Latest News
SAM Friday Fact 2/14/2025: Individuals Receiving Hospital-Based Care for Cannabis Use Disorder are More Likely than General Population to Die Within 5 Years
A recent study in JAMA Network Open, reported on in The New York Times, found that individuals who received hospital-based care (i.e., an emergency department visit or hospitalization) for cannabis use disorder (CUD) were 2.8 times more likely than the general population to die within 5 years. The study, based on data from 11.6 million […]
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 […]
SAM APPLAUDS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S APPOINTMENT OF HON. MIKE STUART AS GENERAL COUNSEL FOR HHS
(WASHINGTON, DC) – Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former three-time White House drug policy advisor, today offered praise for the Trump Administration’s appointment of SAM ally and former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia and West Virginia State Senator Mike Stuart (R-Kanawha) as General Counsel to the U.S. Department […]
NATIONAL DRUG POLICY EXPERTS, PARENTS, LAWMAKERS, AND LAW ENFORCEMENT CONVENE TO ADDRESS STATE OF AMERICA’S DRUG AND ADDICTION CRISES
(WASHINGTON, DC) – With the new Trump Administration taking shape,Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS) brought together Members of Congress, parents, medical professionals, law enforcement, former White House drug policy officials, and other experts in Washington for a two-day conference to discuss solutions to the nation’s drug crisis. The conference addressed the state of the drug crisis and how […]
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 […]
SAM Friday Fact 1/24/2025: CBP Data Show That Illicit Market for Marijuana is Expanding
According to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the illicit market for marijuana has been expanding. In fiscal year 2024, CBP seized 174,991 pounds of marijuana, up from 149,582 in FY 2023 and 154,797 in FY 2022. The number of individual seizure events––as opposed to total weight––has also been increasing. In FY 2024, there […]
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.