Op-ed by Kevin Sabet: Fentanyl Use Is Empowering? New York City’s Health Department delivers a deadly message

“Negative perceptions of addiction too often discourage people from seeking help and result in preventable deaths. But asserting that drugs empower users desensitizes the public to the real harms of drug use. Lower risk perceptions will result in more casual experimentation. The desensitization and normalization of drug use will inevitably result in more overdoses.

“Treatment and accountability must remain the primary pathway to a healthy, drug-free life. Public-health officials should focus on reducing the frequency of drug use rather than pretend it can be safe and empowering. By expanding treatment availability, educating about the harms of drug use, and ensuring that people know addiction can be overcome, officials can turn the corner of the overdose epidemic.” 

Click here to read the rest of the op-ed by SAM President and CEO Dr. Kevin Sabet

Op-Ed by Luke Niforatos: Lujan’s marijuana-ad bill puts youth at risk

"In a nod to the Mad Men of Marijuana, Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., recently introduced the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Advertising Act, a bill that would allow New York’s Madison Ave advertisers to promote weed on television and radio stations. This legislation would not only normalize marijuana, but also would certainly increase rates of youth use..."

Click here to read the rest of the op-ed by SAM Executive Vice President, Luke Niforatos, in the Albuquerque Journal

Highly potent marijuana tied to worse mental health outcomes

“'We need to educate the public on what this new high-potency marijuana is and what the studies say about how it impacts you,'” said Luke Niforatos, executive vice president at Smart Approaches to Marijuana, an organization that opposes marijuana legalization and commercialization. “'It's totally different. The days of Woodstock weed are long gone, and the public needs to know that.'”

Click here to read the story

Democrats' dangerous push to legalize marijuana is the latest disastrous left-wing reform

"'The CAOA would deschedule marijuana, allow states to legalize it, and help 'individuals adversely impacted by the war on drugs,'' said Connor Kubeisy, a communications and policy associate at Smart Approaches to Marijuana. "The bill lacks several key public health provisions, such as a potency cap, which would limit the THC concentration of marijuana.'"

Click here to read the story in the Washington Examiner

Parent Action Network National Marijuana Symposium in DC

If you are concerned about the use and normalization of marijuana, register today to join SAM and our newly announced initiative, the Parent Action Network, for the 1st Annual National Marijuana Symposium being held in Washington, DC, on Thursday, September 22, 2022. 

This is an outdoor, in-person event; if weather does not permit us to be outdoors, masks will be required indoors. Space is limited.

For more information or to register, please click here

Parent Action Network Educational Speakers Series

"Legalization of the recreational use of marijuana was associated with a 6.5% increase in injury crash rates and a 2.3% increase in fatal crash rates..."

Click here to read the study 

The Journal of Psychopharmacology: The CannTeen Study: Cannabis use disorder, depression, anxiety, and psychotic-like symptoms in adolescent and adult cannabis users and age-matched controls

"Adolescent cannabis users are more likely than adult cannabis users to have severe CUD. Adolescent cannabis users have greater psychotic-like symptoms than adult cannabis users and adolescent controls, through an additive effect.” 

 Click here to read the study

BMJ Open Respiratory Research: Cannabis use and risks of respiratory and all-cause morbidity and mortality: a population-based, data-linkage, cohort study

"...cannabis use is associated with increased risk for serious adverse health events and its recreational consumption is not benign.” 

 Click here to read the study

The New York Times: Psychosis, Addiction, Chronic Vomiting: As Weed Becomes More Potent, Teens Are Getting Sick

“Although recreational cannabis is illegal in the United States for those under 21, it has become more accessible as many states have legalized it. But experts say today’s high-THC cannabis products — vastly different than the joints smoked decades ago — are poisoning some heavy users, including teenagers.” 

“In addition to uncontrollable vomiting and addiction, adolescents who frequently use high doses of cannabis may also experience psychosis that could possibly lead to a lifelong psychiatric disorder, an increased likelihood of developing depression and suicidal ideation, changes in brain anatomy and connectivity and poor memory.” 

Click here to read more from the New York Times

The Wall Street Journal: Cannabis and the Violent Crime Surge

“Young people are especially vulnerable to cannabis’s effects because their brains are still developing. Scientists in a recent study reviewed scans of teenagers’ brains before and after they started using pot. They found that parts of the brain involved in decision making and morality judgments were altered in pot users compared to nonusers.” 

“A study last year found that young people with such mood disorders as depression who were also addicted to pot were 3.2 times more likely to commit self-harm and die of homicide—often after initiating violence—than those who weren’t. A meta-analysis found the risk of perpetrating violence was more than twice as high for young adults who used marijuana. It’s possible that pot can trigger dangerous behavior in youths who may be predisposed to it for other reasons such as prenatal exposure to drugs.” 

Click here to read more from the Wall Street Journal

San Diego Union-Tribune: Six Years into Proposition 64, California's cannabis experiment leaves a lot to be desired

“Now, nearly six years after Californians approved the largest single-state experiment in recreational marijuana in U.S. history, it’s not just legal marijuana that’s growing. Concerns about it are, too.” 

“But there needs to be a realization that the interests of those cashing in on cannabis are not the same as the interests of society in general. What we’ve seen in recent years can be roughly analogized to the makers of Budweiser responding to 1933’s end of Prohibition by doubling the strength of its beer — except that cannabis conglomerates don’t have to worry about a parallel to the single stigma that most discourages dangerous drinking: DUI arrests. California shouldn’t shrug off concerns. It needs more research for drugged driving tests and more crackdowns on illegal shops — and more of a sense of urgency about the continuing cannabis experiment.” 

Click here to read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune

Reuters: Cannabis use has risen with legalization and COVID lockdowns, U.N. report says

“Places including U.S. states that have legalized cannabis appear to have increased its regular use, while COVID lockdowns had a similar effect, raising the risk of depression and suicide, a U.N. report said.” 

“While the prevalence of cannabis use among teenagers ‘has not changed much’, there had been ‘a pronounced increase in reported frequent use of high-potency products among young adults’, it said.” 

Click here to read more from Reuters

The Boston Herald: The kids are all right without marijuana in schools

“But is the prospect of dispensing medical marijuana to schoolchildren really about assisting in their care? Marijuana reform legislation is about opening up markets.” 

“The marijuana business is a bit like the early days of the Gold Rush — everyone wants to stake a claim and strike it, if not rich, then profitable. From an entrepreneurial perspective, all well and good. But leave the kids out of it.” 

Click here to read more from The Boston Herald

CNN: Weed users nearly 25% more likely to need emergency care and hospitalization

“When compared with people who did not use marijuana, cannabis users were 22% more likely to visit an emergency department or be hospitalized, the study revealed. The finding held true even after adjusting the analysis for over 30 other confounding factors, including other illicit drug use, alcohol use and tobacco smoking.” 

“For youth, this impact may ‘consequently lead to reduced educational attainment, and, in adults, to poor work performance and dangerous driving. These consequences may be worse in regular and heavy users,’ [said] coauthor Dr. Alexandre Dumais.” 

Click here to read more from CNN

CNN: Highly potent weed creating marijuana addicts worldwide, study says

“Higher concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol or THC – the part of the marijuana plant that makes you high – are causing more people to become addicted in many parts of the world, a new review of studies found.” 

“One of the highest quality studies included in our publication found that use of high potency cannabis, compared to low potency cannabis, was linked to a four-fold increased risk of addiction,” said study coauthor Tom Freeman. 

Click here to read more from CNN

The Hill: Cartels are turning our national forests into a warzone

“Even though California legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2016, an illicit market still thrives. In 2019, the black market brought in nearly triple the profits in sales over California’s legal cannabis industry. Legalizing cannabis was unfortunately a misguided attempt by California’s Democrat-led legislature to curb rising rates of crime and illegal drug proliferation that only added fuel to the fire.” 

Click here to read more from The Hill

USA Today: Legalizing marijuana? Stay wary of health risks and commercialization.

“Substantial evidence indicates that cannabis can be harmful, including the reality that some individuals develop cannabis use disorders.” 

“Recognizing the harms of criminalization and the ongoing conflict between federal and state laws, the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) has called for a more scientifically informed and compassionate approach to cannabis policy across this country.” 

Click here to read more from USA Today

Axios: Teen cannabis use likelier in legalization states

“States that legalized recreational marijuana use for adults were likelier to see teens partake as well, according to a study published in Addiction. The findings add new evidence of a connection between legalizing adult use and a surge of use among kids. Researchers also found evidence that adults were more likely to begin using marijuana compared to their counterparts in states where it is not legal.” 

Click here to read more from Axios

Washington Examiner: Legalized marijuana is a global warming nightmare

“[A]lthough today’s cannabis may seem “green” — after all, it traps carbon dioxide in organic material and generates oxygen in the process — its similarity to other green plants ends there. Commercial cannabis is primarily grown indoors, where the electricity required for grow lamps and temperature and humidity control generates a massive net carbon footprint.” 

Click here to read more from the Washington Examiner

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Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is a nonpartisan, non-profit alliance of physicians, policy makers, prevention workers, treatment and recovery professionals, scientists, and other concerned citizens opposed to marijuana legalization who want health and scientific evidence to guide marijuana policies. SAM has affiliates in more than three dozen states.