This story additionally ran on NPR. This story may be republished without spending a dime (details).
WESTMINSTER, Calif. — After Yarly Raygoza attended the drug prevention program on the Boys & Girls Club right here final 12 months, she used what she discovered to speak a couple of buddies out of utilizing marijuana.
The 14-year-old took the category once more this 12 months however worries that counseling her buddies will develop into tougher.
Recreational marijuana is now authorized in California, which might deliver an enormous increase in drug gross sales and promoting when shops can start promoting the drug to adults and not using a prescription in January.
Raygoza believes that as extra individuals 21 and older use marijuana legally, youngsters may have bother understanding that they shouldn’t use it. Teens may additionally have simpler entry to the drug as leisure pot retailers begin to open, she stated.
Raygoza already sees many locations promoting medical marijuana.
“Now that there are so many shops … kids have a better chance of getting their hands on it,” she stated. “And having a discussion with them like this could be a little harder.”
Make no mistake: Marijuana continues to be unlawful for teens.
Last November, voters permitted Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, making California one among eight states — plus the District of Columbia — to legalize the drug for leisure use. The measure instantly made it authorized for these 21 and older to own as much as 1 ounce, or about 28.5 grams, of hashish. It delayed authorized pot gross sales from licensed shops till January 2018.
The legalization of leisure marijuana for adults in California and different states poses an added problem for drug schooling and prevention packages. Teachers try to elucidate the dangers of marijuana simply as shops are making ready to open and entrepreneurs are planning campaigns.
Medical marijuana has been authorized in California for greater than 20 years, however specialists say the brand new legislation on leisure marijuana might immediate extra youths to consider that the drug is secure.
“That is an unintended consequence of legalization,” stated Pam Luna, a advisor with the Rand Corp., a nonpartisan analysis group. “They think that if it’s legal, it must be OK.”
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Luna, who trains lecturers on drug prevention schooling, stated legalization has additionally prompted questions and confusion amongst younger individuals. They could also be getting misinformation — and peer strain — via social media, she stated.
While proof exhibits that medical marijuana might help ease persistent ache and different circumstances, use of the drug is linked to poor respiratory well being and elevated automotive accidents. Among adolescents, marijuana use can have unfavourable results on their cognitive and psychological well being.
Recent research present that teenagers who use marijuana continuously exhibit lower cognitive performance and mind perform than those that don’t. They additionally perform worse in school.
Despite that, teen notion of the harms of marijuana has dropped over time and lots of suppose it’s safer than alcohol, in response to Elizabeth D’Amico, a senior behavioral scientist at Rand. Currently, greater than half of 10th- and 12th-graders consider that smoking marijuana isn’t harmful, in response to a recent Rand report.
Facilitator Jeovan Davila says he doesn’t lecture teenagers about what’s proper and fallacious. Rather, he provides them info to assist them make their very own selections about marijuana. (Anna Gorman/KHN)
Adolescents in states with authorized medical marijuana are less likely to believe the drug is dangerous, research exhibits.
“The changing legal landscape has a lot to do with adolescents’ changing perceptions,” D’Amico stated. “That’s why we really need to change the conversation around this drug.”
That dialog ought to remind younger individuals about its potential harms and that leisure marijuana in California continues to be unlawful for these beneath 21, she stated.
The state Department of Public Health recently unveiled an internet site referred to as “Let’s Talk Cannabis” to elucidate the legislation. Youth must full group service and endure drug schooling or counseling if they’re caught smoking, shopping for or possessing marijuana, the web site says.
Advertising is one other issue that will complicate drug prevention schooling for younger individuals, stated Stanton Glantz, a professor on the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine.
Exposure to marijuana promoting is associated with the upper chance of utilizing marijuana one 12 months later, in response to analysis.
“It’s just everywhere now, and the market hasn’t been fully opened,” he stated. “It’s the same thing as alcohol and cigarette advertising. It is all directed at normalizing it and presenting it as a fun thing to do.”
D’Amico stated she and her kids see the continuing adjustments close to their home within the San Fernando Valley. “It just creates a conversation pretty much every day because a new billboard pops up on our way to school,” she stated.
To present most center faculty college students with up-to-date details about alcohol, marijuana and smoking, D’Amico developed a voluntary program referred to as Project Choice, which is utilized by after-school packages just like the Boys & Girls Club. In 5 classes, individuals role-play and talk about the best way to make healthful selections. They additionally speak concerning the execs and cons of marijuana and the variations between medical and leisure use.
During the primary session on the Boys & Girls Club of Westminster not too long ago, facilitator Jeovan Davila requested the group of scholars what proportion of eighth-graders they believed used marijuana over the previous 30 days. The guesses ranged from 10 % to 60 %. When Davila advised them the proper reply was about 7 percent, the group appeared stunned.
Davila stated he doesn’t lecture teenagers about what’s proper and fallacious. Rather, he provides them info to assist them make their very own selections sooner or later. For instance, in the event that they know that the majority of their friends don’t use marijuana, maybe they are going to be much less doubtless to make use of it.
With the legalization of marijuana and the dialogue on social media, Davila has seen younger individuals speaking concerning the drug extra. During the category, some stated teenagers may wish to use as a result of they see their relations utilizing marijuana legally.
“The kids do bring it up,” he stated. “We’ve just got to be ready, letting them know the facts.”
KHN’s protection in California is supported partly by Blue Shield of California Foundation.
Anna Gorman: [email protected]”>[email protected], @AnnaGorman
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