Kevin Sabet has never smoked marijuana, but his life revolves around it.
As a teen in Anaheim Hills, California, in the 1990s, Sabet saw problems with marijuana use among his friends. But he felt his community didn’t take it seriously and avoided talking about drugs in general. A friend of his was hit by a driver who was high on marijuana.
“As a society, we should discourage [marijuana] use just like we discourage speeding,” he told The Epoch Times. “We know people will speed; we know people will use marijuana. But you don’t get rid of the speed limit because people speed and because people can even speed safely, they would argue.
“So we wouldn’t get rid of marijuana laws just because some people can use it. Now, we wouldn’t also put you in solitary confinement if you speed, either. So we don’t need to go overboard with marijuana laws.”
He sees himself as a moderate, nonpartisan voice on cannabis policy, though he is by and large wary of cannabis use, which he sees as harmful in many ways—particularly given the rise in teens using high-potency cannabis products.
“I think there is a false dichotomy: either legalization or criminalization, demonization or promotion,” he said. He stands somewhere in between.
Sabet has helped form national drug policy as an adviser to three presidential administrations. He has written books on the issue and formed the nonprofit Smart Approaches to Marijuana to educate about the harms of marijuana use and…
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Kevin Sabet has never smoked marijuana, but his life revolves around it.
As a teen in Anaheim Hills, California, in the 1990s, Sabet saw problems with marijuana use among his friends. But he felt his community didn’t take it seriously and avoided talking about drugs in general. A friend of his was hit by a driver who was high on marijuana.
“As a society, we should discourage [marijuana] use just like we discourage speeding,” he told The Epoch Times. “We know people will speed; we know people will use marijuana. But you don’t get rid of the speed limit because people speed and because people can even speed safely, they would argue.
“So we wouldn’t get rid of marijuana laws just because some people can use it. Now, we wouldn’t also put you in solitary confinement if you speed, either. So we don’t need to go overboard with marijuana laws.”
He sees himself as a moderate, nonpartisan voice on cannabis policy, though he is by and large wary of cannabis use, which he sees as harmful in many ways—particularly given the rise in teens using high-potency cannabis products.
“I think there is a false dichotomy: either legalization or criminalization, demonization or promotion,” he said. He stands somewhere in between.
Sabet has helped form national drug policy as an adviser to three presidential administrations. He has written books on the issue and formed the nonprofit Smart Approaches to Marijuana to educate about the harms of marijuana use and…