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SAM CALLS ON GOV. ABBOTT TO PROTECT KIDS IN TEXAS AND SIGN SB 3 INTO LAW
AUSTIN, TX — Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) has sent a formal letter to Governor Greg Abbott urging him to sign Texas’ Senate Bill 3 into law, a bill that would end the sale of all THC products in the state. In the letter, SAM detailed how the unregulated sale of intoxicating THC products, like […]
Friday Fact 6/13/2025: Big Marijuana’s Stock is Crashing
More bad news for Big Marijuana. The largest pot ETF, AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis, is getting absolutely clocked. This week saw it hovering well below $2.50, a massive climbdown from its stratospheric February 2021 high of $55.05. What put it in freefall? Hopes around federal legalization of marijuana reached a crescendo during the early days of […]
Leading Experts Warn Marijuana Rescheduling Driven by Politics in Stunning JAMA Psychiatry Report
Report Underscores SAM’s Position That Prevention Must Remain Top Priority WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a powerful new report published today in JAMA Psychiatry, two of the nation’s foremost experts in public health and law dismantle the federal government’s rationale for rescheduling marijuana. Authored by Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Bertha Madras and Heritage Foundation legal […]
BOMBSHELL FOR DELTA-8 DEALERS: FDA WARNS THEY’RE PEDDLING ILLEGALLY ADULTERATED PRODUCTS
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FDA has put anybody selling food and beverages adulterated with Delta-8 THC on notice. Delta-8 is an intoxicating derivative of hemp previously permitted for sale under a legal loophole. The agency has now made public a March warning letter to marketplace Puredozo; the letter informs the company that what they sell is illegally adulterated, […]
Friday Fact 6/6/2025: Going to the hospital for marijuana ups your risk of death
Marijuana isn’t harmless. In fact, it’s intimately linked with dying. Or so suggests a frightening study from Ontario. It examined whether individuals who received hospital-based care for cannabis use disorder (CUD) faced increased mortality risk compared to the general population. The results? Among more than 100,000 people getting hospital-based CUD care, 3.5% died within five […]
DELTA-8 THC BAN IN BASE TEXT OF MUST-PASS APPROPRIATIONS BILL, COMMITTEE SAYS THC BAN “SUPPORTS MANDATE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House leaders struck a blow for long-overdue sanity in U.S. drug laws. The House Appropriations Committee released its FY 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill. Included in the legislation’s base text is language banning dangerous hemp-derived THC products, including Delta-8 THC. The Appropriations Committee highlighted the […]
Friday Fact 5/30/2025: Bad News on Marijuana, Mental Health, and Teens
More worrying news on how marijuana can drive severe mental illness: A systematic review published in Biomolecules in March found that “cannabinoids likely contribute to chronic psychotic events and schizophrenia, especially if taken during adolescence.” The review found that the odds ratio of developing psychosis-like events or schizophrenia was 2.88—with a twofold greater risk among […]
SAM Applauds the Appointment of Doug Simon as Director of the US Department of Transportation’s Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy Compliance (ODPAC)
(WASHINGTON, DC) – Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), and Luke Niforatos, Executive Vice President of SAM, released the following statement congratulating Doug Simon on being named the new director of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy Compliance (ODAPC): “On behalf of SAM, we want to extend our […]
SAM: BAN ON THC DRUGS WILL BE A WIN FOR PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
SAM Applauds the Texas State Senate, House for Passing Critical Reforms to Eliminate Hemp-Derived THC Drug Products (AUSTIN, TX) – Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former three-time White House drug policy advisor, released the following statement upon the Texas House of Representative’s passage of SB3, which would prohibit sales of hemp-derived THC drug […]
GOVERNOR LEE, STATE LAWMAKERS TAKE A STRONG STEP FORWARD TO KEEP TENNESSEE’S KIDS SAFE FROM DANGEROUS, PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS
New Legislation Bans Sales of Drugs with THC-A Levels Above 0.3% (NASHVILLE, TN) – Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former three-time White House drug policy advisor, released the following statement today applauding Governor Bill Lee’s signing of HB1376, which severely restricts the addiction industry’s ability to sell dangerous, psychoactive hemp-derived cannabinoid products in […]
Want to Quit Alcohol? Stay Away From THC
Swapping one addictive, mind-altering substance for another isn’t harm reduction—it’s exploitation. THC in liquid form shouldn’t be sold as filling a niche for those wanting to quit alcohol (“Your Health: Drinks With Weed Gain Popularity,” Personal Journal, May 5). THC drinks are the latest scheme to rebrand intoxication and keep vulnerable people trapped in a […]
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CONFIRMS STATE-LEVEL MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION IS LEADING TO INTERNATIONAL CRIME SYNDICATES OPERATING IN BOTH LEGAL AND ILLICIT MARKETPLACE
New DEA Report Finds Rise in Marijuana Potency Increasing, Expansion of the Illicit Market, Growing Concerns about Youth Vaping and Environmental Damage (WASHINGTON, DC) – The rapid-expansion of state-legal marijuana marketplaces across the United States has been an unequivocable failure according to new data released by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) 2025 National Drug Threat […]