Reefer Sanity

In his book, Kevin A. Sabet argues that the U.S. should not legalize pot, with all of its attendant social costs, nor damage the future prospects of pot smokers by prosecuting and jailing them.  Rather, he contends that we should shift our emphasis to education about the newly revealed health dangers of pot use, and invest seriously in interventions and treatments targeted to those users who require them. And for the truly sick who do not respond to traditional medicines, the beneficial components of marijuana should be made safely available through doctors and pharmacies. Before we legalize marijuana, these kinds of evidence-based reforms should be tried. 

In the Obama Administration, Sabet and his colleagues at the ONDCP determined that a policy of marijuana legalization would pose too many risks to public health and public safety, and asked themselves, “Do the benefits of legalization outweigh the potential risks?” This book contains the information they used to get their answer.

Kevin Sabet of Cambridge, MA

Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D, has worked on drug policy issues for more than eighteen years. He has served as the Senior Advisor to Director Kerlikowske at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He is currently the director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida.