Author, consultant, advisor to three U.S. presidential administrations, and assistant professor, Kevin Sabet, Ph.D., has studied, researched, written about, and implemented drug policy for more than 20 years. He is currently the President and CEO of SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), a non-profit organization he founded with Congressman Patrick Kennedy and David Frum. His book, Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana, was published by Beaufort (Midpoint) in 2013, and was released in its second edition at the end of 2017. He is also the co-editor of Marijuana and Contemporary Health, published by Oxford University Press, and an assistant adjunct professor at Yale University and an institute director at the University of Florida.
His work as a government advisor began in the Clinton Administration as a researcher, and he was the senior speechwriter on drug policy in the Bush Administration (2002-2003). He returned to government in 2009, where he was asked to assist in drafting President Obama’s National Drug Control Strategy as a senior advisor. In 2011, he stepped down after being the only drug policy staffer to have served as a political appointee in a Democrat and Republican administration.
He talks to Say Nope To Dope spokesperson Aaron Ironside about the effects of legalisation of marijuana in the US, and why he’s encouraging New Zealanders to vote NO in the upcoming referendum.