SAM on public health problems related to marijuana

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) in Massachusetts has a page at their website that describes the reasons why marijuana use by young people is not good for their health – http://learnaboutsam.com/public-health/

Medfield Marijuana

Carol Read of Medfield is working in Needham as their federally funded substance abuse coordinator, seeking to reduce substance abuse amongst Needham youth, and she also volunteers with Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP) (www.MedfieldCares.org).  Carol also works on the state level with the Massachusetts Prevention Alliance (MAPA), which became active during the recent ballot initiative.  Carol and her MAPA colleagues invited me to attend a kick off dinner last Friday evening for a group called Project SAM, Smart Approaches to Marijuana in Massachusetts.

Project SAM is headlined by

• former Congressman Patrick Kennedy,
• a child psychiatrist from Colorado who has studied the increased problems his patients have had because of marijuana, and
• a former drug adviser to recent U.S. presidents.

Friday evening the Project Sam members shared the data developed in places like Colorado, that has had medical marijuana for a while.  The facts I took home were that

• the brains of young people are not fully developed until their mid-20′s, making them more susceptible to substances
• marijuana use by our young people puts them at increased risk for mental health hospitalizations and substance abuse problems in later life (both statistically rise with marijuana use by young people),
• fairly low levels of marijuana use (2-3 times a week for 2-3 years) were shown by a New Zealand study to reduce IQ by up to 8 points.

If these facts are correct, it is not responsible for we as parents, as adults, as a town, and as a society to allow our young people to injure themselves by means of marijuana use, without giving them all the facts.  The data I heard on Friday evening really scares me for the risks that our youth are taking with the marijuana use that we know is happening in Medfield.  Our youth need to get these complete facts, so they can at least make an informed decision.

MCAP

Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP)’s grant application to the Federal government seeking $625,000 funding over five years has been submitted for the second straight year.  Dawn Alcott, Director of Medfield Youth Outreach, and Dr. Susan Andersen-Navalta of McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, a Medfield resident, took the lead to prepare the grant application again this year.

MCAP is a coalition formed to eliminate substance abuse amongst young people in Medfield.  MCAP has been holding monthly meetings for almost two years.

Needham and Natick have both already received the grants.  Medfield resident Carol Read is the grant funded staff person in the Needham program, and have been hugely helpful to MCAP by sharing how the Needham effort has progressed and what they have done that has been successful.

Wayland’s MCAP equivalent presents a program

This from the WaylandCares flyer -

What does medical marijuana mean to you?
How could it impact our youth and our community?

Medical marijuana is now legal in Massachusetts. What does this mean for communities?  What’s in the law? What’s not in the law? What are the implications for our youth? And what’s the best conversation to have with our children about marijuana to prevent teen use?

Learn from the experts:
 Yasmin Mashhoon, Ph.D., Neuroscientist at the Behavioral Psychopharmacology Research Laboratory of McClean Hospital and Instructor at Harvard Medical School will discuss 21st-century pot, its components, its harms, and its impact on youth. Dr.  Mashhoon will explain the effects on the adolescent brain, and related health issues such as addiction, mental health and latest research on physical and cognitive functioning

 John Sofis Scheft, Esq., Principal of Law Enforcement Dimensions, will explain what the medical marijuana law does and does not include: for what conditions can marijuana be  recommended? Who can use it as medicine? Who can provide a recommendation? Who can grow marijuana in their home? Atty. Scheft will also address best municipal practices to protect local public health and safety.
 James Broadhurst, M.D., a family physician also trained in sports and addiction medicine and delegate of Massachusetts Medical Society, will discuss the medical community’s perspective on medical marijuana. What do people need to know in considering marijuana as a medical treatment?
 Local authorities will explain initiatives in Wayland that address public health and safety related to marijuana.

This program is for the entire Wayland community.

Sponsored by WaylandCares and the Wayland High School Guidance Department Tuesday, March 19, 2013, 7:30 pm Wayland High School Auditorium

Medfield Community Book Group

New Medfield FB group (click here to go to FB page) -

Medfield Community Book Group

About

The Parent Network, Medfield Youth Outreach, and the Medfield Public Library have partnered to host the first in a series of book groups to promote acceptance and anti-bullying conversations. Join us and sign up now!

Description

The Parent Network, Medfield Youth Outreach, and the Medfield Public Library have partnered to host the first in a series of book groups to promote acceptance and anti-bullying conversations. Join us and sign up now!

Thursday, April 11th
7:00- 8:00pm
Medfield Public Library
Conference Room

MYO brochure

One of Medfield’s treasures is the Medfield Youth Outreach, which does things both wonderful and and large, for a two person department.  After the Board of Selectmen meeting last night I picked up the new MYO brochure at the Town House.

MHS Jazz Band’s brochure

The Medfield High School Jazz Band, 2012-2013 edition, has a really cool, high quality brochure.

I got my copy from Chris McCue Potts at last night’s Blake Middle School concert, so I could pass it along to Representative Denise Garlick last night.  Chris is trying to get Governor Patrick to name the MHS Jazz Band as the “Honorary Massachusetts High School Jazz Band” for its spring trip to China.  Great idea.

Parents more influential than schools on substance abuse

This from the Medfield Youth Outreach office -

A new study concludes that parental involvement is more important than the school environment in preventing or limiting children’s use of alcohol or marijuana.

Researchers evaluated data from more than 10,000 students, parents, teachers and school administrators. They looked at “family social capital”—bonds between parents and children—as well as “school social capital”—a school’s ability to provide a positive environment for learning, Science Daily<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121204145553.htm> reports.

Measures of family social capital include trust, open communication and active engagement in a child’s life, while school social capital includes student involvement in extracurricular activities, teacher morale and the teachers’ ability to address student needs.

“Parents play an important role in shaping the decisions their children make when it comes to alcohol and marijuana,” study co-author Dr. Toby Parcel of North Carolina State University said in a news release<http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/wms-parcel-alcohol/>. “To be clear, school programs that address alcohol and marijuana use are definitely valuable, but the bonds parents form with their children are more important. Ideally, we can have both.”

The researchers found students with high levels of family social capital and low school social capital levels were less likely to have used either marijuana or alcohol, or to have used them less frequently, compared with students with high levels of school social capital and low family social capital.

The study appears in Journal of Drug Issues<http://jod.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/11/08/0022042612462220>.

Medfield Youth Outreach

459 Main St.

Medfield, MA 02052

508-359-7121

Medical marijuana

The Board of Selectmen got (1) a letter from the Walpole selectmen asking us to support their request to the legislature to delay implementation of the medical marijuana statute, and (2) resident Joe Cavanaugh’s suggestion for a zoning change to control where the marijuana “clinics”  can be located in town, along with copies of bylaws enacted in two other towns.

The Walpole delay is to be able to plan for implementation, and to enact regulations and make plans on how to deal with the whole new enterprise.  The zoning changes would be to set out where the stores can be located.

I think Massachusetts missed a huge opportunity to get tax monies from marijuana, as the ballot initiative positions our marijuana “clinics” as non-profits, from which the state will get no revenue at all, but the state will still incur a lot in costs to regulate and police this new business.

And I continue to be concerned for what is apparently the detrimental effects of the marijuana use on our kids, which use will certainly go up once there are the stores around.

MHS girls soccer plays for state championship Saturday

Per Boston.com, Medfield High School girls soccer team in state finals -

Medfield will play in the Division 2 state championship against Belchertown at Worcester State Saturday at 3 p.m. for the championship.