Town Hall Meeting on Youth Substance Use December 1

We see it everywhere in the news, media, and entertainment, but is teen substance use really inevitable? Join us for a community conversation on the landscape of substance use in Northeast Seattle, what teens want and need from the community to thrive, how parents can set rules, and how to build community protections.

Featuring students from University Prep & Nathan Hale High School and researchers from the Seattle Children’s Research Institute & University of Washington and numerous community resources.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

6:30-8:30pm

Nathan Hale HS Library

10750 30^th Ave NE

Seattle, WA 98125

For more information or questions, contact Liz Wilhelm at liz.wilhelm@seattlechildrens.org or 206-987-7612

Prevention WINS 2016-17 general meeting schedule

The Prevention WINS coalition will meet the following dates during the 2016-17 school year:

• September 13, 8-9:30 a.m. at Eckstein Middle School

• November 15, 8-9:30 a.m. at Nathan Hale High School

• January 10, 8-9:30 a.m. at Washington Poison Center

• March 14, 8-9:30 a.m. at a place to be determined

• May 9, 8-9:30 a.m. at a place to be determined

• July 11, 8-9:30 a.m. at a place to be determined

All meetings are open to everyone who is interested in preventing youth substance use in NE Seattle.

E-cigarette education training August 22

Prevention WINS and the WA Poison Center are hosting:

 

E-Cigarettes:  Finding the Truth among the Vapors

Training of Trainers 

designed to equip community organizations with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to provide educational presentations on e-cigarettes and marijuana vaping to adults throughout the community.

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Monday, August 22, 2016    

1:00 — 4:15pm

Seattle Public Library NE Branch 

6801 35th Ave NE

 

Space is limited.  Register by August 19th

Questions? Contact Liz Wilhelm

This event is not sponsored by The Seattle Public Library.

Coalition to meet July 12

General Coalition Meeting

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

8:00am-9:30am

Washington Poison Center

Agenda

1. Welcome and review of agenda – Whitney Pennington

2. Introductions

3. WAPC snapshot

4. Comments from Dr. Walker

5. Presentation: Dr. Sarah Walker – working with East African Families

6. RADD activities report

7. Washington Poison Center – E-Cigs - Train the Trainers project update

8. MIDD 4C program at Eckstein  update

9. DFC business

         

10. Evaluation Committee activities  update

11. King County YMPEP update

12. Sharing & Announcements

 Reminder: Next General Prevention WINS Meeting, Tuesday, September 13, 8am-9:30am

Location TBD

History repeats: Marijuana tax revenue dedicated to prevention shifted to general fund

Over the years, this blog has included posts about tax revenue earmarked for teen substance use prevention being diverted to the state general fund. Prior to the passage of Initiative 502 which created the legal commercial marijuana system in our state, prevention advocates warned that the initiative's dedicated funds for prevention could and would be moved to fund other things as soon as the legislature was legally able to. And legislators did.

The Seattle Times editorial board recently wrote about it after a Seattle 16 year-old died because he "likely jumped from a balcony in a panic after smoking pot for the first time."The editorial describes the broken promises that, not surprisingly, are similar to previous broken promises for tobacco and liquor revenue earmarks:

Based on the revenue coming in or forecast through 2018, the state Department of Social and Health Services should have had $113 million for programs “aimed at the prevention or reduction” of substance abuse among middle and high schoolers — kids the age of Warsame. Instead, the agency is budgeted to receive only about half that amount.

Similarly, the state Department of Health should have had $77 million to operate a marijuana-education hotline and a statewide public-education campaign regarding marijuana for youths and adults. Instead, the Legislature earmarked less than one-third that amount — $24 million — and the marijuana-information hotline hasn’t materialized.
 

Source: Seattle Times, May 17, 2016

In communities, this means that while access to marijuana increases, as children are exposed to marijuana advertising, and marijuana use becomes normalized, young people aren't receiving messages to counteract marijuana marketing, not all middle schools are implementing tested and effective prevention programs, and not all parents are learning skills for supporting healthy decision making among their children. It means that, once again, legislators and those who promised Washingtonians that marijuana legalization would be good for substance use prevention are failing to do their part to help our teenagers stay drug free.

Prevention WINS meets May 10

The Prevention WINS coalition will meet:

Tuesday, May 10, 8:00 a.m.

at Eckstein Middle School. 

All coalition meetings are open to the public. Everyone is welcome!

Agenda items include a presentation about King County's Secure Medicine Return Program and updates about coalition and other local prevention activities.

What is substance use prevention?

The annual National Prevention Network (NPN) meeting was held in Seattle last fall and the University of Washington's David Hawkins gave a keynote address about substance use prevention. As our state expands prevention programming, particularly activities for preventing youth marijuana use, his keynote address provides a good reminder about what works and what does not.

Before a great deal of prevention research was done, many substance use prevention programs were used that have since proven ineffective. The last thirty years of research have made a significant difference in understanding what is most effective.

For example, while it may seem intuitively correct that providing information about drugs would be a straight-forward way to prevent young people from starting to use drugs, such a strategy actually increased drug use in some studies.

Locally, the UW's Social Development Research Group studied the effects of risk and protective factors on youth drug use. They found that protective factors can reduce youth drug use even in the presence of many risk factors.

Protective factors include the communication of clear standards in families, at schools, and in the community. When families, schools, and communities express clear standards against teenagers using drugs, youth are less likely to use drugs.

Individual prevention programs that encourage family bonding, teach skills that teenagers need to be able to avoid or refuse drugs, and provide parents with information about giving their children opportunities and recognition for pro-social behaviors have been found to be effective.

Communities have a role to play in prevention, too. Policies such as the minimum legal drinking age, taxes, and restrictions on where and when legal drugs are sold are proven methods for preventing youth drug use.

So, which prevention activities should be implemented in communities? Whichever ones address the problems specific to a community. Prevention activities are not one-size-fits-all. Know your community and what factors are putting teenagers at risk and what factors are protecting against drug use.

The entire keynote presentation may be viewed by clicking here.

Safely dispose of unwanted medications on Saturday

From the Seattle Police Department:



On Saturday, April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Seattle Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its 11th opportunity in six years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to any of the city’s five precincts. You can find the drop-off site in your neighborhood by visiting our precinct map.    The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last September, Americans turned in 350 tons (over 702,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at more than 5,000 sites operated by the DEA and more than 3,800 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its 10 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 5.5 million pounds—more than 2,750 tons—of pills.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.  Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.