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Prevent Underage Drinking With “Talk. They Hear You.”
Keep Informed: Preventing Underage Marijuana Use
A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Underage Marijuana Use
(Updated May 2014. Available in English and Spanish)
This booklet, produced by Seattle Children’s Hospital and the UW Social Development Research Group, offers information, resources, and practical advice for parents about:
- The effects of marijuana on adolescent health,
- Techniques for talking to your child about marijuana,
- What to do and how to help if your child is using marijuana,
- The basics of the law in Washington state.
Come join us Saturday night 6pm-7pm at the Fashion Trashion Show at the Fair…Sshh…It’s a Secret;)
Thank you Madrona Jameson and Zach Fincher for taking the lead on this one!
Twist and Shout 4 Health! Everyone is welcome to join in!
NO Post is Worth a Life/ It Can Wait by AT&T
Latest Weapon to Fight Distracted Driving: virtual reality by 
Edward C. Baig, USA TODA NEW YORK — AT&T is counting on virtual reality to help reduce the number of potentially fatal automobile accidents.
The wireless carrier is letting you take the wheel of a car virtually to simulate what can happen the instant you turn your attention away from the road to respond to a beeping cell phone or to text.
As you drive along suburban streets, and eventually a highway, the simulation presents everyday obstacles — kids in the crosswalk, cyclists and joggers, vehicles swerving in traffic — eventually to devastating effect.
It’s the latest tool in AT&T’s 5-year-old “It Can Wait” campaign which is designed to explain to you, or in this case to have you “experience,” the deadly consequences of distracted driving.
AT&T teamed up with the animation studio Reel FX to produce the impactful 360-degree VR simulation, which I got to try out while wearing Samsung Gear VR headgear. You can too.
AT&T is kicking off a 100-city tour today where people can check out the VR simulation by wearing Gear VR headgear and Bose noise-canceling headphones or by using the Google Cardboard VR viewer, of which AT&T will be distributing up to 100,000 for free at tour stops and other viewing events. You can visit ItCanWait.com/VR to download a free app that will work with Cardboard.
By AT&T’s own research, 7 in 10 people engage in smartphone activities while they drive. It’s not just texting and emailing either, though those remain the most prevalent behaviors.
“Although people admit that (such behavior) is terrible and that they do it, they don’t necessarily see themselves as part of the problem. What people are doing is rationalizing that there is a safe way to do it,” says Michelle Kuckelman, executive director of brand management at AT&T.
Adds Reel FX co-founder Dale Carman: We “purposely wanted to make this a linear experience that you couldn’t escape. One of the miracles of VR is you experience ‘presence.’ It worked on me.”
While AT&T has taken the lead on It Can Wait campaign, rival carriers Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile have lent their support to the campaign and the cause. AT&T says It Can Wait has inspired more than 7 million pledges to not text and drive.
To complement its virtual reality efforts, AT&T is also launching an ad campaign built around jarring 30-second TV commercials, one of which is shown here (and above), as well as a longer form video piece that will be shared through digital channels. With a compelling narrative and the use of slow-motion cinematography, viewers meet a mother and daughter in a car whose lives are altered when mom as the driver makes an unsafe choice with her phone. The ads were created by BBDO.
The commercials are disturbing in the same way that some of the harshest anti-tobacco ads are; the purpose, of course, is to raise awareness and stress the potential gravity of the situation.
There have been other impactful ads. In 2014, unsuspecting movie goers in a Hong Kong theater were watching an anti-texting and driving Volkswagen advertisement on the screen when their phones were made to ring. A second or so after audience members looked down at their phones, the car in the ad on the screen suddenly crashed.
Adolescents uncertain about risks of marijuana, e-cigarettes, study finds…
As posted on MedicalXpress, June 2015
Teenagers are very familiar with the risks of smoking cigarettes, but are much less sure whether marijuana or e-cigarettes are harmful, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
The findings will be published online June 23 in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
“Kids were really good at describing the harmful things that happen with cigarette smoking, but when we asked about other products, there was a lot of confusion,” said the study’s lead author, Maria Roditis, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in adolescent medicine.
“We’re good at delivering messaging that cigarettes are harmful, but we need to do a better job with other products that teens may smoke,” added Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, PhD, professor of pediatrics in adolescent medicine and the study’s senior author. “We don’t want the message kids get to be ‘cigarettes are bad, so everything else might be OK.’”
Tripling of e-cigarette use
Halpern-Felsher and Roditis compared teens’ knowledge of cigarettes, e-cigarettes and marijuana because they heard from teachers, parents and youth that anti-smoking efforts needed to address more than just conventional cigarettes. The need is borne out by other research: A recent study from the Centers for Disease Control shows that middle- and high-school students‘ use of e-cigarettes tripled from 2013 to 2014, eclipsing conventional cigarettes as the most common tobacco product in this age group.
Halpern-Felsher and Roditis studied 24 adolescents who attended high school in a Northern California school district known to have high rates of substance use. The students participated in small-group discussions about their perceptions of the risks and benefits of conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes and marijuana. They also discussed how they learned about these products. The researchers analyzed the themes that emerged in the discussions.
Students perceived little or no benefit, as well as several detrimental effects, of smoking conventional cigarettes, such as yellowed teeth, bad breath and long-term disease risk. They also said their social norms often discouraged smoking conventional cigarettes. For instance, even smoking marijuana rolled in paper was considered weird because it looks like a cigarette.
Perceptions versus reality
However, students saw getting high as a benefit to smoking marijuana, and perceived it as safer and less addictive than tobacco. They were unsure whether marijuana posed health risks, and also described being under peer pressure to smoke marijuana.
With respect to e-cigarettes, students perceived some benefits, including thinking e-cigarettes looked good, and were unsure of the risks.
Students’ sources of information about the three products were varied. The media, families and teachers all warned against the use of conventional cigarettes. Students also got messages from these sources discouraging use of marijuana, but said it was difficult to refuse the drug because its use was so prevalent among their peers. Students received few, mostly informal, messages about e-cigarettes: They said they saw family members using them to try to quit conventional cigarettes, and also saw peers using them.
The findings could help shape future messages about marijuana and e-cigarettes, the study’s authors said. For instance, students need to hear about the addictive potential of both products; about the risks of smoking any form of plant matter, which is similar between conventional cigarettes and marijuana; and about the presence of nicotine in e-cigarettes. In addition, flavorants in e-cigarettes may raise the risk of obstructive lung disease.
“Students hear a lot of talk about conventional cigarettes, some about marijuana and very little about e-cigarettes,” Halpern-Felsher said. “That gap needs to be filled in classrooms and by health-care providers, parents and the media. We don’t want to leave one product behind and leave teens with the impression that, ‘Maybe this is the product I can use.’”
Editorial: Marijuana growers are wrecking California July 6, 2015
BY THE BEE EDITORIAL BOARD
The cost of inaction couldn’t be more clear.
Acres of ancient trees are disappearing and illegal marijuana farms are popping up in their place. Streams and rivers are being sucked dry, diverted sometimes miles away through plastic pipes into tanks. Several species of fish, along with a rare breed of wild rodent, are on the verge of extinction.
A truck is filled with marijuana plants after authorities uncovered an illegal pot farm in the Sierra National Forest above Pine Flat Reservoir east of Fresno in 2006. | CRAIG KOHLRUSS FRESNO BEE FILE PHOTO
All of this is happening now, all across California, but particularly in the North Coast and in our national parks in the San Joaquin Valley. All of this environmental destruction is occurring to grow marijuana and meet consumer demand.
While there’s plenty of blame to go around for how things have turned out in the nearly 20 years since California legalized medical marijuana, much of it must land at the feet of consumers, and of lawmakers.
Apathetic consumers seem unaffected by the environmental damage that weed causes. We buy fair-trade coffee and free-range chickens. Where’s the outrage about the environmental impact of marijuana?
Through the inaction of lawmakers, pot remains unregulated and spreads like weeds. Add to this the drought and speculation that California will soon join Washington and Oregon in making pot legal for recreational use, and our state has the makings of an ecological disaster on its hands.
This was the sobering message that came through July 1 at a hearing of the state Senate’s Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture. Official after official testified about the negative effects that illegal pot farming has had on the environment and in unfairly exacerbating the drought.
Charlton Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, talked about his “existential crisis” while watching species of salmon dwindle to dangerously low numbers.
Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman spoke of how, at a recent bust near Island Mountain, illegal growers had depleted the mighty Eel River to the point that it was full of moss. He estimated the farmers needed about 500,000 precious gallons of water a day to support the nearly 87,000 plants they found.
Thousands of growers are doing the same despicable things to the environment all over California. These aren’t the “old hippies” who have been growing pot for years in California, but the “rich white people growers,” as Allman calls them, who are moving here in droves, hoping to claim a stake in our unregulated market before demand really ramps up for legal recreational use.
“It’s hard to ask everyone to cut their water and deal with water cuts when we’re not dealing with this,” said Resources Secretary John Laird.
The way to curb the environmental destruction is for users to consider the implications of their purchases, and to regulate the industry. Sen. Mike McGuire and Assembly Member Jim Wood, both North Coast Democrats, have bills to do that.
The cost of inaction is too high.
Majority of Americans Agree You Should Be 21 to Buy Tobacco
Three out of every four American adults favor increasing the minimum age from 18
Three out of every four American adults favor increasing the minimum age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The study, released by the American Journal of Preventive Medicineon Tuesday, also found that smokers overwhelmingly agreed; 7 of 10 cigarette smokers backed raising the minimum age.
Brian King, acting deputy director for research translation at the Center for Disease Control’s Office on Smoking and Health, highlighted the health benefits that could come from such an increase. “It could delay the age of first experimenting with tobacco, reducing the likelihood of transitioning to regular use and increasing the likelihood that those who do become regular users can quit.”
Most states require tobacco purchases to be made by someone who is at least 18; in Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey, and Utah, the minimum age is 19. Hawaii, however, already has a must-be-21 to purchase tobacco rule in place.
The data came from a 2014 online survey of 4,219 adults over 18. A separate study earlier this year found that if the all states were to raise the minimum age for tobacco sales to 21, there would be a 12% decrease in smokers along with 250,000 fewer premature deaths.
Snohomish Co. considers ban on e-cigarettes, vaping in public. A wave of the future?
(KING 5′s Jake Whittenberg reports.) EVERETT, Wash. — Snohomish County health officials are considering a ban on e-cigarettes and vaping in public. The new ordinance would build off of the existing statewide ban on smoking in public.
The Snohomish Health District is trying to prevent growing use among teens and prevent people from using the vaping devices to mask the use of marijuana.
“We’re not saying people can’t vape. They can certainly do so in private at home or in their car,” said Heather Thomas, spokeswoman for the Snohomish Health District. “Cigarettes took decades before we understood what was in them and that is still the same for e-cigarettes and vaping devices.”
But vape shop owners argue the product is healthier than traditional cigarettes and help smokers quit.
Joe Baba, owner of Vaporland in Everett and founder of the Washington Vape Association, says a ban on public smoking would cause several shops to close because it would outlaw taste-testing which is a big part of the business.
“People would not know what flavor to buy,” he said. “People would not be able to enjoy the process and figure out what they would want at home so they wouldn’t come into the store.”
King, Pierce, Grant and Clark counties already have a ban on e-cigarette smoking in public.
The public comment period is now open through July. You can comment at the health district website, email to sipp@snohd.org or attend a public listening session 11a – 1p on July 21 at Everett Community College.
Youth and Tobacco: Role Models in Movies
- Watching movies that include smoking causes young people to start smoking.1 The more smoking young people see on screen, the more likely they are to start smoking.1
- The percentage of youth-rated movies (G, PG, PG-13) that were smokefree doubled from 2002 to 2014 (from 32% to 64%). But in youth-rated movies that showed any smoking, the average number of tobacco incidents per movie also nearly doubled (from 21 to 38) over the same period.2
- The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the studios’ organization that assigns ratings, provides a “smoking label” along with the regular rating for some movies that contain smoking. However, almost 9 of every 10 (88%) youth-rated, top-grossing movies with smoking do not carry an MPAA “smoking label.”2
- The 2012 Surgeon General’s Report (Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults) concluded that an industrywide standard to rate movies with tobacco incidents R could result in reductions in youth smoking.1
- Giving an R rating to future movies with smoking would be expected to reduce the number of teen smokers by nearly 1 in 5 (18%) and prevent 1 million deaths from smoking among children alive today.3
- In 2012, the Surgeon General concluded that exposure to onscreen smoking in movies causes young people to start smoking.1 Because of this exposure to smoking in movies:
- 6.4 million children alive today will become smokers, and 2 million of these children will die prematurely from diseases caused by smoking.2
-
- Between 2002 and 2014:2
- Almost half (45%) of top-grossing movies in the United States were rated PG-13.
- 6 of every 10 PG-13 movies (60%) showed smoking or other tobacco use.
- (CDC Source)
- Between 2002 and 2014:2
Who smokes?
- Each day, more than 3,200 people under 18 smoke their first cigarette, and approximately 2,100 youth and young adults become daily smokers.
- 9 out of 10 smokers start before the age of 18, and 98% start smoking by age 26.
- 1 in 5 adults and teenagers smoke.
Teens and Marijuana…Talking Points
Every Conversation Counts
You are the most powerful influence in your child’s life. More than friends. More than TV. More than celebrities. And that’s why it’s important that they hear from you about marijuana and alcohol use.
Talking with your teen about these topics can be hard, but it’s one of the most important things you can do to keep them safe and healthy. Having open conversations will ensure they know your expectations, and also how much you care about them.
Below are some questions that kids and teens might ask about alcohol and marijuana. There is often more than one right answer—so see what works best for you. You can tailor your responses based on your own view and experience.
Additional information on how to talk with your kids about alcohol and marijuana can be found in the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids’ Parent Talk Kit and Marijuana Talk Kit.
Q: Some kids at school drink or use marijuana and they seem fine. What’s the big deal?
Q: What should I do if I’m at a party where people are using marijuana or alcohol?
Q: How can marijuana be harmful to me when it’s used as medicine by others?
Q: If it’s impossible to overdose from marijuana, why can’t I use it?
Q: Did you drink or smoke marijuana when you were my age?
Q: I heard people say they drive better when they are high. Is that possible?
Q: What does the new marijuana law say?
Q: Why is it okay for you to use marijuana or drink alcohol, but not for me?
Q: I heard marijuana is not as bad if it’s just in a brownie…right?
Q: My friends are starting to use marijuana (or drink alcohol), but I don’t want to. What should I tell them? I don’t want to lose my friends.
Q: What is worse, alcohol or marijuana?
Question: Some kids at school drink or use marijuana and they seem fine. What’s the big deal?
Potential Answers:
- The effects of marijuana use at your age are hard to see. Just because someone seems fine doesn’t mean they aren’t being affected. A person’s brain is still developing into their twenties. The science is clear that when teens use marijuana, it can affect their memory, motivation and ability to learn.
- The effects of alcohol aren’t always easy to see. After drinking, their grades might suffer or they might have a hard time sleeping at night. While drinking, teens are more likely to make poor decisions and put themselves in unsafe situations like fights, car crashes or overdosing. Kids who begin using alcohol at an early age have more problems with alcohol dependence as adults.
- What your friends are doing isn’t what matters. What matters is that every time a kid uses illegal drugs, it puts them at risk—in lots of ways. Using alcohol or marijuana can affect your schoolwork, get you in trouble with the law, get you kicked off a sports team, make you do unsafe or harmful things, take away your motivation, or make you feel depressed.
Question: What should I do if I’m at a party where people are using marijuana or alcohol?
Potential Answers:
- Any time you are in a situation like that, you can call me and I will come get you. If you don’t want your friends to know I’m coming to get you, let’s come up with a phrase that only we know. Like, “Yes Mom, I did my homework!” If I am not available, you have my permission to call a cab to take you home.
- Any time someone pressures you to use alcohol or marijuana, you will need to stay strong and stay true to yourself and your choices. Let your friends know that you don’t need alcohol or drugs to have fun. If you need to, you can let them know that you face serious punishment at home for using alcohol or drugs.
Question: How can marijuana be harmful to me when it’s used as medicine by others?
Potential Answer:
- All drugs, whether legal or illegal, have side effects. Some of the side effects for marijuana could be harmful to you because your brain and body are still developing. For someone who is very sick with an illness like cancer or epilepsy, a doctor and patient may decide the potential benefits of marijuana outweigh these risks. That doesn’t mean it’s safe for everyone to use.
Question: If it’s impossible to overdose from marijuana, why can’t I use it?
Potential Answers:
- If you mean overdose and die from marijuana, the answer is no, it’s not very likely. However, people can experience severe side effects like anxiety, psychotic reactions or become very ill. People can also injure themselves because marijuana affects judgment, perception and coordination. Marijuana use can be especially harmful when a person drives under the influence of marijuana.
- It is also possible to overdose from synthetic marijuana—and sometimes marijuana is laced with other drugs, especially if not from a licensed retailer. It’s not easy to tell what kind of marijuana it is, especially if you did not buy it yourself. Edible marijuana in particular can be hard to use in safe doses. Using too much can be very dangerous and make you really sick.
- Much like alcohol, one of the biggest risks posed by marijuana is being too impaired to make good decisions. It can change how you think and react, which is why driving after using marijuana is dangerous. That’s true for youth and adults. Marijuana can harm your brain, reduce your motivation, make you hallucinate, affect your ability to learn or remember information, and impair your judgment.
Question: Did you drink or smoke marijuana when you were my age?
Potential Answers:
- [If you did] I did drink and/or smoke marijuana before I should have. The reason I regret it is because it put me in some risky situations and impaired my judgment. And now that I’m a parent, the absolute most important thing to me is that you are safe and healthy. I’m not saying these are experiences you should never have. I just don’t want you to have them while your body is still developing, or when you could get in trouble with the law.
- [If you didn't] I didn’t drink or smoke marijuana. Even though I was curious and there was peer pressure, I knew that using drugs illegally wasn’t the path I wanted to take and that they could interfere with the activities that I enjoyed. I know that you are strong enough to make good choices.
Question: I heard people say they drive better when they are high. Is that possible?
Potential Answer:
- That is not possible. Marijuana can limit the brain’s ability to react to situations quickly and logically which can impair driving ability. That is why the Washington State Patrol is trained to identify drivers who are high, and you can go to jail for driving high.
Question: What does the new marijuana law say?
Potential Answers:
- Washington State’s marijuana law makes it legal for adults over the age of 21 to use marijuana. However, there are limits to how much marijuana an adult can possess.
- It’s still illegal to smoke marijuana in public—just like having an open container of alcohol in public is illegal.
- It’s illegal to drive while high.
- It is a felony for parents to provide marijuana to their children.
- It’s illegal to take marijuana outside the state of Washington.
Question: Why is it okay for you to use marijuana or drink alcohol, but not for me?
Potential Answers:
- The law says marijuana and alcohol are legal for adults over the age of 21. That is because adult brains are more developed and the science shows that it is less harmful for them to use. There is a lot of evidence that shows marijuana use can be harmful to teens—including damaging their memory, motivation and ability to learn.
- At your age, the part of your brain that controls decision making and judgment is not fully developed. So, your ability to make good choices is not as strong as it will be when you are in your mid-twenties.
- Adults have more life experience and generally use alcohol and marijuana in greater moderation and in safer environments. When you are an adult, it will be legal and appropriate for you to make these same choices.
- Using alcohol or marijuana can affect your schoolwork, get you in trouble with the law, get you kicked off a sports team, make you do unsafe or harmful things, take away your motivation, or make you feel depressed.
Question: I heard marijuana is not as bad if it’s just in a brownie…right?
Potential Answer:
- Actually, consuming marijuana-infused food and drinks can pose an even greater risk to your health and safety. That is because the “high” can be delayed, which makes it even harder for the user to know when they have had too much. There have been very serious accidents caused by people eating marijuana-infused foods.
Question: My friends are starting to use marijuana (or drink alcohol), but I don’t want to. What should I tell them? I don’t want to lose my friends.
Potential Answers:
- I’m happy to hear that you don’t want to use marijuana (or drink alcohol). Let’s talk about some of the ways you’d be comfortable responding if you are invited or pressured to use.
- You can tell them how you feel about it. You don’t need to judge them; simply explain that you don’t want to use alcohol or marijuana, and if you hang out together you’d rather do activities that don’t involve marijuana or alcohol. You can also tell them that your parents have told you there will be serious consequences if you use alcohol or marijuana.
Question: What is worse, alcohol or marijuana?
Potential Answers:
- Both drugs are harmful in similar and different ways. Both of them can hurt your brain, your body and your future. Both of them can impair your judgment, and put you in risky situations. And if you take too much, they can both make you very sick. Mixing alcohol and marijuana can also be a dangerous combination—harming your judgment and damaging your body more than just using one alone.
- Honestly, it’s not a question of which one is worse. I want you to avoid anything that can harm you – whether that’s using tobacco, alcohol, marijuana or other drugs.
Make it a two-way conversation by asking your child questions too.
Q: Do you have any questions about alcohol or marijuana?
Q: Are kids at your school using marijuana or alcohol? Are they talking about using it?
Q: Why do you think some people choose to use?
Q: What would you do if your friends asked you to use marijuana or drink with them?
Q: Have you ever been offered marijuana?
Q: If you don’t feel comfortable talking to me, who else could you go to if you have questions about using marijuana or drinking alcohol?
Q: I noticed a lot of teen marijuana use and drinking in the movie we watched last night. What did you think about that? Do you have any questions?
Q: Do you know what would happen to you if you got caught using marijuana or drinking alcohol?
Q: Do you know that marijuana can harm you–both your health and future opportunities?