAMHSA released the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), which is the leading federal estimate of trends in drug, tobacco, and alcohol use. While there are many data points that will likely appear in future versions of the Friday Fact, today’s edition focuses on the number of monthly users of […]

Higher Usage Rates, Flood in Poison Control Calls Likely to Continue Following Full-Scale Marijuana Commercialization (ST. PAUL, MN) – As Minnesota reaches the one-year mark of full-scale commercial sales of pot and THC-infused drugs, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former three-time White House drug policy advisor, issued the following statement about the serious […]

More Than 15 Million Americans Are Using THC-Laced Drugs Daily (WASHINGTON, DC) – Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former White House drug policy advisor to Presidents Obama, Clinton, and Bush, issued the following statement today in response to the release of the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) from the U.S. […]

The federal government is looking at rescheduling cannabis, meaning fewer restrictions for the plant and the industry. The proposal received thousands of comments and now experts are weighing in.  According to the DEA, the drugs currently are classified on a scale of one to five. President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, Dr. Kevin Sabet, said rescheduling […]

The scheduling of drugs is not a “harm index” or directly used to determine criminal penalties for drugs. Scheduling is not synonymous with the danger of a drug. Rather, it is a technical legal term that categorizes drugs according to their potential for abuse and accepted medical value.

A recent study in JAMA Internal Medicine, “Prenatal Cannabis Use and Maternal Pregnancy Outcomes,” assessed the degree to which prenatal marijuana use was associated with maternal health outcomes during pregnancy. The article used two types of sample groups for this study: pregnant women that used marijuana and pregnant women that did not use marijuana. Drawing […]

In the hours after President Joe Biden endorsed Kamala Harris to take his place atop the Democratic ticket in the 2024 presidential race, Americans began hastily searching for information about the vice president’s stance on various issues – including the legalization of marijuana. Harris’ position on weed has evolved over her years in public service, becoming more progressive as she […]

Comment Explains Rescheduling Is Out of Step With Past Reviews; Marijuana Still Fails to Meet “Currently Accepted Medical Use” Standards; Move Would Inflict Wide-Ranging Health and Mental Health Consequences (WASHINGTON, DC) – Calling it “the most significant rescheduling decision in the history of the Controlled Substances Act,” Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) filed its formal objection to the […]

From 2016 to 2023, Florida’s Poison Control Centers collected poison exposure data throughout the state, reported on a county level. This report focuses on all types of marijuana poison exposures statewide and in Florida’s six most populous counties. The types of marijuana poison exposures included edibles, dried plants, concentrated extracts, synthetic marijuana, and other or unknown […]

City submitted its official public comment as federal officials move toward rescheduling marijuana from schedule I to schedule III drug As the federal government takes steps toward rescheduling marijuana, Denver wants to make sure it’s part of the conversation. Before the federal government can reschedule marijuana, it must go through a lengthy rulemaking process, which […]

A woman in California who became a killer while gripped by psychosis says companies selling the drug legally are hiding the truth about its effects When Bryn Spejcher watched the police bodycam footage, she did not recognise the woman she saw. The 33-year-old saw herself, deranged and frenzied, stabbing her body and then her service […]

Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (OK-4) and Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Andy Harris (MD-01) Lauded for Their Leadership (WASHINGTON, DC) – Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action (SAM Action) President Dr. Kevin Sabet, a three-time White House drug policy advisor, released the following statement today after the House Appropriations Committee advanced the FY 2025 Agriculture, Rural Development, […]

The Minnesota 2022 Cannabis Report, from the International Cannabis Policy Study, led by the University of Waterloo, featured survey results from the Nielsen Consumer Insights Global Panel. In this survey, respondents aged 16 to 65 were asked about their marijuana-related behaviors and perceptions: Percentage of Marijuana Users in Minnesota Reporting Their Frequency of Marijuana Use in […]

Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (OK-4) and LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Robert Aderholt (AL-4) Lauded for Their Leadership (WASHINGTON, DC) – Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action (SAM Action) President Dr. Kevin Sabet, a three-time White House drug policy advisor, released the following statement today after the House Appropriations Committee advanced the FY 2025 Labor, Health and […]

(WASHINGTON, DC) – Today, Rep. Pete Sessions (TX-17) and Senator James Lankford (OK) released a bicameral public comment letter signed by twenty-five members of Congress strongly opposing the recent decision to reschedule marijuana. As the letter notes, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) rescheduling recommendation was based in politics, not science. The standard for Schedule III […]

SAM Authored Provisions Advance in FY 2025 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Bill (WASHINGTON DC) – Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action (SAM Action) President and CEO Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former drug policy advisor to Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton, released the following statement today in response to the House Committee on […]

The National Public Health Organization has announced a partnership with Arkansans to protect children against marijuana addiction-for-profit industry.  Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) action joins local residents to establish the “Protect Arkansas Kids” Committee to oppose the state’s marijuana commercialization ballot measure. Protect Arkansas Kids and Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) Action launched today to […]

A national group that worked to defeat a recreational cannabis measure in Arkansas two years ago announced today it will oppose a proposed expansion of the state’s medical marijuana program this year.  Smart Approaches to Marijuana said in an email today that it formed a committee called “Protect Arkansas Kids” to oppose the Arkansas Medical Marijuana […]

Marijuana isn’t medicine. So says the FDA, the AMA, and countless other medical and scientific professionals. The North Carolina Medical Society announced they have “not supported the legalization of medical marijuana,” yet out-of-touch legislators in Raleigh are again trying to legalize so-called “medical marijuana.” And this time they’ve paired it with a radical legalization of other dangerous, […]

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) Action Joins Local Residents to Establish “Protect Arkansas Kids” Committee to Oppose the State’s Marijuana Commercialization Ballot Measure (LITTLE ROCK, AR) – Protect Arkansas Kids, a committee established by local residents and the nation’s foremost organization dedicated to a health-first approach to marijuana policy, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) Action, […]

Listen to the interview, HERE.

As the State Marks A Decade of Marijuana Sales, SAM Urges Serious Reforms (OLYMPIA, WA) – Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former White House drug policy advisor to Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton, issued the following statement today in advance of Washington’s 10th anniversary of commercial marijuana sales: “Ten years since opening […]

Support for Commercial Pot Craters as Consequences Grow (ANNAPOLIS, MD) – Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM)and a former White House drug policy advisor to Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton, released the following statement in advance of the one-year anniversary of commercial marijuana sales in Maryland:  “It should come as little surprise […]

The Illinois Poison Center reported on the number of unintentional exposures to marijuana edibles among young children from 2019 to 2023. Here’s what they found: Number of Marijuana Edible Exposures Among Young Illinois Children by Year  Illinois legalized the personal use of marijuana and commercialized it on January 1st, 2020. Following legalization, the number of […]