Marijuana foe’s request denied

Group SAM-NY may have to identify sources of its funding

The sources of funding for a group lobbying against legislative efforts to legalize adult use of marijuana in New York could soon be revealed.

The state Joint Commission on Public Ethics on Tuesday denied a request from the New York chapter of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAMNY) to keep its donors private. The decision can be appealed, a tactic that has been a successful option for organizations initially denied an exemption.

SAM-NY contended that it should be exempt from the state’s semiannual disclosure because its supporters would be subject to harassment and economic reprisal if they were identified.

“JCOPE’S regulations have unfortunately been manipulated to favor corporations and large national advocacy groups who hide their donors through loopholes in state laws,” SAMNY President Dr. Kevin Sabet said.

“Existing state and federal law recognize that disclosure may cause injury to those wishing to participate in debates about our public policy and have a chilling effect on free speech,” Sabet said. “This is especially true in our case given the number of victims of drugs and those in recovery who support our organization across the country.”

In New York, social welfare organizations such as SAM-NY that engage in lobbying are required to disclose their sources of funding unless they can prove there is a “substantial likelihood” of harm or reprisals for publicly revealed donors. The requirement is to ensure the public is informed about efforts to inf luence governmental decisions, according to JCOPE.

When the exemption was considered in JCOPE’S Tuesday meeting, Commissioner George H. Weissman said the application did not “meet what we require under the law.”

The group spent more than $84,000 on lobbying during the recent legislative session, according to financial disclosures with the state.

New York law has a blanket disclosure exemption for charitable organizations engaged in lobbying, including the pro-legalization Drug Policy Alliance, which spent more than $89,000 pushing its agenda in Albany.

SAM-NY maintained in its exemption request that it doesn’t receive funding from “faceless deep-pocketed corporate interests” in the “alcohol, tobacco, opioid, or the prison industries,” and notes that it doesn’t have a regulatory interest in marijuana legalization.

“SAM Action’s primary source of funding is from individuals and families, many of whom have seen the negative consequences of marijuana first-hand, as well as other supporters who have given to promote responsible public policy with the expectation of privacy under the federal tax code associated with our (social welfare organization) status,” the request stated.

JCOPE has denied disclosure exemption requests in the past from the New York Civil Liberties Union, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms and Family Planning Advocates of New York, only to have those decisions overturned by a judicial hearing officer, who described the rulings as “clearly erroneous.”

In the wake of Tuesday’s ruling, SAM-NY President Dr. Kevin Sabet said the group was reviewing its options to determine how best to proceed.