Kevin
A. Sabet
Biography
Kevin A. Sabet
Kevin
Abraham Sabet is a senior at the University of California, Berkeley
and a member or the Baha’i
Faith. Sabet, a candidate for a Political Science degree, is studying British
drug policies this semester at Oxford University where he expects to complete
his honors thesis titled "American and British drug policy: A cross-national
comparison." Currently, he acts as the youngest delegate to Drug
Watch International and Advisory Board member of the Drug Free America
Foundation, where he serves alongside Florida Governor Jeb Bush.
At 17, Sabet debated Orange
County Superior Court Judge James Grey. Since 1999, Kevin has debated High
Times Senior Editor Steve Bloom, Criminal Justice Foundation President Eric
Sterling, and National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws
(NORML) Executive Director Keith Stroup, among others, on national radio
and television.
Sabet has submitted testimony
three times to the United States Congress and advises scores of local anti-drug
coalitions. Upon his departure for school in August, he had completed an
instructional guide on industrial hemp as well as acted as CADCA representative
on controversial drug issues. In June of 2000, Kevin accepted a position
in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy office under General
Barry McCaffrey. There, he wrote speeches for General McCaffrey, advanced
several White House events, prepared correspondence for members of Congress,
and revised the White House stance on drug legalization.
In May of 2000, Sabet retired
as a two-term, elected Associated Students of the University of California
(ASUC) Senator at Berkeley. The ASUC, whose budget is $19 million, is the
largest student government and only student-led autonomous university decision-making
body in the nation.
In 1999, Sabet launched International
Students In Action (ISIA), a subsidiary of National Families In Action (NFIA),
as a coalition of college students around the world dedicated to reducing
drug use and involving more youth in drug policy decisions. He leads ISIA
as a working partner -- with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
for their "club drugs" and steroid initiatives, and with the Department
of State’s International Narcotics League (INL) delegation to worldwide
drug prevention conferences. In June of 1999, he worked at Community Anti-Drug
Coalitions of America (CADCA) for Drug-Free Communities Act co-author Sue
Thau.
In June 1997, Sabet graduated
from Canyon High School after growing up in Orange County, California. Recognized
as one of a hundred National Honors Society Scholars in the United States,
Sabet, while in high school, acted as the editor-in-chief of Canyon High
School newspaper, played four-years on the Varsity tennis team and was chosen
team captain. Additionally, he received the distinguished 1997 William Gleitsman
Award ("The Outstanding Senior Man"). Later, as a college freshman,
he founded Citizens for a Drug-Free Berkeley, Berkeley’s only active
anti-drug coalition. The U.S. Baha’i Community also appointed Kevin
on the United States Baha’i Youth External Affairs Committee.
In 1996, Sabet was elected
as the President of IMPACT: Students Making A Difference, formerly SADA (Students
Against Drug Abuse), the nation’s largest anti-drug coalition for youth.
During his term as IMPACT President, he commenced a drug-free night drawing
every high school in Orange County to join in a safe environment after the
Homecoming Dance, established "Making A Difference" clubs at 15
high schools in the county, and worked as a youth representative on the "No
on Proposition 215" campaign to stop the legalization of marijuana.
In 1994, Kevin Sabet became
passionate about the problem of youth drug and alcohol abuse after the death
of a friend in a drugged driving accident prompted him to investigate the
issue. He joined the editorial staff of “The Orange County Quest,” a
newspaper with a publication of over 120,000 dedicated to drug awareness,
in 1995. At the same time, he was voted onto the board of directors of two
nationally recognized coalitions, Drug Use is Life Abuse and Project: No
Gangs, where he served each for two years.
Among the honors Kevin Sabet
has received are: three first prize writing awards from the Orange County
Register; the Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates Founder’s Choice Award;
the Drug Use is Life Abuse Pacesetter Award; the Project: No Gangs Community
Advocate Award; the California Alumni Association Emerging Leader Award;
the Berkeley Certificate; and decorations from Thailand and Italy. He has
been featured in the California Journal for Higher Education, “Teen
People” and “Rolling Stone” magazines, the Cable News Network
(CNN), and acted as an advisor to CBS’s 60 Minutes II. Kevin also wrote "Cannabis
Sativa as a Medicinal Application: The need to distinguish between smoked
marijuana and its isolated components," in the peer-reviewed 1999 journal
of Addictions.
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