Unless you are on the Marijuana Policy Project’s (MPP) email list, you may have missed this. You know MPP – the national legalization group ran by the pot industry, known for calling legalization “inevitable,” and holding positions inconsistent with the National Academy of Sciences. They sent out a fundraising email trying to raise money off of the recent slew of victories WE have had across the country defeating legalization bills.
MPP resorted to distorting the facts and slandering SAM and SAM staff in the email. We’re not shocked, but this time we responded to their baseless claims in a twitter thread you can view by clicking here.
MPP states that SAM has “plenty of resources,” implying we are the deep pocketed group in the debate over marijuana commercialization. In reality, MPP and its fellow pot industry promoters are touting an industry actively racking in billions from vice industries such as Big Tobacco, Big Alcohol, and Big Pharma.
As you know, SAM’s funding comes mostly from small family foundations and concerned parents who have seen firsthand the result of legalization and want to save others from its negative impacts. We take no Pharma money.
2019 has been a banner year for SAM. MPP’s email, in fact, proves it.
We will never stop working to put public health and safety above addiction-for-profit schemes. But we need supporters like you to help by chipping in today to help us combat the lies and slander of groups like MPP, the Drug Policy Alliance, and the National Cannabis Industry Association. These groups take the profits of the industry and put them towards expanding Big Marijuana and rolling back regulations.
If you can, please click here to chip in $100, $250, $500, or $1,000 to help us continue winning the fight for public health, safety, and commonsense.
Thank you for believing in us. Let’s continue putting people before profit.
Dr. Kevin Sabet,
Founder and President, Smart Approaches to Marijuana
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 30 states.
Evidence shows that marijuana – which has skyrocketed in average potency over the past decades – is addictive and harmful to the human brain especially when used by adolescents. In states that have already legalized the drug, there has been an increase in drugged driving crashes, youth marijuana use, and costs that far outweigh pot revenues.These states have seen a black market that continues to thrive, a black market that continues to thrive, sustained disparities in marijuana arrest rates, and tobacco company investment in marijuana.
For more information about marijuana use and its effects, visit www.learnaboutsam.org