PROVIDENCE, R.I. (January 8, 2013)--Former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy says he has established a group to lobby against legalized marijuana.

He says efforts around the United States to legalize marijuana are well intentioned but misguided.

Kennedy's group, Project SAM, which stands for Smart Approaches to Marijuana, will instead lobby for increased treatment for marijuana and drug abuse.

He says making marijuana legal would introduce a new substance comparable to alcohol and tobacco that would cause more public health problems than it would solve.

Kennedy also says he is skeptical about medical marijuana, which he says misdirects compassion for those who suffer from cancer and other diseases to support for an extreme drug policy.

Rhode Island allows the regulated use and cultivation of marijuana to treat some medical conditions.