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WASHINGTON, D.C. — On July 29, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its recommendation that 7-OH, a component of the plant kratom, be moved to Schedule I. The agency also released a report on kratom and its harm profile to justify the decision.   Kevin Sabet, president & CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and […]

Marijuana rots your teeth, makes you more likely to die from heart problems, screws up your genetic expression, and causes severe mental illness. Next up in the list of its bad effects? It makes you older, faster. A recent study from Chinese researchers evaluated the association between marijuana use and levels of α-Klotho, a protein linked […]

Researchers from the Sorbonne found that among adolescents, marijuana use was linked to 46% higher odds of experiencing suicidal ideation and 85% higher odds of attempting suicide. Their research method accounted for pre-existing depression; the data they gathered shows marijuana use independently harms mental health.  This comes on top of an avalanche of evidence showing that weed is connected to […]

Think all that canna-mom messaging around marijuana is harmless? Think again. A new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine from researchers at UNLV and UT-San Antonio found that marijuana use prevalence was 6.8% among pregnant women—and that first-trimester use was highest at 10.1%, peaking at 14.2% in 2022.  (The first trimester is a key developmental phase […]

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 […]

***CLICK HERE TO CONTACT THE PRESIDENT OR THE VICE PRESIDENT. COPY AND PASTE THE TEXT BELOW INTO THE LINKED FORM AND THEN SEND.*** 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 Biden White House suggested it […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]