SAM Post-Conference Summit: 2017 National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit

The 4th Annual SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) Marijuana Education Summit will be held Thursday, April 20, 2017, at The Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, in conjunction with the 6th Annual National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit. Project SAM’s leaders are among the world’s most prominent voices calling for science-based marijuana education and awareness.

The program and faculty will feature influential policymakers and advocates.

NOTE: This daylong post-conference requires a separate registration.

President’s Address:

A New President, A New Congress, A New Marijuana Policy?

Kevin Sabet, PhD, Director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida and Co-founder of Project SAM

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 on the subject of 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.

Keynote Presentation

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey

Governor Ducey has been a tireless advocate of sound marijuana policies. He helped defeat Arizona's proposed legalization measure, Proposition 205, in 2016, and is a champion for science-driven, humane drug policy.

Gov. Ducey received the 2002 Spirit of Enterprise Award on behalf of Cold Stone Creamery by the Center for the Advancement of Small Business at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, and induction into the W. P. Carey School of Business Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2006 he was named an Entrepreneurial Fellow for the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona, and in 2009 he was named Father of the Year by the Father’s Day Council benefiting the American Diabetes Association. Most recently, in 2012 Doug was recognized with the Tom and Madena Stewart Lifetime Compassion Award from the Arizona chapter Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Keynote Presentation

General Barry McCaffrey (Ret.), Former Director of National Drug Control Policy

Arguably one of the most outspoken drug czars to date, General Barry McCaffrey served as President Clinton's second Director of National Drug Control Policy from 1996-2000. When he retired from the Army to join the Administration, he was the most decorated General serving in the United States Army, having been awarded three Purple Heart Medals for wounds received in combat, two Distinguished Service Crosses (the nation's second highest award for valor), and two Silver Stars for valor.

Upon leaving government service, he served as the Bradley Distinguished Professor of International Security Studies from 2001-2005, and an Adjunct Professor of International Security Studies from 2006-2010 at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Keynote Presentation:

Linking the Recovery Movement

Justin Luke Riley, CEO, Young People in Recovery

Justin Luke Riley serves as CEO of Young People in Recovery (YPR). YPR is a national grassroots organization focused on peer-to-peer services for young people in, or seeking, recovery from substance use disorder. The organization aims to improve access to treatment, educational resources, employment opportunities and housing that sustains young people in their recovery. With over 100 chapters nationwide, YPR empowers young people to get involved in their communities by providing them with the tools and support that will allow them to take charge of their futures. Riley is 28 years old and has been in long-term recovery from a substance use disorder since 2007. He graduated cum laude from the Honors & Leadership Program at the University of Colorado at Denver in 2013 and is currently seeking his Executive MBA at the University Colorado. He is a former organizational development consultant and a youth and community engagement pastor in Denver; former secretary of the board of Faces & Voices of Recovery in Washington, D.C.; and past president of the board of Advocates for Recovery in Denver. He is also a White House Champion of Change award recipient. Most recently, Riley was featured as one of the four Social Entrepreneurs Advancing the Nationwide Recovery Movement in Forbes.

Skills Building
Engaging with Chambers of Commerce and Other Key Allies: The Ohio Speakers

Tony Coder, Director, State and Local Affairs, Smart Approaches to Marijuana

Tony Coder is the Assistant Director of the Drug Free Action Alliance, a statewide nonprofit focused on the prevention of drug use and abuse across the lifespan. In this role, he has set goals to increase advocacy opportunities for coalitions and individuals alike for the prevention of substance abuse and its related consequences. Coder is the Ohio Chairman for the Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and is a national presenter on the implications of marijuana legalization policies for business, law enforcement, education and healthcare. He also serves as SAM’s Special Advisor for State Affairs, to assist states in their efforts to defeat legalization. Prior to joining the Drug Free Action Alliance, Coder worked in Gov. Bob Taft’s office with the First Lady on drug prevention issues, and also served as the Legislative Director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services under Gov. Ted Strickland, where he was the chief lobbyist for a $20 million agency. He also served as the Assistant Communications Director for the agency in this role. In 2015, Coder was a leader in the grassroots organization efforts to soundly defeat marijuana legalization in the state.

Skills Building
Communications Strategies for Success
Rafael Lemaitre, Former Director of Communications for ONDCP, FEMA, and CPB

Rafael has over sixteen years of experience crafting and implementing national and international public-relations and crisis communications initiatives. Since 1998, he has served in three Presidential Administrations as a White House spokesman and media strategist for a wide array of issues including national security, public health, border security, immigration reform, and national disaster response. In the course of his work, Rafael has advised Cabinet-level presidential advisors, senior White House and Administration staff, and celebrities on media outreach activities executed across the United States and internationally. After serving as a career communicator in public service for almost a decade for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, in 2009, Rafael was appointed by the Obama Administration to serve as Senior Advisor for Media and Communications for U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Department of Homeland Security. In 2010, Rafael returned to the White House to serve as Associate Director for Public Affairs for the Office of National Drug Control Policy. During his time at the White House, he directed the Administration’s efforts to promote major initiatives to expand public health and safety programs designed to reduce drug use and its consequences. In 2014, Rafael was appointed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency as Director of Public Affairs. He left government service on January 20, 2017

Skills Building
The Arizona Experience and Lessons Learned from Maine
Merilee Fowler, Executive Director, MATFORCE and Community Counts

Scott Gagnon, Director of Operations, AdCare Educational Institute of Maine, Inc

Merilee Fowler heads up SAM's Arizona efforts and is currently is the Executive Director of two nonprofit agencies MATFORCE and Community Counts. Under her leadership, MATFORCE was awarded the 2013 Coalition of the Year for the nation from Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America (CADCA). In 2015 MATFORCE was awarded the National Exemplary Award for Innovative Substance Abuse Prevention Programs, Practices and Policies from NASADAD.

Merilee is credentialed as a level 4 prevention specialist in Arizona. She was selected to be the Kris Bell Recipient from Arizonans for Prevention for her work in prevention in the State of Arizona.

Merilee has a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Dakota. Merilee has over 20 years of administrative experience working in community collaboration in multiple states.

Scott M. Gagnon, MPP, PS-C is a Certified Prevention Specialist and is the Director of Operations at AdCare Educational Institute of Maine, Inc. He currently serves on the Maine Substance Abuse Services Commission as well as the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention National Advisory Council. Scott volunteers as the Chair of the marijuana policy education and advocacy group, Smart Approaches to Marijuana Maine and is the current Board President of the Maine Council on Problem Gambling. Scott also serves as a Co-chair of the Prevention & Harm Reduction task force of the Maine Opiate Collaborative, the effort convened by U.S. Attorney Thomas E Delahanty, II to address Maine's growing opiate and addiction crisis. Scott is the recipient of the 2015 Maine Public Health Association's Ruth S. Shaper Memorial Award and 2015 Healthy Androscoggin Will Bartlett Award and is also the 2013 recipient of the Maine Alliance to Prevent Substance Abuse Prevention Award. Scott heads up SAM's Maine efforts.

Skills Building
Engaging Low Income Communities
Jeff Zinsmeister, Executive Vice President, SAM

An expert in drug policy and international affairs, Jeffrey is Executive Vice President of SAM. 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).

Skills Building
An Update from the Trenches: One Mother's Journey from Marijuana Addiction to Finding Community and Workplace Solutions
Jo McGuire, SAM Advocate and Five Minutes of Courage

Jo McGuire is a tireless advocate for sound marijuana policies who consults and trains professionals overseeing Safety Sensitive Employees in the compliance of federal DOT guidelines for drug and alcohol screening programs. Jo assists educators with classroom and assembly-style presentations aimed at youth drug prevention and parent awareness and education.

Jo McGuire’s career began in the field of elementary education and quickly evolved to focus on teaching parents how to stay connected with their children through adolescence. She has worked extensively with public and private foundations in collaborative efforts for community wellness, awareness and education.

Jo was appointed to serve on the Colorado Governor’s Task Force, convened to recommend a legislative framework for the regulation of marijuana after the passage of Amendment 64. Jo has also joined efforts with concerned citizens around the state to support SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) and has helped organized the Colorado chapter of SAM, working closely with national health experts to educate state and federal policy makers on the importance of public health, pertaining to drug and alcohol testing practices.

Closing Presentation

Kevin Sabet, PhD, Director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida and Co-founder of Project SAM

SAM Marijuana Education Summit Sponsors