The pro-marijuana movement continues to gain momentum, with more states permitting marijuana for ‘medicinal’ use; however, in California, a proposition on the November 2010 ballot to permit recreational use of marijuana by adults was defeated. While NCPC efforts to counter pro-marijuana influences at the local level have achieved some success, it is clear that much more needs to be done at the local, state, and national level to stem the rising tide of marijuana use by youth.
In 2013, the states of Washington and Colorado passed referendums that legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Even before these laws took effect we have seen the youth use rates rise. We think that the state of California will face another vote on the recreational use of marijuana. In 2012 we saw a national voice emerge, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) are professionals working in mental health and public health. They are bipartisan. They are medical doctors, lawmakers, treatment providers, preventionists, teachers, law enforcement officers and others who seek a middle road between incarceration and legalization. Our commonsense, third-way approach to marijuana policy is based on reputable science and sound principles of public health and safety. NCPC has signed on to partner with SAM because we believe their principals are sound and a needed national voice.