Drug Expert Warns Against Marijuana Lobbyists Setting Up Shop In Lansing
(WWJ) While some in Michigan consider legalizing marijuana, a former White House drug policy adviser came to town with one message: don't do it.
Kevin Sabet, head of the group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, is in Detroit to discuss with local health and law enforcement leaders the impact of today's stronger, more potent pot.
Sabet said lobbyists are already setting up shop in Lansing to pave the way for what has become a lucrative industry.
"It's a totally different ball game and we're increasingly worried about a special interest lobby, just like big tobacco that is instead marijuana that is lobbying basically to get advantage in the market place," Sabet said.
Among other things, Sabet is here to discuss the negative impact the new marijuana is having on communities and on the health of individuals.
"To get a reference point, in the '60s and '70s, particularly in the '70s, the average joint was about 4 percent or 3 percent THC concentration and now we're looking at these products that can sometimes be 90 percent," Sabet said.
Additionally, Sabet said legal marijuana has become a headache in Colorado and Washington State, with high debt, more drugged driving crashes, and minors bringing pot to school.
A group called MI Legalize organized signature drives to ask Michigan voters to legalize marijuana this November. They were tripped up by rules that void lal signatures older than 180 days. They say they'll try again for the 2018 ballot.
"...the outpouring of support and desire to complete the mission is so profound that we really have no choice but to continue this effort and prepare for another petition drive," chairman Jeffrey Hank wrote in a press release at the time.
Sabet thinks it's less about high ideals and more about the bottom line.
"It's about money, it's not about anything else and folks think it's a chance to get rich and we're bringing folks together today to say 'let's think this thing through more, let's pause before we make this mistake," Sabet said.
