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Friday Fact: Frequent marijuana use leads to a 41% higher chance of severe tooth loss

Compared with people who do not use marijuana frequently, people reporting frequent marijuana use had 41% higher odds of having severe tooth loss. For cavities, the likelihood is 17% higher, and for decay at the roots it’s 55% higher odds. These troubling findings, from the Journal of the American Dental Association, reveal yet another negative impact of weed […]

Help SAM Tell the Trump Adminstration: Don’t Reschedule Marijuana

Please copy and paste the text below into the form linked here to let the the President or the Vice President know you don’t want that to happen. Dear President Trump/Vice President Vance,  I write to urge you not to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. This was a dangerous idea when the […]

New PA Bill Favors Marijuana Industry Over Families

HARRISBURG, PA – Today, Senate Bill 120 was unveiled, which would force Pennsylvania municipalities to host recreational marijuana dispensaries with no freedom to opt out of retail stores, strip local governments of any authority to ban or restrict them, and even allow up to “1,000 milligrams of THC contained in cannabis-infused edible products or cannabis-infused nonedible […]

SAM Action Celebrates Historic Senate Victory: Hemp-THC Banned in Spending Bill 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — SAM Action applauds the Senate Appropriations Committee’s decision to include language banning Delta-8 THC in the base text of its appropriations bill for the first time, closing a dangerous hemp-derived intoxicant loophole created by the 2018 Farm Bill. SAM Action is proud to have provided sustained and active guidance on this crucial issue to […]

Friday Fact: How friend groups drive the teen weed crisis

A team of researchers from the University of Southern California found that being exposed to frequent marijuana posts made kids 60% more likely to initiate marijuana use within the year. And it’s not just ads for weed driving the teen health crisis. Seeing e-cigarette TikToks made adolescent viewers 74% more likely to initiate marijuana use […]

Friday Fact: Gay men are almost twice as likely to have used marijuana in the past month than straight individuals

Gay men are almost twice as likely to have used marijuana in the past month than straight individuals (27.1% vs. 14.8%), according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Lesbians and bisexuals have an even larger discrepancy. These numbers confirm that marijuana use is significantly higher in the LGBTQ+ community compared to their straight […]

New Poll: New Yorkers Sour on Legal Weed—Majority Cite Safety, Smell, and Public Use Concerns

SAM Urges Zohran Mamdani To Prioritize Addressing Growing Concerns Over Weed Legalization New York City – A new Emerson College poll commissioned by Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) paints a clear picture: New Yorkers are fed up with the realities of marijuana legalization.  Despite promises of safety, equity, and tax revenue, the majority of New Yorkers now say […]

SAM Blasts Congressional Move to Dole Out Marijuana and Psychedelics to Veterans  

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) condemned the House of Representatives’ approval of two amendments to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) Appropriations bill—Amendment #84 and Amendment #32. Amendment #84, sponsored by Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL) and Dave Joyce (R-OH), would allow VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana to veterans. Amendment #32, […]

SAM DEEPLY DISAPPOINTED BY GOVERNOR ABBOTT’S VETO OF SB 3

AUSTIN, TX – 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 after Governor Greg Abbott vetoed SB3, which would have banned intoxicating hemp-derived THC products in Texas: “Governor Abbott’s decision to veto SB3 is a […]

Friday Fact: Veterans addicted to marijuana are dying by suicide

Data from the 2024 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report outlines another sad chapter in the story of marijuana and its terrible effects on mental health. Among all veterans who died by suicide in 2022, almost 9% were diagnosed with cannabis use disorder. Of veterans who died by suicide and had a diagnosed substance use […]

SAM Issues Strong Warning to Missouri Voters: Reject American Shaman’s Dangerous THC Deregulation Scheme

Kansas City, Missouri – Today, Luke Niforatos, Executive Vice President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), issued the following statement in response to the newly proposed Missouri ballot initiative backed by American Shaman and other hemp industry players:  “What American Shaman is attempting in Missouri is nothing short of a hostile corporate takeover of the […]