SAM in the Press

Want to Quit Alcohol? Stay Away From THC
Swapping one addictive, mind-altering substance for another isn’t harm reduction—it’s exploitation. THC in liquid form shouldn’t be sold as filling a niche for those wanting to quit alcohol (“Your Health: Drinks With Weed Gain Popularity,” Personal Journal, May 5). THC drinks are the latest scheme to rebrand intoxication and keep vulnerable people trapped in a […]

Dr. Kevin A. Sabet in Newsweek: To Save America’s Youth, Lawmakers Should Invest in Drug Prevention | Opinion
Prevention remains one of the most effective and cost-conscious tools we have in our fight against the drug crisis. This National Prevention Week, we urge lawmakers to renew their investments in prevention and push back against industry-backed efforts to normalize drug use. To maximize their effectiveness, prevention programs must reach adolescents before they are exposed to […]

Dr. Kevin A. Sabet in Alcoholism Drug Addiction Weekly: We Need Health Warning Labels on Marijuana and THC Drug Products
More young people are experimenting with marijuana and THC drugs, like cigarettes at a time not so long ago. It is true that youth were using marijuana way back when too, but today’s marijuana isn’t your grandpa’s 1-3% THC Woodstock Weed. It boasts on average 18-23% THC in flower and can be 99% THC potent in concentrates, dabs, […]

Jordan Davidson in Politico Pro: Congress takes more conservative approach to marijuana policy
Any cannabis legislation will face tough odds, but the bills introduced cater specifically to the GOP majorities. Five months into the current Congress, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have introduced a wide range of cannabis-related bills. But none of them are going to move soon, and it may take a few tricks on […]

Dr. Kevin A. Sabet in Newsweek: Congress, Don’t Give the Marijuana Industry a Tax Cut | Opinion
The Trump administration’s mantra is to cut waste and cut costs. So, it might seem unthinkable that the federal government would give an addictive industry a tax cut. But that’s exactly what many are proposing. Last year, companies that make highly addictive and dangerous drug products spent more than $4.5 million convincing lawmakers that today’s high-potency marijuana […]

Dr. Kevin A. Sabet in the Washington Examiner: Trump’s drug czar nominee can make America healthy again
President Donald Trump made history by nominating award-winning investigative reporter Sara Carter to be the first female director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. If confirmed, she will become the administration’s chief spokesperson on drug policy and have statutory control over the whole of the federal government’s drug policy budget, spread across multiple agencies. Carter brings with her a […]

Dr. Kevin A. Sabet in Fox News: Four important ways Trump can tackle the drug crisis and Make America Healthy Again
(FoxNews.com) President Donald Trump’s newly issued statement on drug policy priorities shows his administration has embraced the Make America Healthy Again movement as it tackles American’s top public health crisis: addiction. The next step must be to re-empower the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), elevating America’s anti-drug movement to the prominence it […]

Retail marijuana sales legalization once again vetoed in Virginia
(WSET) — Governor Glenn Youngkin has once again vetoed a bill that would allow for a retail marijuana sales market. It was no surprise, as he has said repeatedly, that he will not sign the bill into law. Luke Niforatos, Executive Vice President at Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said the Governor’s veto is a major win […]

Newsweek: America’s Marijuana Legalization Experiment Is Going Up in Smoke
When marijuana legalization first started gaining momentum in the United States, it was heralded as a progressive step toward criminal justice reform, economic growth and public health benefits all at once. Advocates promised that legal cannabis would eliminate the illicit market, generate tax revenue and ensure a safe, well-regulated industry. That is not how things have turned […]

Dr. Kevin Sabet in City Journal: New York’s Pot Boom Is Nothing to Celebrate
Albany’s celebration of $1 billion in commercial marijuana sales earlier this year must have been music to Big Pot’s ears. “Let us celebrate the individuals, businesses, and communities in cannabis who drive our state’s economic engine,” exulted Felicia A. B. Reid, acting executive director of the state Office of Cannabis Management. No one would expect state health commissioner James […]

Forbes: Republicans Seek To Block Marijuana Tax Deductions Amid Potential Rescheduling
Seven Republican representatives have introduced a bill to block businesses from claiming tax marijuana deductions for expenses, even if the substance is federally rescheduled. Republican Rep. Jodey C. Arrington, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, introduced a bill last week—co-sponsored by six colleagues—to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and uphold the ban on […]

Bills to legalize, decriminalize weed in Indiana fail to move forward
INDIANAPOLIS– Despite a record amount of marijuana bills filed by both Indiana Republicans and Democrats this legislative session, all efforts to legalize and decriminalize weed failed. ”This is really just not a priority for people; it’s also not a priority for the leaders of Indiana,” said Jaime Zerbe with Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM). SAM […]

SAM covered in North Carolina news
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) Opponents of marijuana legalization have often cited safety concerns, a point brought up by Jordan Davidson, who serves as the Government Affairs Manager for Smart Approaches to Marijuana. “We want people to have safe and effective medicine that’s able to be prescribed by doctors that go through (rigorous scientific) review. Unfortunately, that […]

NEW REPORT DEMONSTRATES CONTINUED DANGERS OF PSYCHOACTIVE DRUG COMMERCIALIZATION
(WASHINGTON, DC) – A new report released today by the Common Sense Institute finds that state-level normalization and legalization of drugs—especially marijuana—is having profound consequences on use rates, overdose rates, and perceptions of harm, as well as costing states billions. According to the report’s findings, early adopters of marijuana legalization like Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska each […]

Sabet in Washington Times: A new vision is needed to tackle the drug crisis
Cutting government waste is a good aim, but to tackle the drug crisis, we need a bold new vision and priorities. After the nation was losing more than 100,000 Americans to overdoses each year, this number is finally beginning to decline. This is promising. The Trump administration’s focus on curtailing government spending should lean into what is […]

Anti-Legalization Group Vows To Go On ‘Offense’
Law360, National Harbor, Md. — The head of a leadinganti-drug nonprofit on Thursday pledged to go on the offensive by lobbying to undo thefederal law legalizing intoxicating hemp, fighting a pending proposal to loosen federalcannabis restrictions and attempting to reverse state-level legalization. Kevin Sabet, president and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, kicked off theorganization’s […]

Retail marijuana sales bill passes in Virginia Senate
Retail marijuana sales are one step closer to becoming a reality in the Commonwealth. For the second time, a marijuana bill is making its way through the General Assembly. The bill would allow for marijuana licenses to be issued to business owners by the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority beginning this September. “Every year that we […]

The Poisoning: RFK Jr.’s Influence on Drug Policy: What to Expect From Trump’s New Administration
Luke Niforatos on “The Poisoning” Podcast. View the episode HERE.

Sabet in New York Times: Kennedy’s Plan for the Drug Crisis: A Network of ‘Healing Farms’
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 […]

Newsweek: ‘Making America Healthy Again’ Must Start With Better Drug Policy
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 […]

Another Voice: Let’s not prop up lie on ‘Big Pot’
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 […]

The Beacon: Kansas City cannabis companies’ wish for the new year: Lower federal taxes
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 […]

LATEST FEDERAL DATA SPOTLIGHTS MARIJUANA AS A LEADING CAUSE FOR DRUG-RELATED EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISITS
(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 […]