SAM’s News
Marijuana 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.
SAM Friday Fact 07/26/2024: Impact of Prenatal Marijuana Use on Maternal Health Outcomes
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 […]
Kamala Harris’ stance on marijuana has certainly evolved. Here’s what to know.
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 […]
SAM Files Public Comment Urging DEA Administrator to Reject Marijuana Rescheduling
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 […]
SAM Friday Fact 07/19/2024: Florida & Major Counties Report Sharp Rises in Marijuana Poison Exposures After Medical Marijuana Legalization
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 […]
Denver urges federal government to reschedule marijuana
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 […]
The Times of London: I know cannabis isn’t safe: it made me stab my friend to death
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 […]
INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT ON RESCHEDULING, DELTA-8 THC BAN, RESEARCH ON POT AND MENTAL HEALTH IMPACTS INCLUDED IN AG/FDA APPROPRIATIONS BILL PASSED BY HOUSE COMMITTEE
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, […]
SAM Friday Fact 07/12/2024: 2022 Survey Shows 40% of Past-Month Marijuana Users in Minnesota Reported Smoking Daily or Near Daily
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 […]
LHHS APPROPRIATIONS BILL PASSED BY HOUSE COMMITTEE WITH REPORT INCLUDING RESCHEDULING FLAWS, HHS RESEARCH ON NEGATIVE MARIJUANA IMPACTS, MARIJUANA FIELD SOBRIETY TEST DEVELOPMENT PROVISIONS
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 […]
BICAMERAL CONGRESSIONAL PUBLIC COMMENT LETTER OPPOSING MARIJUANA RESCHEDULING CITES PUBLIC HEALTH HARMS, MISGUIDED HHS REVIEW
(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 […]
BLOCK ON RESCHEDULING, RESTRICTIONS ON SALES OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA NEAR SCHOOLS ADVANCE AS PART OF COMMITTEE-PASSED APPROPRIATIONS BILL
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 […]
NPHO partners with Arkansans to file committee to protect kids against marijuana addiction
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 […]
Anti-marijuana group says it will fight medical marijuana amendment
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 […]
Bill puts marijuana pipe dreams before NC health and safety
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, […]
NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANIZATION PARTNERS WITH ARKANSANS TO FILE COMMITTEE TO PROTECT KIDS AGAINST MARIJUANA ADDICTION-FOR-PROFIT INDUSTRY
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, […]
Niforatos on DMV Spotlight with Barbara Britt
Listen to the interview, HERE.
MORE DEADLY DRUGGED-DRIVING ACCIDENTS, HIGHER RATES OF MARIJUANA USE AFTER A DECADE OF COMMERCIAL THC DRUG SALES IN WASHINGTON
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 […]
SAM Friday Fact 06/28/2024: Rise in Marijuana Edible Exposures Among Young Children in Illinois Since Legalization
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 […]
NCAA POLICY CHANGE PUTS DRUGS IN THE GAME
NCAA’s Division I Council’s Removal of Marijuana from Drug Testing Regiment Compromises Player Safety and Student-Athletes’ Long-term Brain Development (WASHINGTON, DC) – Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Dr. Kevin Sabet released the following statement today in response to reports that the NCAA Division I Council has moved to remove cannabinoids from the banned drug class for championships and […]
Sabet in Newsweek: Marijuana Rescheduling Is High-Risk, Low-Reward
As the Biden administration attempts to move full speed ahead in its efforts to loosen federal restrictions around marijuana, Americans should avail themselves of the opportunity to make their voices heard. Given the pot and tobacco industry’s long history of spreading misinformation and downplaying the harms associated with high-potency psychoactive THC drugs, we need to […]
SAM Friday Fact 06/21/2024: Connecticut Survey Shows Increases in Past-Month Marijuana Use
In the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s recently published a report, “2024 Cannabis Health Statistics Report,” relying on data from the Connecticut Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, conducted in 2017, 2021, and 2022. The Department examined the percentage of past-month marijuana users across different age groups in Connecticut: Percentage of Past-Month Marijuana Users Among Age […]
MARIJUANA USE UP, PERCEPTIONS OF HARM DOWN IN WAKE OF COMMERCIAL POT SALES
Past-Month Use Rises Among Adults, Minors, Outpacing National Average (HARTFORD, CT) – Marijuana use among adults and children has grown in the wake of Connecticut’s embrace of pot-profiteers and their dangerous, psychoactive drugs. According to a new report from the Connecticut Department of Health, past-year and past-month marijuana use among those 12 and older is higher than […]
BBC: Maryland governor forgives thousands of marijuana-related convictionsBBC:
The governor of the US state of Maryland has pardoned 175,000 people convicted of cannabis offences. Listen to the interview HERE.