SAM updates, marijuana news, upcoming events, and research highlights   A brief rundown of marijuana news, research highlights, and SAM events SAM in the News Kevin Sabet on Dr. Phil SAM President and CEO Kevin Sabet joined Laura Stack; Dr. Roneet Lev, an ER physician; Heidi Swan; and James and Charmaine Hays on Dr. Phil for a discussion on the harms of legalization.  Watch the entire episode here Biden Pardons Thousands Convicted of Marijuana Possession Under Federal Law ‘“No one deserves to be in jail for a joint,’ said Kevin Sabet, who leads Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which opposes legalization. ‘But we should also not be selling highly potent THC products, nor should we promote and encourage use among young people.’” Click here to read the rest of the article in The New York Times 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. Click here to read the rest of the op-ed by SAM President and CEO Dr. Kevin Sabet Two Years Later, Oregon's Drug Decriminalization is Not Going Well “How has it been going after almost two years? Funded by groups that downplay the harms of substance use and aim to legalize all drugs, Measure 110 has been working exactly as intended. That is, hardly at all.” Click here to read the rest of the op-ed by SAM President and CEO Dr. Kevin Sabet Avoid ‘another bad trip’ for Colorado “Like the push to legalize marijuana, profit-driven companies are leading the charge, eager to promote psychedelics as the newest wonder drug while downplaying harms.” Click here to read the rest of the op-ed by SAM EVP Luke Niforatos   SAM Events and Trainings Parent Action Network National Marijuana Symposium in DC   On September 22, the Parent Action Network held their first annual National Marijuana Symposium in Washington, D.C., a day of training and advocacy on Capitol Hill. The symposium brought together families and community members who met with their lawmakers to share stories about how marijuana has adversely impacted their lives and the lives of their loved ones. PAN Director Heidi Rochon leads a panel discussion on the impacts of marijuana legalization and Cannabis Use Disorder. If you’d like to learn more about the Parent Action Network and how you can get involved, please click here.   SAM’s Executive Vice President, Luke Niforatos traveled to North Carolina to speak at the Shepherds 360 Church Leaders Conference and share the negative impacts of legalization with leaders in the faith-based community.   SAM's Communications and Legislative Affairs Officer, Jordan Davidson was invited by Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (MO) to speak to a group of 150 high school students about the harms of marijuana and legalization at her annual Youth Leadership Summit. Schedule a SAM Training and learn what to say and how to say it In-person and virtual trainings are now available for all age groups associated with non-profit organizations, corporations, healthcare, clinicians, social workers, counselors, schools, law enforcement, and local community groups around the country who want to educate their communities and employees on all issues surrounding marijuana. SAM Trainings go beyond slogans and clichés to give you a data-driven and tested approach to marijuana use and its consequences. To schedule a SAM training, please contact us at: [email protected] State Ballot Initiatives This year, five states have marijuana ballot initiatives and Colorado has a ballot initiative to legalize psychedelics. We have been actively opposing these initiatives in Colorado, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, and Maryland. For more details or to get involved, please click here In Case You Missed It We put together a short, sharable video that details what the industry doesn’t want you to know about marijuana use and legalization. Marijuana in the News Houston, We Have a Cannabis Problem “While it may not be the most toxic substance on earth, it is arguably the one where the largest chasm exists between its actual dangers (which are substantial) and its perceived dangers (which to a lot of people are zero).” Click here to read the rest of the article in Psychology Today The reality of legal weed in California: Huge illegal grows, violence, worker exploitation and deaths “Proposition 64, California’s 2016 landmark cannabis initiative, sold voters on the promise a legal market would cripple the drug’s outlaw trade, with its associated violence and environmental wreckage. Instead, a Los Angeles Times investigation finds, the law triggered a surge in illegal cannabis on a scale California has never before witnessed.” Click here to read more from the Los Angeles Times ‘$250,000 cash in a brown paper bag.’ How legal weed unleashed corruption in California “The advent of commercial cannabis unleashed a wave of corruption, prosecutions and accusations that has rocked local governments across the state and left them with few effective tools to combat the problem.” Click here to read more from the Los Angeles Times New Research Monitoring the Future 2022 Past-year, past-month, and daily marijuana use (use on 20 or more occasions in the past 30 days) reached the highest levels ever recorded since these trends were first monitored in 1988. Read the study here Association of cannabis potency with mental ill health and addiction: a systematic review “Overall, use of higher potency cannabis, relative to lower potency cannabis, was associated with an increased risk of psychosis and CUD.” Read the study here Impacts of recreational cannabis legalization on cannabis use: a longitudinal discordant twin study “In the United States, there appears to be a ~ 20% average increase in cannabis use frequency attributable to recreational legalization, consistent across increasingly rigorous designs. In addition, the heritability of cannabis use frequency appears to be moderated by legalization.” Read the study here   About SAM 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.   Donate to SAM Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) | 107 S. West Street, Suite 757, Alexandria, VA 22314 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected] powered by Try email marketing for free today!