As you may know, today is the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Since 1987, this United Nations commemoration has been used as a rallying cry for those of us working towards a drug-free society-and I can't think of a better way to mark this day than by giving you a quick update on just how crucial our fight against Big Pot is to our collective future. Some might mock the idea of a drug-free society, but it is no less a worthy goal than a poverty-free society or cancer-free society. It is certainly a worthy aspiration.
A study of more than 1,000 young people found that users of today's high potency marijuana were four times more likely to abuse the drug and twice as likely to develop severe anxiety disorders.
We know that low or medium potency marijuana can cause a host of harms on mental health, but we have very little knowledge on the impact these products with up to 99% THC can have. One study last year found daily users of today's potent pot were more than four times more likely to develop psychosis.
Two studies published this month in JAMA Psychiatry further backed up the fact that marijuana legalization was associated with more loss of life due to traffic fatalities. One of them, authored by Dr. Russ Kamer, a longtime friend of SAM and leader of our efforts in New York, found that were pot to be legalized nationwide, almost 7,000 excess roadway deaths would occur each year.
Furthermore, a report released by the Colorado Department of Transportation, found that daily users of Colorado's pot believe driving while high is perfectly safe and are skeptical of any study showing it to be dangerous.
Finally, over the last few months, we've seen Big Pot despicably try to use the COVID-19 pandemic to further its goals. Pot profiteers have made dangerous claims that its products can cure or prevent the coronavirus, the industry has bullied state and local officials into keeping their stores open, they've bragged about record profits while millions of Americans have lost their jobs, and then had the gaul to demand they receive taxpayer-funded bailouts and other items on their Congressional wishlist.
We have exposed these undertakings at each turn in newspapers, media outlets, and radio stations nationwide, but without your support none of it would have been possible.
And with Congress beginning to move on must-pass spending bills in the next few weeks, we need your support now more than ever.
A generous donor has agreed to match all donations up to $20,000, so you could double or even triple your impact in the fight for a drug-free future with a gift today.
Any amount you can give will help us continue to fight and expose Big Pot's addiction-for-profit scheme in Congress and in states across the country.
