SAM in the Press

(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 […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

Luke Niforatos on “The Poisoning” Podcast. View the episode HERE.

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

(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 […]

(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 […]

On Nov. 5, voters in red and blue states alike delivered historic election results and rightfully rejected marijuana and psychedelic legalization ballot measures. In Florida, legalization was defeated by 4 points despite pro-marijuana groups investing over $150 million in the race. North Dakotans refused legalization by 5 points, giving addiction to marijuana its third loss in a […]

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 […]

A big loser that emerged from the election results has flown under the radar: Drugs, marijuana in particular, lost big. Florida voters rejected the corporate-drafted Amendment 3, which would have legalized nonmedical marijuana. Both North Dakota and South Dakota defeated marijuana legalization for the third straight cycle. Voters in Massachusetts rejected the legalization of psychedelics, the […]

Voters across the nation last week dealt a decisive blow to the reckless movement to legalize and normalize drugs. In blue and red states, voters rejected these industry-backed proposals, favoring policies that prioritize public health and safety. The mandate is clear: To treat the drug crisis, we should invest in prevention and increase access to treatment, not increase access to […]

Kamala Harris’s decisive loss may have grabbed the headlines, but there was another big loser in this election: drugs. In Florida, voters failed to approve a constitutional amendment that would have legalized recreational marijuana, defying both expectations and the endorsement of president-elect Donald Trump. Voters in South and North Dakota defeated legal weed initiatives, too, […]

NBC 6 Miami spoke with Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, about voters’ rejection of Florida’s Amendment 3. WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo6GFSoWIxM

“Voters by wide margins rejected the legalization of drugs like marijuana and psychedelics from red Florida to blue Massachusetts,” Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions and Smart Approaches to Marijuana President Kevin Sabet said in a statement on the elections. “We expect this Administration to listen to this message loud and clear: More drugs are not […]

Read the entire article HERE.

More than half of Florida voters approved of Amendment 3, but it did not reach the required 60 percent threshold to pass. “Floridians have taken a firm stance against the dangerous drugs the pot profiteers tried to convince the public are harmless,” Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which opposes marijuana legalization. Read […]

Massachusetts could become the third state to legalize psychedelic mushrooms, after Oregon and Colorado, if voters approve a ballot measure known as Question 4. Supporters, who have raised more than $7 million to support the initiative, have said it would give psychiatric patients more treatment options, in regulated settings with trained facilitators. Read the entire […]

Residents See Through Addiction Industry’s Latest Bid to Inject More Drugs into the State (BISMARCK, ND) – Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), released the following statement today commending North Dakota voters for wisely rejecting Measure 5, which would have legalized so-called ‘recreational’ marijuana in the Peace Garden State: “For a third time, […]

Florida Recreational Marijuana Amendment Questions No on 3 – Jaime Zerbe – Smart Approaches to Marijuana Listen to the entire segment HERE.