Latest News
SAM Praises Results From California, Massachusetts Votes
Today, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) celebrates the results of several local level ballot initiatives in California and Massachusetts that prohibit pot shops in communities. In Jarupa Valley, California, the pot industry got hit with a double whammy by losing two ballot measures. The first, Measure A, would have overturned a city-wide ban on commercial […]
SAM Expanding, Hiring, Opening New Offices
More details soon, but check out this time-lapse of our staff putting up our new sign at a soon-to-be opened new office! And if you want to apply to any of the several new openings, tell us!
Statement from SAM President Kevin Sabet Regarding Senator Cory Gardner’s Legislation Shielding Addiction-For-Profit Industry From Federal Law
[Alexandria, VA] – In response to today’s announced legislation by Colorado Senator Cory Gardner and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Dr. Kevin Sabet released the following statement: “Why is Senator Gardner standing for the same companies that were caught red-handed recommending pot to pregnant women? The state of Colorado […]
Legislative Sessions End With Zero States Legalizing Marijuana
Leading Marijuana Policy Group Celebrates Victories as State-Level Marijuana Legalization Bills Fail [Alexandria, VA] – Today, Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action and its state affiliates celebrated the victory of public health and safety over the marijuana industry in states across the country as multiple marijuana legalization bills died at the end of legislative sessions. […]
New Study Finds One in Four 12th Graders More Likely to Use Marijuana If Legalized
Monitoring the Future study finds percentage of 12th graders admitting they would use marijuana reaching levels never before seen in 43-year history More 12th graders than ever admitted they would use marijuana if it were legal, according to new numbers from the largest drug use survey in the United States. Specifically, one in four 12th graders thought […]
Recreational Marijuana Legalization Bill Dies in Connecticut Legislature
May 10th (Hartford, CT) Today, the legislative session in Connecticut comes to a close. After pro-pot advocates claimed a victory in moving a bill to legalize marijuana out of committee, they almost immediately suffered a crushing defeat as neither chamber took up the bill in question. The push to legalize and commercialize marijuana in Connecticut, […]
Marijuana Use in the U.S Workforce Soaring in “Legal” Pot States
[Alexandria, VA] – According to a new study by Quest Diagnostics, one of the leading drug testing and analysis organizations in the country, drug use in the U.S. workforce is at the highest levels it has been in the last decade, driven in large part by states that have legalized the sale of marijuana. Disturbingly, the […]
Marijuana Related Fatalities on Washington Roadways Double According to New State Study
[Alexandria, VA] – New data released by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission indicate several troubling trends have emerged since marijuana legalization. Most notably: Marijuana-impaired driving fatalities have more than doubled (13 in 2012 to 27 in 2016). One in five drivers are under the influence of marijuana. That is up from one in 10 prior […]
Statement from SAM Action and SAM Maine on Maine Legislature Overturning Gov. LePage’s Veto of Marijuana Legalization Bill
Regulatory body will likely be slow to roll-out implementation, local opposition will continue [Augusta, ME] – Today, SAM and SAM Maine released this statement on the Maine Legislature’s vote to override Governor LePage’s veto on a bill legalizing marijuana. Bill 1719 will now become law, but it is unlikely that Governor LePage will push to […]
BREAKING: Marijuana Legalization Defeated Again in Vermont
BREAKING: Marijuana Legalization Defeated Again in Vermont National Marijuana Policy Group Applauds Defeat of Marijuana Commercialization in Vermont For Immediate Release: Monday, April 30, 2018 Contact: Colton Grace Colton@learnaboutsam.org 864-492-6719 [Montpelier, VT] – On Friday, the Vermont House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to kill a bill that would have fully legalized the commercialization of marijuana. […]
SAM Summit Wrap-Up
A big thank you to everyone who made the trip to Atlanta, GA for our 5th Annual Smart Approaches to Marijuana Summit! As SAM Founder and President Dr. Kevin Sabet said during his opening remarks, those who are standing up and pushing back against the commercialization and normalization of marijuana are on the right side […]
BREAKING: On “4/20,” Leading Marijuana Policy Group Highlights Harms of Marijuana With Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy & Medical, Legal, and Government Experts at National Press Club
[Washington, DC] – Today, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) officials, including a former Congressman and the nation’s first African-American magistrate judge, joined members of the New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus, faith-based leaders, researchers from the National Institutes of Health, and other public health and safety experts at a press conference warning about the dangers of marijuana and […]