SAM Pre-Conference Summit: 2017 National Conference on Addiction Disorders

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Earn 6 CEs

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The SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) Marijuana Education Summit will be held Wednesday, August 16, 2017, at Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel, in conjunction with the National Conference on Addiction Disorders. Project SAM’s leaders are among the world’s most prominent voices calling for science-based marijuana education and awareness.

NOTE: This day-long pre-conference requires a separate registration fee.

Do you want to help sponsor the SAM Summer Summit? Click here to learn more or email info@learnaboutsam.org!

Program Focus and Goals

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is an alliance of organizations and individuals dedicated to a health-first approach to marijuana policy. We are professionals working in mental health and public health. We are bipartisan. We 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. Smart Approaches to Marijuana envisions a society where marijuana policies are aligned with the scientific understanding of marijuana’s harms, and the commercialization and normalization of marijuana are no more. Our mission is to educate citizens on the science of marijuana and to promote health-first, smart policies and attitudes that decrease marijuana use and its consequences.

Conference Objectives:

1. To identify current evidence-based, specific diagnostic and treatment approaches, counseling skills and modalities, prevention techniques and other mechanisms to prevent, reduce, and treat marijuana use, and that will be successfully applied to the fields of mental health, behavioral health and addictive disorders.

2. To identify key policy discussions in the marijuana use disorder space.

3. To understand policy changes on the state and local level, and recognize the evidence (or lack thereof) that contributes to practice.

President’s Address:

President's Address: National Landscape and Marijuana Policy
Kevin A. Sabet, PhD, President, SAM, Director, Drug Policy Institute, University of Florida

This session will focus on the national landscape with regards to marijuana policy in the United States. We will discuss you strands as well as the latest research regarding marijuana and marijuana policy changes.

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

Recite and learn about trend changes in the US
Learn about developments in different states with different marijuana policies
Utilize and learn about developments in prevention and treatment as well as medical components of marijuana

The Impact of Marijuana Use on Student Achievement

Amelia M. Arria, Ph.D, Director of the Center on Young Adult Health and Development and the Office of Planning and Evaluation at the University of Maryland School of Public Health and an Associate Professor with the Department of Behavioral and Community Health

This presentation will describe the research evidence linking marijuana use to academic performance problems. More comprehensive screening and intervention approaches, which include identifying at-risk students and intervening early are needed to promote student success. The research has implications for both secondary school and colleges, parents and policymakers.

Marijuana and Driving Impacts

Marilyn A. Huestis, PhD, Ret, Tenured Senior investigator and Chief, Chemistry and Drug Metabolism, IRP, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health

One of the most important short-term adverse consequences of cannabis legalization is cannabis-impaired driving, a serious public health and safety issue. The latest data from the world’s most advanced driving simulator following controlled cannabis with and without low dose alcohol will be presented. What is the best means to identify and deter driving under the influence of cannabis? THC detection windows after cannabis intake in occasional cannabis users is approximately 6h, while THC in chronic frequent cannabis smokers can be up to 30 days; however, new cannabinoid blood markers identify recent cannabis intake in both occasional and chronic frequent cannabis users. The rapid decrease of blood THC is problematic for documenting cannabis impaired driving; however, oral fluid can be easily collected and screened at the roadside, with mass spectrometry performed in laboratories to confirm results. New Drug Evaluation and Classification Program data from cannabis-impaired drivers document that establishment of per se blood THC concentrations may not be the best approach to document cannabis impaired driving.

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

Describe how cannabis effects lateral and longitudinal control during driving.
Describe how rapidly blood THC decreases 30 min and 1.4 hours after cannabis intake.
List new blood markers for recent cannabis intake in occasional and chronic frequent cannabis users.

Marijuana Science Update

Wilson M. Compton, M.D., M.P.E.

Deputy Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse

National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to understand various scientific topics related to marijuana and marijuana use disorders. The presentation will focus both on physical and mental health harms. Additionally, there will be a discussion of critics research needs and opportunities resulting from changing cannabis policies.

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

Increase knowledge of the scope and prevalence of cannabis use in the US
Learn about the mechanisms by which cannabis exerts its effects
Learn about the state of the science with respect to youth exposure and developmental outcomes

State Experiences of Marijuana Use and Policy

Moderator:

Kevin A. Sabet, PhD, President, SAM, Director, Drug Policy Institute, University of Florida

Panel:

Bari Platter, Clinical Nurse Specialist, MS, RN
Justin Luke Riley, CEO, Young People in Recovery

John Tassoni, Former Member of the Rhode Island Senate

Aaron Weiner, PhD, Director of Addiction Services at Linden Oaks and Edward-Elmhurst Health

This panel will discuss several different state experiences; including: treatment trends and other issues in Colorado, with a focus on youth; how to speak to legislators about marijuana issues, using the Rhode Island experience; and observations on a changing policy environment in Illinois. The panel will discuss evidence-based interventions with regards to marijuana and policy experiences in different states.

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

Compare Colorado and national statistics regarding youth marijuana use
Describe symptoms associated with youth marijuana use and in withdrawal
Discuss the intersection of treatment and recovery for youth
Discuss different state policy developments

Marijuana: What Does Our Brain Say?

Dr. Hoover Adger, Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Director of Adolescent Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital

This presentation will focus on the adolescent brain and how THC affects brain functioning and we will discuss the particular impact on adolescence.

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

Discuss marijuana and how THC affects the developing brain
Discuss marijuana and how THC affects learning and other behavior,
Examine data on heavy marijuana users and life satisfaction and other factors.

From Researcher to Resident: Marijuana Diversion and How it Affects Youth, Communities, and Families

Pamela A. Matson, MPH, PhD, John Hopkins University

This presentation will focus on marijuana and its connection to the legal market as well as youth. We will discuss research on the peer influences of marijuana use, risk perception and lessons learned from models of tobacco outlets. This research has implications on policy makers and locations of medical marijuana dispensaries.

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

Describe the possible unintended consequences of medical marijuana outlets on youth uptake of marijuana.
Discuss and review how lessons learned about the location of tobacco outlets could be applied to medical marijuana dispensaries.
Discuss and review the association between perception of risk and youth marijuana use

5 Years Later: What Does Marijuana Legalization Look Like in Colorado?

Ben Cort, Board Member, SAM

We will focus on policy developments in the first date that legalize marijuana, Colorado. Youth trends will be discussed as well as emergency room missions and developments in commercialization.

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

Learn and about developments in Colorado with regards to marijuana policy
Learn about developments in commercialization and advertising of marijuana in Colorado
Learn about treatments trends in that legalized state and recite those treatments

What Are the Costs of Marijuana Legalization?

Jeff Zinsmeister, JD, Executive Vice President and Director of Public Relations, Project SAM
Executive Vice President, SAM, Fellow, Drug Policy Institute, University of Florida

In this session, we will focus on the cost of marijuana legalization by using one state as an example. SAM has collected data from one state to consider the potential cost of policy changes such as legalization in the session will discuss how SAM reached its conclusion about costs and what factors are costing the most amount of resources in a state.

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

Examine and explain the costs of marijuana in one state
Examine and explain how we can determine the consequences of marijuana use in society,
Compare costs with potential benefits like tax revenue

Lessons Learned from the Fight for Nonsmokers’ Rights and Against Big Tobacco

Cynthia Hallett, MPH, President and CEO, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights

The nonsmokers’ rights movement caught the tobacco industry off-guard in its approach to tackling smoking behavior. Taking the focus off the individual smoker and placing it on innocent nonsmokers’ exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke, the movement diffused the “adult choice” and “it’s a legal product” arguments commonly made by the industry. Clearly, this alone was not a magic bullet that totally neutralized the industry; it had enough resources to activate an army of lawyers, public relations firms, and allied scientists who engaged in a campaign designed to misinform, mislead, and mask the true impacts of secondhand tobacco smoke exposure and the direct effects of cigarette smoking on the smoker. Reviewing the tobacco industry’s marketing, promotion, lobbying and policy-making behaviors is instructive as public health and other concerned individuals consider how to manage the current trends in the legalization and commercialization of marijuana.

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

Explain similarities between marijuana and tobacco industry marketing, lobbying, policy-making, and opposition practices.
Evaluate how experiences in the nonsmokers’ rights and tobacco control movement are applicable to achieving public health goals around marijuana use and exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke.
Describe current policy trends to prevent exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke in smoke free environments

Dr. Hoover Adger, Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Director of Adolescent Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital

Dr. Hoover Adger is Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Director of Adolescent Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, which he joined in 1984. Since that time, he has served as Director of the Substance Abuse Assessment/Intervention Team at The Johns Hopkins Hospital Adolescent Program and as Director of The Johns Hopkins Substance Abuse Faculty Development Programs. In February 1997, Dr. Adger was selected to fill the position of Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. In July 1998, he returned to Johns Hopkins to resume his duties as a full-time faculty member.

Amelia M. Arria, Ph.D. is currently the Director of the Center on Young Adult Health and Development and the Office of Planning and Evaluation at the University of Maryland School of Public Health and an Associate Professor with the Department of Behavioral and Community Health. Currently, she is the Principal Investigator on the College Life Study, a longitudinal prospective study of health-risk behaviors among college students. Her research focuses on risk and resiliency factors associated with the development of mental health and substance use among adolescents and young adults, as well as the consequences of untreated mental health conditions and substance use. Her most recent area of interest is understanding how these issues can interfere with academic achievement, and what can be done to promote student success. She has also completed studies related to mental health service utilization, predictors of suicidal behavior, and evaluations of addiction treatment. She is currently involved in several efforts to translate research findings for practical purposes, including her leadership role in the Maryland Collaborative to Reduce College Drinking and Related Problems, an initiative that brings together Maryland colleges to address the problem of excessive alcohol consumption and its consequences on their campuses and in their communities. Much of her research has direct relevance to parents, clinicians and policy makers. She has authored more than 150 scientific peer-reviewed publications and is the recipient of numerous grant awards from foundations, and state and federal agencies. She received a B.S. in Human Development from Cornell University, a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and completed postdoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Ben Cort, Board Member, SAM

Ben Cort’s passion for recovery, prevention and harm reduction comes from his own struggle with substance abuse. Sober since June 15, 1996, Ben has been a part of the recovery community in almost every way imaginable. From recipient to provider to spokesperson, Ben has a deep understanding of the issues and a personal motivation to see the harmful effects of drug and alcohol abuse minimized.

Today, he serves as director of professional relations for an adult substance-addiction treatment hospital. However, Ben built much of his career outside of the field of substance abuse recovery. Ben started out by working to support a Colorado-based nonprofit that helps people regain sobriety, Phoenix Multisport (PM). As an original board member and then the nonprofit’s first full-time employee, he was instrumental in building Phoenix Multisport into a nationally recognized organization lauded for its innovative approach to building sober communities around sport and healthy activities. He worked extensively with the treatment community and with drug courts and the therapy community as advisor, a member of clinical teams, frequent speaker and liaison. As someone who understands the experience of addiction treatment as much as the leadership of the programs delivering that treatment, Ben brings a holistic, compassionate and informed perspective to SAM’s efforts.

Robert L. DuPont, MD, President, Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc.

For over 40 years, Robert L. DuPont, MD has been a leader in drug abuse prevention and treatment. He was the first Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (1973-1978) and the second White House Drug Chief (1973-1977). From 1968-1970 he was Director of Community Services for the District of Columbia Department of Corrections. From 1970-1973, he served as Administrator of the District of Columbia Narcotics Treatment Administration. In 1978 he became the founding President of the Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc. He has been Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Georgetown University School of Medicine since 1980. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit. Dr. DuPont's signature role throughout his career has been to focus on the public health goal of reducing the use of illegal drugs.

Cynthia Hallett, President and CEO of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights and the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation

Cynthia Hallett is President and CEO of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights and the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation. The ANR Foundation strives to improve community health by promoting smoke free environments, expanding nonsmoking as the national norm, and creating a generation that rejects tobacco use and is savvy to tobacco industry tactics. ANR has over 40 years of advocacy experience and was instrumental in the smoke free airline campaign and thousands of local and statewide smoke free and tobacco-free laws and policies. MS. Hallett has 28 years of experience in tobacco and cancer control prevention. She has worked at the local, state, national, and international level on a variety of tobacco control issues including smoke free air campaigns and tobacco-free college campus initiatives, electronic cigarette and marijuana use in smoke free environments, and tobacco industry interference with public health policies. She has co-authored articles on smoke free trends and health disparities associated with gaps in smoke free protections. Ms. Hallett received her Master of Public Health from UCLA. Prior to joining ANR Foundation in 1997, she worked at the UCLA Comprehensive Cancer Center, the National Cancer Institute, and the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Tobacco Control Program.

Marilyn A. Huestis, PhD, Ret, Tenured Senior investigator and Chief, Chemistry and Drug Metabolism, IRP, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health

Marilyn A. Huestis, PhD recently retired as a tenured senior investigator and Chief, Chemistry and Drug Metabolism, IRP, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, after 23 years of conducting controlled drug administration studies. She is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Medicine, University of Maryland Baltimore. Her research program focused on discovering mechanisms of action of cannabinoid agonists and antagonists, effects of in utero drug exposure, oral fluid testing, drugged driving, and the neurobiology and pharmacokinetics of novel psychoactive substances. Professor Huestis’ research also explored new medication targets for cannabis dependence, including oral tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), Sativex, a 1:1 ratio of tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol. She served as the primary mentor for more than 20 doctoral students in toxicology and trained postdoctoral fellows from more than 20 countries. She has published 453 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters. Professor Huestis received a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki in Finland in 2010, and many other awards for her research, educational contributions and work in developing countries. The journal Clinical Chemistry featured her as an “Inspiring Mind”. She currently serves on the World Anti-doping Agency’s Prohibited List Committee, Transportation Research Board Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs, Organization of Scientific Area Committee on Toxicology, and the National Safety Council’s Alcohol, Drugs and Impairment Division Executive Board. Professor Huestis continues to be active in research, education and as a consultant to US government agencies, and pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies. She is past president of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists, past Chair of the Toxicology Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and past president of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists.

Pamela A. Matson, MPH, PhD, John Hopkins University

Dr. Matson’s research focuses on understanding the role of romantic relationships context on drug use and risk for sexually transmitted infections (STI) among adolescents. Currently, Dr. Matson is co-investigator of longitudinal cohort study of adolescent and young adult females in which daily electronic diaries are collected to assess behaviors and risk perceptions within and between sex partners. Her research interests are to disentangle individuals from dyadic risk in order to address the age and racial disparities in STI/HIV rates. Dr. Matson was trained in epidemiology with a particular emphasis on intensive longitudinal and multilevel data analysis. She collaborates with faculty from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Bari Platter, Clinical Nurse Specialist, MS, RN

Bari Platter has a master’s degree is Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing and has worked as a Clinical Nurse Specialist for over 25 years. She has written a curriculum, published by Hazelden, which integrates Dialectical Behavior Therapy and the Twelve Steps. In 2016 Ms. Platter won the Florence Nightingale Luminary Award for Innovation in Non-Traditional Practice in the state of Colorado. In addition to facilitating several groups at CeDAR and providing individual therapy, Ms. Platter also teaches at the University Of Colorado College of Nursing in the graduate program, provides clinical supervision at the University Of Colorado Hospital’s Outpatient Psychiatric Clinic and presents at numerous local, regional and national conferences. Ms. Platter works at CeDAR because she is committed to providing excellent, evidence‐based care to people who have substance use disorders. It is rewarding to be able to help her patients begin to have a life worth living in recovery.

Justin Luke Riley, CEO, Young People in Recovery

Justin Luke Riley is 28 years old, and has been in long term recovery since 2007. He is YPR's President & CEO, and a founding member. Justin has done organizational development consulting for different industries. He was a Youth & Community Engagement Pastor as well as a private Life Coach. He graduated cum laude from the University Colorado at Denver in the University's Honors & Leadership Program in 2013, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, Mediation, and Public Relations. He is currently completing his Executive MBA from the University of Colorado. As a natural leader and gifted public speaker, Justin has been featured in many media outlets for his involvement in youth leadership and community engagement. Justin is a prolific leader in recovery, served on the Executive Board of multiple nonprofit enterprises. Justin also serves in many other service-oriented capacities.

Kevin A. Sabet, PhD, is the Director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida and Co-founder of Project SAM. Author, consultant, assistant professor, and advisor to three U.S. presidential administrations, Sabet has studied, researched, written about, and implemented drug policy for almost 20 years. In 2011, he stepped down after serving more than two years as the senior advisor to President Barack Obama’s drug control director, having been the only drug policy staffer to have ever served as a political appointee in both a Democratic and Republican administration. He has appeared since at the Aspen Ideas and New Yorker festivals and participated on the Organization of American States blue-ribbon commission advising hemispheric drug policy, and in hundreds of forums and discussions promoting the ideas outlined in his first book, “Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana,” published by Beaufort. He has been featured on the front page of The New York Times and in many major media publications and news channels about drug policy. In 2013, he co-founded, with former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy, Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), which advocates for a public health based marijuana policy. He is also the director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida, Department of Psychiatry, Division of Addiction Medicine.

John Tassoni, Former Member of the Rhode Island Senate

John Tassoni is a former member of the Rhode Island Senate serving from 2001-2012. Additionally, John is a community activist, a businessman and former union executive. He has over 30 years of experience in the private sector and labor community.

Aaron Weiner, PhD, Director of Addiction Services at Linden Oaks and Edward-Elmhurst Health Aaron Weiner, PhD is the Director of Addiction Services at Linden Oaks and Edward-Elmhurst Health in Naperville, Illinois. He is a strong advocate for evidence-based care in treating chemical dependency and behavioral addictions, as well as a proponent of integrating behavioral health services into medical settings. Overseeing the quality of addiction care across six treatment programs and two medical hospitals, Dr. Weiner has learned firsthand the negative impact increased cannabis use has on public health, and has become a staunch advocate for sensible marijuana policy in Illinois. Dr. Weiner frequently presents to audiences of treatment providers, physicians, and other community members in Illinois on marijuana, and is working to ensure Illinois legislators hear the voice of healthcare as they form their perspectives on cannabis policy.

Jeff Zinsmeister, JD, Executive Vice President and Director of Public Relations, Project SAM

An expert in drug policy and international affairs, Jeffrey is Executive Vice President of SAM, a leading voice for evidence-based drug policy reform. Jeffrey comes to SAM from management consulting firm Bain & Company, where he provided advice to Latin American governments on complex public policy matters. He has drafted legislation and developed political strategy supporting multi-billion-dollar public initiatives for heads of state and Cabinet-level officials. Previously, Jeffrey served as a diplomat with the U.S. State Department, where he oversaw a $55 million drug demand reduction and anti-corruption foreign assistance program in Mexico.

Prior to that, he practiced law, including complex international litigation, at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, and clerked for the Hon. Rosemary Barkett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, Jeffrey received his A.B. from Harvard University, and his J.D. from the UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall).

Presenter Biographies: