Pot Prohibitionists Announce $300K Warchest to Stop Legalization

Anti-pot group Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is at it again today. SAM’s political arm SAM Action announced partnerships Wednesday with several state-level anti-pot groups and a war chest of $300,000 to defeat the passage of AUMA and other recreational ballot initiatives.

Children, according to SAM Action members, are getting into their parent’s cannabis.

“The marijuana industry wants to get richer after this November election cycle, so they have written ballot initiatives that allow for thousands of shops selling pot candy, gummy bears and other addictive products in communities around the country,” Kevin Sabet, president of SAM Action, wrote in a statement. “Between now and November, SAM Action and our state partners will ensure that the public is well informed about why a corporate cannabis free-for-all is bad for neighborhoods across the country.”

The announcement comes the same week the FDA just approved amphetamine-laced gum as a treatment for six year-old children who can’t sit still.

SAM announced partnerships with anti-reform groups in California, Arizona, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nevada. The group regularly posts recirculated headlines and statements blaming cannabis for being the root of nearly all evil — violent crime, genetic defects and the “worst cancers.”

SAM Action’s new argument focuses on comparing Big Pot to Big Tobacco. SAM Action members accuse the cannabis industry of blocking child restrictions and hiring convicted heroin dealers. SAM Action fears that the pro-marijuana movement has stacked its cards by filling state regulatory positions with industry insiders. As always, the organization works by tapping into our deepest fears.

“With these initiatives, the devil is in the details,” warned Sabet.

SAM Action is up against a massive, passionate movement. Early reports indicate that California legalization supporters have collected more than enough signatures in order to qualify the Adult Use of Marijuana Act for the November ballot, and hopes to raise $20 million in the coming months. AUMA groups have raised $3.3 million so far.

The opposition’s base of concerned parents has been reinforced with the support from law enforcement and prison lobbyists — those who benefit from keeping cannabis illegal. The California Association of Highway Patrolmen is the latest to come aboard. To complicate things, the opposition now includes the Small Farmers Association as well as the Teamsters Union.

The non-profit hopes to destroy the “unfettered access” to pot-laced candies. SAM Action is recruiting members for its “army” in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.