Monroe County’s Substance Abuse is working with local high schools to promote a message about marijuana dangers.
An awareness campaign about the dangers of marijuana edibles and higher, threatening levels of THC in pot will be launched in October in virtually all Monroe County high schools by student teams in each school district.
Armed with funding from Community Mental Health Partnership of Southeast Michigan, the Monroe County Substance Abuse Coalition is leading the effort to help students and parents be better informed about marijuana abuse and misuse and trendy drugs.
“There is so much misinformation out there about marijuana,” said Jodi Brooks, the coalition’s liaison with Student Prevention Leadership Teams at each school. “The reality is there are dangers with eating edibles and the amount of THC levels are steadily rising. That’s not good for our youth.”
THEME BASED ON STATE SURVEY
The campaign’s theme is “Most Don’t,” a reference to a survey taken in schools across the state in 2015-16 by the Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth. The survey, given every two years to ninth- and 11th- graders, showed:
■ 25 percent of students had tried marijuana and only 5.6 percent of students tried pot before the age of 13.
■ 14.1 percent of students had used marijuana in the past 30 days.
■ 1.7 percent had used marijuana on school property during the past 30 days.
Still some results showed higher numbers. About 47 percent of students reported smoking marijuana once or twice a week. These students were labeled “moderate or at great risk.”
SCHOOLS RECEIVE FUNDING
Prevention teams are in nine public school districts plus St. Mary Catholic Central High School, Monroe Middle College and Orchard Center High School.
Each team is getting $500 to use as they wish to educate students about marijuana concentrates being used in edibles like cookies, suckers and popup pastries.
The teams are using the funds to buy educational materials, gift cards, Tshirts and prizes to get their message across, Brooks said.
“Who are the (marijuana pushers) targeting? Our young people,” she said. “Even everyday pot smokers would say this is not something good.”
The concentrates infused in edible foods today contain levels of THC that could range from 40 to 80 percent. That’s much more potent and dangerous than in the 1980s, when THC levels were around 4 percent, and even as recently as 2015, when levels ranged from 20 to 30 percent.
NUMBER OF STUDENTS REACHED GROWING
Brooks is in her third year with working with the schools on preventing and reducing substance abuse among young people. During the first year, 75 students were educated followed by more than 200 students the second year. Organizers hope to double that number this fall.
Some high schools like Ida and Monroe have their leadership team members take classes to carry out the prevention message. They meet every day with advisers from the faculty and receive peer-to-peer instruction.
Ida has about 20 students enrolled this semester. New students can enroll in January when the next semester begins, Brooks said.
“You can’t join in the middle of the semester,” she said.
The entire student council at Mason High School in Erie makes up the leadership team and meets with its adviser. Bedford High School’s team meets before school and Dundee High School’s team meets after school.Sixteen students made up the leadership team at SMCC the first year. That number has grown to 44 this fall under the guidance of Laura Strube, an instructor there.
Brooks meets with each school team when she can.
“Each school is a little different,” she said. “Some go big or small. The idea is to reach as many students as possible to get this info.”
Bedford holds an assembly and uses an interactive cellphone game called “Cahoots” to engage students with a trivia game and questions. The questions are posed on a power point screen.
“Some schools have information tables or make announcements during lunch or give out bracelets with messages,” she said.
At Dundee, the leadership team passed out information at a tailgate prior to a home football game.
Sometimes Brooks will just meet with the adviser and present the information.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA NOT MAIN ISSUE
She said the coalition received some backlash from parents and visitors to an information booth at the county fair who said medical marijuana was helpful to users.
She said coalition leaders explain to them that medical marijuana is “not the only thing out there” and that “trendy” ways edibles are being used to conceal marijuana in food, snacks and drinks and the concentrations vary in potency.
“We are all about reducing access to youth,” she said. “We are making them aware of the (different) ways marijuana is packaged and served. Unlike smoking pot, there is no odor with edibles.”
Advisers from each school meet quarterly with Brooks at the United Way Building in Monroe to share ideas about their own activities and methods.
credit:bedfordnow.com