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News Roundup
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November 2019
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Here is a brief rundown of marijuana news as well as an update on what we have been
up to over the last month.
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Marijuana Vaping Outbreak Update
As you are well aware, the marijuana vaping epidemic that first hit the headlines
in the summer continues to rage. As it stands, more than 1,800 cases of the debilitating
lung illness have been reported and at least 33 people have lost their lives.
According to the CDC, 86% of cases of the illness and deaths are tied to the use
of marijuana vaping products. Moreover, at least three deaths and cases of illness
in Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, and Tennessee have been linked to products purchased
in "legal" stores.
Some things to remember:

* At a time when we are investigating the causes of this rash of deaths and illnesses
connected to marijuana oils and vapes, all marijuana legalization efforts and THC
vaping oil sales should pause.
* This is not a black-market issue, it is the result of allowing Big Marijuana -
an addiction- for-profit drug industry backed by Big Tobacco and companies like
Juul - to mass produce these oils and vapes, along with candies, gummies, and other
dangerously potent forms of the drug.
* Big Tobacco, E-Cigarette and vaping companies and the marijuana industry share
many of the same investors. The industries are connected by billions in investments.
Be sure to download the latest fact-sheet and one-pager we have on this issue by
clicking the button below:
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Chicago City Council Black Caucus Raises the Alarm on Social Justice Concerns

SAM Science Advisory Board Pens Letter to Congress on Vaping Crisis

In an unsurprising turn of events, members of the Chicago City Council's Black Caucus
are threatening to slow walk the implementation of marijuana sales in the city due
to the fact that no businesses slated to sell the substance once it is legal in
January are owned by people of color.

"We hate to say, 'I told you so', but once again we see legalization as being about
one thing: profits. It is not about social justice," said Dr. Kevin Sabet. "Upon
passage of the bill, promoters of legalization declared Illinois would set the
industry standard for social equity in the marijuana industry. Those remarks are
only sad, empty promises now.
"In state after state that has chosen to expand upon this reckless experiment, grand
promises of social justice and equity were made. And in state after state, we have
seen these promises fail to materialize. In the end, the wealthy, white men such
as Governor JB Pritzker and his family who are heavily invested in marijuana, will
profit, while disadvantage communities foot the bill. Marijuana legalization is
not social justice-it is social injustice."

SAM's award-winning Science Advisory Board, comprised of researchers from institutions
such as Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Yale, sent a comprehensive letter to Congressional
leadership outlining the fact that cases of severe respiratory illness and subsequent
deaths from vaping are decisively tied to marijuana products and linked to purchases
made in state "legal" stores. Additionally, the letter outlines several recommended
courses of action to address the crisis.

"We have a marijuana vape epidemic in the US, and we urge Congress and the Administration
to act now. Across the country, this outbreak is proving fatal and health officials
are struggling to identify the single element or contaminant responsible for these
illnesses and deaths," said Dr. Kevin Sabet. "Two deaths in Oregon and a number
of cases tied to products purchased from marijuana dispensaries tell us this is
more than just a nicotine or underground market issue."
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SAM Expands Presence on Capitol Hill to Oppose Passage of Marijuana Banking Legislation
During Vaping Epidemic

In its largest expansion of federal policy efforts yet, SAM announced a partnership
with Tripp and Jenn Baird of Off Hill Strategies and Luke Albee, former Chief of
Staff to Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
Luke Albee has many years experience serving as top staff to Democratic senators
and will assist SAM in outreach to Democratic members of the Senate. Tripp and
Jennifer Baird of Off Hill Strategies have over twenty years of experience both
on and off the Hill with
extensive ties to conservatives and will work to assist SAM with outreach to Republican
members.
"Historically, efforts to reduce drug use have always bridged the gap in partisan
politics; our lobbying efforts continue this tradition," said Dr. Kevin Sabet, president
of SAM and former drug policy advisor to the Clinton, Bush, and Obama Administrations.
"We believe these experienced government relations professionals, in conjunction
with former Congressman Patrick Kennedy and former Clinton Drug Czar Barry McCaffery,
will round out our federal outreach and further the goals of SAM."
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New Study: Marijuana Industry Social Media Presence Encourages Youth Use of The
Drug

USDA Guidance on Hemp is a Good Start; More is Still Needed

A study set to be published in the November issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence
found that roughly one in three youth (aged 15-19) engaged with marijuana advertisements
on social media. Those who engaged with said promotions were five times more likely
to have reported past-year marijuana use.
The study, authored by researchers including Dr. Pamela Trangenstein - a presenter
at the 2019 Smart Approaches to Marijuana Summit - examined how marijuana brands'
social media presence and advertising affected youth use of the drug in states that
have "legalized" the substance.
"Studies such as this indicate the commercialization of marijuana, and its subsequent
normalization, are indeed contributing to more use of the drug among our youth,"
said Dr. Kevin Sabet. "Given the preponderance of data we have on the health hazards
of marijuana use on young brains, and the ongoing marijuana vaping crisis, this
is extremely disturbing."
"Each day it becomes clearer that Big Marijuana is hurting public health and safety,"
continued Dr. Sabet. "Any attempt to expand this industry and continue to grant
it legitimacy is severely misguided and setting us up for decades of harmful consequences.
It's time for federal agencies to step up and address this problem before it is
too late."

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released draft guidelines on
the cultivation and production of hemp. While SAM believes the guidelines to be
a good start, there are a few areas of concern.
"We are thankful USDA is trying to take a careful approach in issuing guidance to
farmers interested in growing hemp after it was fully legalized (de-scheduled) in
the 2018 Farm Bill. However, we are concerned that the rule is missing some key
areas:

* It does not provide guidance to federal and state law enforcement as to how they
can tell the difference between legally grown hemp and illicit marijuana,
* It does not address the byproducts of extraction, processing, or products that
are made from hemp that may contain appreciable amounts of THC,
* USDA should work with the FDA to place a moratorium on 'smokable hemp' until the
health effects can be fully understood,
* USDA or the FDA should immediately make clear that cannabinoids are not approved
for use in animal feed because they may accumulate and be passed on to humans who
consume those animal products.
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60 Minutes: How Black Market Weed Deflates California's "Legal" Marijuana Industry

Dr. Kevin Sabet Discusses New York Vaping Death on Fox & Friends

CBS's "60 Minutes" recently presented a segment on how the marijuana black market
in California is "burning up profits" of the state's "legal" marijuana industry.
As you know, the promoters of legalization routinely claim that creating a "legal"
marijuana market will completely eliminate the black market trade and be a windfall
for tax revenues. This segment completely obliterates that talking point.

A seventeen-year old became the first individual in New York to pass away from the
marijuana vaping epidemic earlier this month.
Fox & Friends brought on SAM President Dr. Kevin Sabet to discuss the unfortunate
development and to talk about the vaping crisis overall.
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SAM Op-Ed Corner
"The rush to profit from legal marijuana is leaving black neighborhoods in the dust.
Chicago's Black Caucus and others should keep pushing..."

"Public health, not profit, should dictate Pennsylvania decision on legal marijuana..."
New Jersey State Sen. Ron Rice: "Legalizing pot won't stop social injustice in the
black and brown community..."
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Billboards and Other Large Advertisements
Interested in really making a splash on the marijuana issue? Use our artwork on
a billboard, bus ad, building-sized poster, or other installation that is sure
to draw public attention, and maybe even media coverage! We have successfully used
billboards such as the one above to drive media and policymakers' attention to the
harms of marijuana legalization and you can, too!
Contact us at [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] to jump-start
your marijuana awareness work.
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SAVE THE DATE!
2020 SAM SUMMIT
Registration is now open [[link removed]]
for the The 2020 SAM Summit taking place in Nashville, TN alongside the Rx Drug
Abuse & Heroin Summit. This is the perfect option for interested and concerned
parties to learn more about what the current research says about the negative effects
of marijuana normalization on public health and safety.
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MARIJUANA: PREVENTING ANOTHER BIG TOBACCO MEDIA CAMPAIGN TOOLKIT NOW AVAILABLE
Big Marijuana is borrowing the playbook of Big Tobacco in search of the same deep
profits at the expense of addicted users. It is time to combat their game with the
facts! To help you do so, Smart Approaches to Marijuana [[link removed]]
(SAM) has partnered with Communities for Alcohol and Drug Free Youth [[link removed]]
(CADY) to offer a comprehensive media campaign prevention toolkit [[link removed]].
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As always, thank you for being a SAM supporter. If you can, please chip-in with
a small donation by clicking here [[link removed]].
If you can't chip-in, then at the very least, please click here to share this with
a friend [[link removed]]
and help grow the SAM community.
All the best,
Colton Grace
Communications Associate
Smart Approaches to Marijuana
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Official SAM Website [[link removed]]
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Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) | [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
| 400 N. Columbus St., Suite 202
Alexandria, VA 22314

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