SAM’s News

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 […]

SENATORS ON KEY COMMITTEES INTRODUCE BILL TO PREVENT $2 BILLION MARIJUANA INDUSTRY TAX BREAK AHEAD OF BUDGET RECONCILIATION
(Washington, DC) — Today, Senator James Lankford (R-OK) of the Finance Committee introduced Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action (SAM Action)-drafted legislation alongside Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) of the Budget Committee to prevent a $2.3 billion marijuana industry tax cut. Their bill (S.471) would amend Section 280E of the tax code to include marijuana by name. According to […]

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 […]

MISSOURI’S COMMERCIAL POT SALES CONTINUE TO DAMAGE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
(WASHINGTON, DC) – 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 Missouri on February 3: “Trends across the nation have universally shown that sales of today’s high-potency marijuana and THC-infused drugs are resulting […]

NEW YORK’S LEADERS MOCK THOSE SUFFERING FROM ADDICTION WITH “CELEBRATION” OF $1 BILLION IN SALES OF DANGEROUS PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS
Hochul Administration, Legislators Ignore the Science and Harms Being Inflicted by NYS Pot Sales (ALBANY, NY) – New York Lawmakers are ignoring the science and celebrating addiction in Albany. Nearly four years after New York’s politicians legalized the sales and use of high-potency, psychoactive marijuana and THC drug products, the science and the consequences keep getting worse. That’s the message Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), a group co-founded […]

TRUMP CAN’T MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN AND SUPPORT ADDICTIVE DRUGS IN OUR COMMUNITIES
(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 […]

DOORDASH’S DRUG DELIVERY SERVICE SKIRTS FEDERAL DRUG POLICIES, RISKS PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
(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 […]

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 […]

CONNECTICUT’S COMMERCIAL POT SALES CONTINUE TO DAMAGE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
(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 […]

CALIFORNIA’S COMMERCIAL POT SALES CONTINUE TO DAMAGE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
(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 […]

ILLINOIS’ COMMERCIAL POT SALES CONTINUE TO DAMAGE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
(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 […]

MONTANA’S COMMERCIAL POT SALES CONTINUE TO DAMAGE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
(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 […]

COLORADO’S COMMERCIAL POT SALES CONTINUE TO DAMAGE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
(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 […]

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 […]

DANGEROUS AND PERVASIVE POT USE CONTINUES DESPITE INDUSTRY CLAIMS IT ISN’T MARKETING TO YOUNG PEOPLE
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, […]

HOUSE DITCHES MISGUIDED MARIJUANA TESTING BAN FOR MILITARY RECRUITS IN NDAA
(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 […]

Voters say no more marijuana — Congress should take note
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 […]

Trump’s promise to fix the fentanyl crisis appealed to voters and alarmed experts
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 […]

DEA faces legal challenge as uncertainty clouds plan to reclassify marijuana
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 […]

Drug legalization was election’s biggest loser
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 […]

SAM Friday Fact 11/15/2024: Increases in Youth and Young Adult Past-Month Marijuana Use Following the Legalization of Recreational Marijuana
A systematic review and meta-analysis published this month in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that the legalization of recreational marijuana is associated with increases in past-month marijuana use among adolescents and young adults. As opposed to lifetime or past-year use, past-month use is indicative of more frequent use. […]