FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 11th, 2019
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In Wake of Recent Vaping Crisis, Trump Administration Must Enact National Moratorium on THC Vape Products |
Vaping of High-Potency THC Products Carries Significant Physical, Mental Health Risks for Users |
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(Alexandria, VA) - In response to a growing national crisis over the tragic deaths and hospitalizations of hundreds of people from lung infections associated with e-cigarette products, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former senior drug policy advisor to President Obama, is calling on the Trump Administration, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to enact an immediate, national moratorium on the sale of all THC vape products.
“We are calling on the Trump Administration and the new HHS advisory committee to recognize that THC vaping poses a significant threat to public health and include these dangerous products in their forthcoming recommendations. The sale of THC vaping oils and other products must be halted before more Americans are put at risk,” stated Dr. Kevin Sabet.
The U.S. Surgeon General has already issued a public health advisory that acknowledged the serious physical and mental health consequences associated with today’s commercially produced marijuana products, which include vapes, dabs and waxes. Multiple reports have indicated that the ongoing public health crisis is likely linked to vaped THC products. Even the American Vaping Association’s President Gregory Conley, issued a statement warning Americans, to stop vaping THC oils to avoid hospitalization or death from the products.
“The marijuana vaping crisis is real and poses a significant threat to both physical and mental health. For years, companies like Altria and other major tobacco and e-cigarette brands have demonstrated a willingness to lie to the public about the safety of these products, aggressively marketing these devices as safe, healthy alternatives to traditional smoking,” stated Dr. Sabet.
“If this crisis does not convince lawmakers at a state and federal level that today’s high-potency, industrialized marijuana is dangerous, I don’t know what will. Pot profiteers, both newly legal and on the black market are flooding our communities with new, dangerous drugs and ways to use them. It must stop now before more lives are lost,” he concluded.
Earlier this year, the Secretary of State in Oregon, issued a shocking report about that state’s failure to ensure the safety of marijuana being sold in that state. The report acknowledged that pot products being sold through even ‘legal’ marketplaces included mold, pesticides and other harmful chemicals.
The Surgeon General’s recent public health advisory clearly stated that there are significant physical and mental health risks associated with using marijuana including lower IQ, psychosis, depression and risk of suicide. Those risks, along with the growing body of evidence about e-cigarette’s dangers, must result in strong action by our nation’s leading health and safety agencies to put a stop to the sale of these dangerous products.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: SAM President Dr. Kevin Sabet and SAM Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor Luke Niforatos will be available for on-the-record print, radio, and TV broadcast interviews to provide further comment and commentary on the dangers associated with THC vape products and large scale commercial pot production. Niforatos, a resident of Denver, Colorado, oversees the organization’s federal, state, and educational initiatives, having previously worked in nonprofit community healthcare.
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Co-founded in 2013 by former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy and Dr. Kevin A. Sabet, a former senior drug policy advisor to the Obama Administration, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is the nation's premier non-profit, non-partisan marijuana policy organization. Advised by a blue ribbon scientific advisory board, SAM envisions a society where marijuana policies are aligned with the scientific understanding of marijuana's harms, and the commercialization and normalization of marijuana are no more. Its mission is to educate citizens on the science of marijuana and to promote health-first, smart policies and attitudes that decrease marijuana use and its consequences.
SAM has advised almost every state government in the U.S., Pope Francis, Queen Silvia of Sweden, and several other governments, dignitaries, and international organizations. It has Special Consultative Status with the United Nations, and SAM team members have testified before Congress numerous times, as well as have appeared in almost every media outlet in the country.
Media Contact:
Colton Grace
(864) 492-6719
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