Dear Friend,
As I am sure you have heard, New York and New Mexico joined the small list of states in the country to commercialize marijuana last week.
To put it frankly, I am disappointed to see this happen.
We here at SAM fought hard in both of these states and held Big Pot at bay for close to three years, so to see New Mexico and New York commercialize certainly feels like gut punch.
But we cannot forget one simple fact: SAM does not live or die on the hill of simply opposing marijuana legalization bills.
As we have made clear from the beginning, our primary focus is educating the public and lawmakers about the harms of marijuana legalization – a policy which has consistently placed corporate profits and addiction ahead of public health. At the local, state, and federal levels, we seek to align marijuana policies and attitudes about the drug with the latest science, which continues to demonstrate how marijuana use harms the mind and body.
We work to champion smart policies that decrease marijuana use and do not saddle marijuana users with harmful arrest records that stigmatize them for the rest of their lives and makes it harder for them to break the cycle of substance dependence.
Of course, the simplest way to accomplish this is by defeating efforts to commercialize, but our work does not end when a bill is passed, or a ballot measure is approved. In fact, our work only becomes more important.
As we speak, we are mobilizing in states that have legalized to pass potency caps, put in place strong restrictions on advertising, expand prevention and education campaigns, limit marijuana industry lobbying, expose failures to make good on promises of social equity, and help local communities meet state-imposed deadlines to ban marijuana establishments in their communities.
At the same time, we are actively meeting with and engaging with lawmakers across the country to ensure they are up to speed on the latest research on marijuana, the harms of commercialization, and the predatory marketing and lobbying tactics of the marijuana industry and its backers.
The fact is, we are up against a juggernaut with trillions of dollars at its disposal to operate its disinformation campaigns and lobbying efforts.
Just yesterday, it was announced that billionaire Charles Koch will be creating a coalition to push marijuana legalization on Capitol Hill — he also admitted he wants to legalize all drugs.
This is just one more recent example of billionaires and massive corporations lining up to push legalization and put profits ahead of people. We don’t have the luxury of billionaires and corporations lining up to fund our efforts. Instead, we rely on small donations from supporters like you to help keep us in the fight for public health and evidence-based drug policy.
Without your help, SAM would be unable to educate the public about the harms of today’s highly potent marijuana and the pot industry would be able to continue its war on public health and safety unabated.
