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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEApril 17, 2023 Media Contact: Jaime Zerbe jaime@learnaboutsam.org 540-849-0107 MEDICAL AND ADULT USE MARIJUANA EXPANSION DANGEROUS, RISKS ARIZONANS HEALTH AND SAFETY  (PHOENIX, AZ) – Citing the serious risks to patients, a lack of peer reviewed research, and the potential to exacerbate the ongoing opioid and addiction crisis, SAM Action President and CEO Dr. Kevin […]

Important Legislation Will Help Protect Public Health and Safety April 5, 2023 Official Release (LITTLE ROCK, AR) – Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President and CEO Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former Clinton, Bush, and Obama drug policy advisor, released the following statement today in response to the passage of Senate Bill 358, which would ban […]

April 10, 2023 State Troopers urge Carney to veto marijuana bills Town Square Delaware By Sam Haut The Delaware State Trooper Association has put out ads urging Governor John Carney to veto two bills related to marijuana legalization in the state. The ads say the trooper believe legalization will lead to more driving deaths and […]

Today, a new Colorado report compiled by the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area finds marijuana-positive traffic fatalities, hospitalizations, marijuana use, and illegal market activity have exploded since marijuana legalization. “This report, coming on the heels of the Surgeon General’s health advisory on marijuana and in the midst of a marijuana vaping crisis, piles […]

Last week, lawmakers announced that marijuana legalization bills in New Jersey, Vermont, and New Hampshire are all effectively dead for the 2019 session. This litany of victories comes on the heels of a slew of other wins this year in states like Minnesota and New Mexico. “Consecutive years of victories for public health and safety […]

SAM Director Kevin Sabet explains many of the dynamics figuring into the debate about marijuana legalization. 

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd ate a marijuana edible in Denver, and we hope you’ll read her full report about the experience.

DENVER — Five months after Colorado became the first state to allow recreational marijuana sales, the battle over legalization is still raging. Law enforcement officers in Colorado and neighboring states, emergency room doctors and legalization opponents increasingly are highlighting a series of recent problems as cautionary lessons for other states flirting with loosening marijuana laws.

There is no debate: marijuana is addictive and harmful to brain development, and current trends showing increased use among adolescents are profoundly troubling, Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told thousands of people gathered last week in Washington, D.C., for an annual meeting of the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, […]

Of the 2.4 million Americans who try marijuana for the first time each year, 58 percent are under the age of 18. That’s why when we’re debating drug policy and the impact of marijuana on society, we cannot ignore kids. Because the brain isn’t fully formed until about the age of 25, youth are especially […]

A statement issued by the University of Colorado School of Medicine: AURORA, Colo. (May 15, 2014) – The proportion of marijuana-positive drivers involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes in Colorado has increased dramatically since the commercialization of medical marijuana in the middle of 2009, according to a study by University of Colorado School of Medicine […]

The world of marijuana is changing. And that means the world of marijuana-related news stories is also changing. With two states having legalized the drug, there is certainly a lot to write and talk about.

SAM is pleased to team with more than 50 drug-prevention groups and agencies in Missouri to present the Missouri Marijuana Prevention Tour!

A groundbreaking, new study, published April 16 in the Journal of Neuroscience, is consistent with research showing that the more marijuana people use, and the earlier they start using the drug, the more likely they are to harm what one researcher said is “part of the brain you do not want to mess around with.”

If we, as a nation, were so concerned about lead exposure that we worked hard to remove it from gasoline, paint and air, what should be our collective response to marijuana given everything responsible science already knows about that drug?

Colorado voters didn’t exactly think through Amendment 64, the state constitutional amendment they approved last year to legalize recreational use of marijuana.

Kevin Sabet and Dr. Drew spoke in 2011.

Patrick Kennedy spoke with MSNBC in January 2013.

Today, the Associated Press reported on the launch of Project SAM, and here are a few passages and quotes that help tell our story:

Last week, I joined the board of a new organization to oppose marijuana legalization: Smart Approaches to Marijuana. The group is headed by former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy and includes Kevin Sabet, a veteran of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President Obama. The new group rejects the “war on drugs” model. It […]

We’re not doing well providing work for our young people. When they do find work, they’ll probably earn less than their parents, probably form less stable intimate relationships, and age into more uncertain retirements. But, hey, don’t say we do nothing for our kids. Instead of work, marriage, and security, we can offer pot, porn, […]

Recent reports show fewer adolescents believe regular cannabis use is harmful to health. Concomitantly, adolescents are initiating cannabis use at younger ages, and more adolescents are using cannabis on a daily basis.

In 2010, Denver psychiatrist Christian Thurstone explained to National Public Radio’s Neal Conan that the state’s relaxed laws made the drug widely available — and irresistible — to too many adolescents.

Tomorrow, voters in three states will decide whether marijuana should be legal. For some people, even those in recovery, marijuana use presents a net benefit in society. They believe others can enjoy a joint once in a while without suffering significant consequences. For others, marijuana represents a serious health and social problem. I was senior […]