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.

Documentary examines local underage marijuana culture

Washington and Oregon adolescents and young adults talk about the local marijuana culture in the video below. Dr. Leslie Walker, Chief of Adolescent Medicine at Seattle Children's Hospital, provides the medical perspective. Toward the end, the video calls for the expansion of research-based prevention programming.

New WA marijuana legislation & its impact on local youth

During this year's state legislative session, two bills were adopted that make changes to the marijuana systems in Washington. Below is a summary as they relate to youth in NE Seattle.

Cannabis Patient Protection Act (5052)

• Eliminates medical marijuana businesses.
• Requires the newly re-named Liquor & Cannabis Board (LCB) to increase the number of marijuana retail licenses they issue.
• Creates a voluntary medical marijuana registry. Those who register as medical marijuana users are exempt from the marijuana excise tax. With a medical marijuana authorization card, people can possess more marijuana than they can without one.

Comprehensive Marijuana Market Reforms (2136)

• Permits local jurisdictions to reduce the buffer between marijuana businesses and community centers, transit centers, libraries, arcades, and child care centers from 1,000 feet to 100 feet. The 1,000 foot buffer between schools and marijuana businesses remains.
• Allows retailers to have an additional sign identifying their business and trade name.
• Prohibits consumption in a "public place" instead of "in view of the public".
• Eliminates the 25% excise taxes on marijuana producers (growers) and processors and increases the excise tax on retail marijuana sales to 37%.
• Provides some marijuana tax revenue to local jurisdictions based on retail sales and population.

Local Impact

• More businesses: LCB likely will increase the number of marijuana business licenses for Seattle.
• Smaller buffer zones: The City Council likely will reduce the 1,000 foot buffer between marijuana businesses and places where children frequently congregate.
• Business clusters: Since most of Seattle is zoned as single family residential, which is off-limits for any marijuana business, marijuana businesses likely will continue to be clustered along large arterials and in only certain areas of the city.
• Businesses in a few neighborhoods: In NE Seattle, areas that could see more marijuana businesses include the University District, Lake City, Northgate, and Jackson Park.
• Continued public use: Since most tickets for using marijuana in public are given to people in the greater Downtown area, the public use definition change likely will have little impact on NE Seattle. It is unclear if the public place definition will change enforcement of the law during festivals like Hempfest.

What Prevention Science Tells Us

• Research has repeatedly shown that the more places that sell alcohol, tobacco, and fast food in a community the more likely teenagers are to consume those products.
• Research has repeatedly shown that taxes on cigarettes and alcohol decrease youth use of those products.
• Substance use prevention coalitions are proven to reduce population-level adolescent drug use rates. This is especially true when schools that are part of coalitions implement evidence-based curricula, such as Life Skills Training and Project Alert.
• Most teenagers who use alcohol and marijuana report getting the drugs socially, mostly from friends. 

Encouraging parents to talk to their kids about marijuana

The Washington Poison Center continues to report increased "exposures" to marijuana among teenagers. In other words, kids continue to gain access to marijuana and report adverse health effects.

That's why it is particularly important for parents to talk to their children about not using marijuana. To help parents, Prevention WINS and other coalitions in the Seattle area have been conducting an awareness campaign with billboards and transit ads featuring doctors from Seattle Children's Hospital.

This one, featuring Dr. Glen Tamura, appears at the corner of Lake City Way and NE 95th Street.

The billboards direct parents to visit www.StartTalkingNow.org. Parenting guides are also available through the ADAI Clearinghouse.

WA Attorney General asks Liquor Control Board to ban flavored marijuana products

Last December, the Prevention WINS coalition sent a letter to the WA Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) reiterating our advice included in a June 2013 letter to ban marijuana products that are fruit and candy flavored. Our December 2014 letter said:


To treat marijuana as a public health issue, not a criminal justice issue, public health research on other products that are harmful to minors should be heeded.  Public health experts have found that fruit-flavored alcohol and tobacco products are popular among underage users.  

• Fruit-flavored alcohol products are marketed to and popular among youth. 

• Fruit and candy flavored cigarettes are banned by the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention Tobacco Control Act.

• Public health officials recently recommended that the Food and Drug Administration prohibit flavors in all tobacco products, not just cigarettes.   They cite “scientific evidence on flavored tobacco and its relationship with initiation and maintenance of tobacco use among youth and young adults.”  

To avoid similar public health problems associated with sweet-flavored marijuana products, Washington has the unique opportunity to protect child and adolescent health by strictly regulating marijuana before the industry is fully formed.  It will be much more difficult to do so in the future, as is evident by current public health efforts to more tightly regulate tobacco and alcohol products that have been legal for a long time.  

On May 6, the WA Attorney General's Office sent a letter to the WSLCB reiterating their similar comments. They referred to comments they, too, made in December that included:

Congress banned most flavored cigarettes -- an obviously non-edible product -- precisely because research showed that these products were especially appealing to children. The issue paper also refers to emerging research regarding youth-appealing flavored electronic cigarettes -- another non-edible category of product. 

As we understand it, WAC 314-55-077 empowers the WSLCB to prohibit only marijuana-infused products that are especially appealing to children. Because flavored usable marijuana and flavored marijuana concentrates are potentially especially appealing to children, these categories of products likewise should be subject to the WSLCB's authority under WAC 314-55-077. 

New campaign urges parents to talk to kids about marijuana

Recently, University of Washington researchers found that only 57 percent of Washington parents in a survey knew the legal age for recreational pot use.  

A new campaign to educate parents about the law and the importance of talking to children about marijuana recently was launched by Prevention WINS, the PEACE Coalition, and other stakeholders in Seattle. Three physicians from Seattle Children’s Hospital are featured in the campaign. With an increase in the number of Poison Center calls for teenagers who have consumed too much marijuana, physicians are particularly concerned.  

Parents are the number one influence on children, even in their teen years, so it’s important to know the law when talking to children about it. Research also shows that it is important for adults to help children develop the social and emotional skills needed to avoid drug use. For more than 20 years prevention programs have rejected scare tactics and have been providing parents with advice about promoting healthy decision-making among teenagers. With mixed messages children are receiving about risks associated with teenagers using marijuana, these parenting skills are more important than ever.  

For the record, it is legal only for people 21 years old and above to use marijuana in Washington.  
What else do parents and teenagers need to know about the law?

• Legal products include foods and beverages with marijuana in them.Some of these products may be attractive to youth and mistaken for common food and beverages. Examples include candy, soft drinks, and baked-goods.

• It is illegal for people under 21 to drive under the influence of any amount of marijuana.  

• The new law allows marijuana advertising. Be aware of marijuana advertising that your child is exposed to online, in magazines and newspapers, and in the community. Talk about the ads and the messages they send, especially if ads use images of young adults. Use these talks to stress your family rules about not using drugs, including marijuana.

• It is illegal for adults to provide marijuana to people under the age of 21, including parents giving their own children marijuana (unless they have a medical marijuana authorization.)  

• It is illegal to grow marijuana at home unless a medical marijuana authorization is obtained.  

• It is illegal to consume (smoke, eat, drink) marijuana products in public.

Seattle Schools: Most drug disciplinary actions involve marijuana

Last night, KOMO broadcast a story about marijuana-related disciplinary incidents among Seattle students so far this school year.



While school administrators mostly confiscate smoked marijuana from students, they are increasingly confiscating marijuana-infused foods and beverages as they learn to differentiate them from regular foods.

Pediatricians recommend strict enforcement of marijuana laws

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released an updated policy statement about marijuana laws on Monday.  One of their recommendations says: 

In states that have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes, the AAP strongly recommends strict enforcement of rules and regulation that limit access and marketing and advertising to youth.

In our state, the recreational (I-502) marijuana rules and regulations that are meant to limit access, marketing, and advertising are only effective if they are enforced.  Many policies are based on research conducted on limiting access, marketing, and advertising for alcohol and tobacco.  

One proven way to limit access is to limit the number of stores in a community.  A few bills introduced to the state legislature this session would increase the number of marijuana stores allowed in communities.  Current rules prohibit stores from being 1,000 feet from schools, community centers, and other places young people frequent.  The legislature is considering bills that would reduce this buffer to allow for more marijuana shops. Rules that limit underage access to marijuana not only need to be enforced, they need to be maintained, not made weaker.  

Board of Health urges legislature to align medical and recreational marijuana regulations

Last week, the Washington Poison and Drug Information Center reported a record number of marijuana exposures in Washington State since before recreational marijuana was legalized in 2012.  The majority of calls occurred within the 13 to 19 age range quickly followed by the 20 to 29 age group.  The majority of exposures were a result of intentional abuse in ages 13 and older followed by unintentional, unsupervised ingestion. 

Marijuana products implicated in these exposures included but were not limited to marijuana chocolate bars, brownies, butane hash oil, marijuana-infused drinks, and marijuana gummy bears.  

To address the problem of child and teen exposure to these kinds of marijuana products, the King County Board of Health asked the state legislature for help.  A resolution was adopted during their January meeting that states, in part: 

Whereas, twenty percent of all marijuana-related calls to the Washington Poison Center involved children in King County . . .

Whereas, many edible marijuana products available in medical marijuana dispensaries are designed, packaged and advertised in ways that are attractive to youth, including the development of products such as candies, cookies, chocolates and soda and other sugary drinks . . . 

Whereas, medical dispensaries are not required to ascertain the age of consumers . . .

Whereas, legalization of marijuana for adult use in Washington state may have made access to marijuana easier for people of all ages, including access to edible marijuana products . . . 

The Board of Health calls on the Washington state Legislature to ensure that the marijuana industry in Washington state properly safeguards the health and safety of our children and youth, and to align regulation of the medical marijuana industry with the recreational marijuana market in order to provide an equal level of protection to children and youth in both industries.

Medical marijuana products at school

Cannabis Quencher Strawberry Lemonade was confiscated from a high school student by Seattle Public Schools staff earlier this month.  District staff shared photos:

This product was likely sold as medical marijuana since the label does not meet Liquor Control Board standards for recreational marijuana products.  If sold as recreational marijuana and regulated by the Liquor Control Board it would contain 8 servings.  (1 serving = 10 mg of THC)  

Easy access to medical marijuana among teenagers

On Saturday, the Seattle Times published two pieces about the unregulated medical marijuana system in our state and how it plays out in Seattle.  

"How I learned it's ridiculously easy to buy pot at medical marijuana dispensaries without a 'green card'" is written by a reporter who, apparently, looks young for her age.  After easily purchasing fruit-flavored strains of marijuana in two out of three medical marijuana dispensaries without showing ID or an authorization, she wonders, "Why did these guys have to make it so easy, especially if they thought I looked too young? What if I were an underage kid?"  


Prevention WINS coalition members representing schools, parents, juvenile probation, and drug counselors have been reporting how easy it is for teenagers to get medical marijuana for a few years.  This became especially true once Seattle started licensing medical marijuana dispensaries as businesses and they started popping up along north Seattle arterial roads like Lake City Way and Aurora.  One student at a north end high school was caught many times sharing and selling medical marijuana to friends that he bought from a nearby dispensary.  Five students from another high school required medical attention after eating high potency medical marijuana edibles last year.  A middle school drug counselor complained to police about students coming to school with marijuana they purchased at a medical marijuana dispensary on Rainier Avenue.  All of these reports were apparently ignored by public officials.

An accompanying editorial, "Unregulated medical-marijuana market is creating a hazy future", calls on the City of Seattle and the state legislature to do something about medical marijuana.  They state that there is "no excuse to ignore existing authority, including criminal charges against black-market dealers masquerading as dispensaries."

Mayor prepares to make zoning recommendations for medical marijuana businesses

During the medical marijuana symposium hosted by the Mayor's Office last month, the Seattle Department of Planning and Development shared maps of possible scenarios for medical marijuana business zoning.

Two possible scenarios would create 500 foot buffer zones between medical marijuana businesses and places where children congregate including schools, playgrounds, daycare centers, parks, and libraries.  One of those scenarios measures the buffer zones according to "how the crow flies" and one according to "common path of travel" - the shortest walking distance.  This is what the two scenarios look like in NE Seattle:

As the Crow Flies

Yellow = estimated areas for medical marijuana businesses
Gray & pink = medical marijuana businesses not allowed
Red dots = existing medical marijuana businesses
Green dots: existing medical marijuana businesses that would be allowed

Common Path of Travel

If the City decides to use a 500 foot buffer, instead of the 1,000 foot buffer required "as the crow flies" around recreational marijuana businesses, city-wide187 (as the crow flies) or 210 (common path of travel) medical marijuana businesses would potentially be allowed to remain open.  This is in addition to 21 recreational marijuana retailers and an unknown amount of recreational marijuana growers and processors in Seattle.  

Marijuana business density is of concern for teen drug use prevention efforts because research has repeatedly shown that teens who live in communities with many tobacco and alcohol businesses have high rates of tobacco and alcohol use.  A study recently published in the journal of Drug and Alcohol Dependence found that "higher total density of medical marijuana dispensaries was related to greater likelihood of past year use of marijuana."  In other words, the more available a drug is, the higher use rates are.  

"Marijuana Mess"

City Attorney Pete Holmes, Reverend Harriett Walden, and City Councilmember Nick Licata recently appeared on City Inside/Out and discussed the medical and recreational marijuana systems in Seattle.

Councilmember Licata said that if the state legislature does not "fix" the medical marijuana law, Seattle likely will have to shut down marijuana dispensaries.

He noted that legal and regulated alcohol is more abused than marijuana and suggested that perhaps alcohol stores should not be located near churches if people disapprove of marijuana stores near churches.

When it comes to the illegal use of marijuana in public, the councilmember encouraged people to complain by calling 911 and asking for a quick response.  He stated that minors should not go to jail for alcohol and marijuana violations which echoes long-time city and county policy that refers minors to a diversion program, not jail.   

City hosting medical marijuana symposium tonight

Tonight:

City of Seattle Medical Marijuana Symposium

Bertha Knight Landes Room at City Hall 

5:00 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. 

Medical marijuana businesses in Seattle and in jurisdictions across the state remain unregulated.  In March, a state court of appeals ruled that collective gardens (dispensaries) are not legal under Washington's current law.  

The Mayor's Office organized this symposium for those concerned about access to medical marijuana and the location of marijuana-related businesses in the city.  

“We are still looking to Olympia to enact broad medical marijuana reform next session, but we need to take action here in Seattle to address immediate concerns of patients, businesses and neighbors,” said Mayor Ed Murray. 

The symposium will feature panel discussions on a range of issues where medical marijuana businesses face a much more uncertain regulatory landscape than recreational marijuana operations governed by the state’s Liquor Control Board, including:

• Testing of marijuana products for purity and strength
• Best practices for manufacturing marijuana-infused products
• Packaging and labeling requirements
• The location of dispensaries and collective gardens

Poison Center reports spike in pediatric exposure to marijuana 

This event comes a week after the Washington Poison Center reported a spike in marijuana exposures among children and teenagers.  The report notes that with only a handful of recreational marijuana stores open in the state, the majority of exposures likely result from marijuana obtained at medical marijuana dispensaries. “The medical marijuana industry is largely unregulated and not subject to the scrutiny and oversight by the Liquor Control Board that recreational marijuana must go through”, says Dr. Garrard, Clinical Managing Director of the Washington Poison Center.

Overdoses among children

Marijuana overdoses in children have caused seizures, hallucinations, paranoia, breathing problems that sometimes require mechanical ventilation until breathing returns to normal, and extremely high heart rates.  Children may become lethargic, disoriented, intensely agitated, have difficulty walking and balancing, and be unable to respond to stimulation.  

Exposure among teenagers

Last year, five Seattle high school students overdosed on marijuana edibles while at school and required medical attention.  During this week's Prevention WINS coalition meeting, members representing schools and parents discussed the need for marijuana packaging and products that are readily identifiable as containing marijuana.  Right now, it is difficult to determine since some medical marijuana packaging and products mimic packaging and products that do not contain marijuana.

Councilmember Licata discusses marijuana business licensing

Last week, Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata talked about the medical and recreational marijuana systems, among other topics, on the Seattle Channel.

The marijuana discussion starts at around 7:35 and lasts for about 3 minutes.  Councilmember Licata explained that while medical marijuana businesses are licensed in Seattle, they are not regulated.  The City does not receive excise tax revenue from either marijuana systems and, right now, recreational marijuana is "undersold" compared to medical marijuana.

Liquor Control Board is seeking public comments about marijuana-infused foods

The Liquor Control Board (LCB) recently proposed new rules to govern what types of marijuana-infused foods they will allow to be made (processed) and sold as part of Washington’s recreational marijuana system.  The LCB does not regulate the medical marijuana market so these rules only apply to the recreational (I-502) market. 

Public comment period

The LCB is now seeking public comments about their proposed rules.  Comments are due by December 3 and a public hearing will be held that day. 

Overview of proposed rules

Marijuana processors must get infused products approved by LCB. 

What the proposed rule says: A marijuana processor licensee must obtain approval from the liquor control board for all marijuana-infused products, labeling, and packaging prior to offering these items for sale to a marijuana retailer. The marijuana processor licensee must submit a picture of the product, labeling, and packaging to the liquor control board for approval.

Denials may be appealed. 

What the proposed rule says: If the liquor control board denies a marijuana-infused product for sale in marijuana retail outlets, the marijuana processor licensee may request an administrative hearing per chapter 34.05 RCW, Administrative Procedure Act.

Products must be scored to show serving sizes. 

What the proposed rule says: Marijuana-infused products in solid form that contain more than one serving must be scored to indicate individual serving sizes, and labeled so that the serving size is prominently displayed on the packaging.

Packages containing multiple servings must be re-sealable. 

What the proposed rule says: Products containing more than one serving must be packaged in a package that remains child resistant after the package is opened.

Servings must contain equal amounts of THC. 

What the proposed rule says:  Marijuana-infused products must be homogenized to ensure uniform disbursement of cannabinoids throughout the product.

Packages must say that the product contains marijuana. 

What the proposed rule says: All marijuana-infused products must state on the label, "This product contains marijuana."

Products cannot be appealing to children. 

What the proposed rule says:  A marijuana processor is limited in the types of food or drinks they may infuse with marijuana to create (an infused edible product) marijuana-infused solid or liquor products meant to be ingested orally, that may be sold by a marijuana retailer. Marijuana-infused products that are made to be especially appealing to children are prohibited. Marijuana-infused products such as, but not limited to, gummy candies, lollipops, cotton candy, or brightly colored products, are prohibited.

Approved marijuana-infused products

The LCB implemented emergency rules about marijuana edibles earlier this year that required that all marijuana-infused products, packaging, and labeling be approved by them.  Following are a few examples of products that have already been approved by the LCB and are being sold in retail stores:

• Cherry soda
• Peanut butter cookies
• Granola
• Trail mix
• Cinnamon & sugar pita chips
• Chocolate-covered pretzels
• Brownie bites

The regularly-updated list of approved marijuana-infused products may be viewed on the LCB's website.  

For information about this topic, KCTS recently broadcast a story about marijuana edibles in both the medical and recreational markets.  

How youth get regulated marijuana

In his message to state employees Governor Inslee wrote, "While it is illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to use or purchase marijuana, the reality is that legalizing the drug for adults makes it more accessible to youth." How is this possible when marijuana stores don't let anyone in who isn't over 21?

Because, like alcohol, teenagers who use primarily get it from friends.  A recent New York Times article about Colorado's marijuana system provides the perfect example.  It tells the story of Zach, a college student who buys medical marijuana and then sells it to others.  "Some of Zach’s clients are under 21 and cannot buy recreational cannabis legally. But others are older students who simply don’t want to pay the hefty tax — three times that levied on medical marijuana. So despite the abundance of recreational cannabis products since the first retail shops opened in January, there is still a vibrant black market for medical marijuana . . ."

A vibrant black market exists in Washington, as well.  When the Liquor Control Board was gearing up for marijuana market rule-making in 2013, they released data about who makes up the current marijuana market.

A quarter of current marijuana users are under the age of 21 - a thriving black market for anyone over the age of 21 who wants to share or re-sell their legally purchased marijuana. 

In another New York Times article a researcher states, "If I were to design a substance that is bad for college students, it would be marijuana" because it impairs working memory.  How marijuana use impacts student learning is one reason why substance use prevention programs from early middle school through college are especially important.  To be most effective, prevention activities need to include those that impact the wider community such as limiting the number of marijuana retailers and enforcing laws so that people cannot buy the drug outside of state-licensed stores.  Marijuana enforcement needs do not go away when the drug is legalized, they just change focus.  

Governor urges parents and grandparents to know the facts about marijuana and youth

Governor Jay Inslee sent the following message to state employees earlier this week:

As our state continues implementation of Initiative 502, it is important, as parents and grandparents, that we understand the facts about marijuana so we can have productive conversations with the children and young adults in our lives about avoiding drug use.

Below are key facts and resources to aid you as you talk to your children and teens about making healthy life choices.

Facts:

• In 2012, Washington voters approved Initiative 502 to allow the recreational use and purchase of marijuana for adults who are 21 years of age and older.
• While it is illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to use or purchase marijuana, the reality is that legalizing the drug for adults makes it more accessible to youth. Youth are also exposed to marijuana advertising. These factors increase the likelihood that youth will use marijuana.
• Marijuana is addictive. About 9 percent of users become addicted; this number increases for those who start young (to about 17 percent, or 1 in 6) and those who use marijuana daily (to 25-50 percent).
• Students who use marijuana are more likely to have lower grades and drop out of school compared to students who don’t use marijuana. In addition, many students who use marijuana also use other substances, including alcohol and tobacco (2012 Washington State Healthy Youth Survey).
• The good news is that most students do not use marijuana, alcohol or other drugs, and they are less likely to use them when they know their parents disapprove of this.

Resources:

• Marijuana: Know the Facts: What Parents Need to Know. Developed by the Washington State Liquor Control Board, this guide for parents has facts about the impacts of marijuana and I-502.
• A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Underage Marijuana Use. The guide contains helpful information about the unique risks of marijuana to the developing brain, proven strategies to help keep youth drug-free, signs and symptoms of marijuana use, and what to do if you suspect a child or teen may already be using marijuana.
• For tips on how to talk with your kids at different ages, and other ways to keep them healthy and drug-free, visit www.StartTalkingNow.org.

We know that parental involvement makes a difference in keeping children, teens and young adults healthy, safe and in school. I encourage you to make use of these resources and to share them with others. Together, we can make our communities a safer and healthier place now and for future generations.

Additionally, for more information about marijuana research and minimizing risks for adult consumers, visit www.LearnAboutMarijuanaWA.org.

Very truly yours,

Jay Inslee

Prevention WINS uses tested and effective programs to prevent teen marijuana use

What programs are most effective for preventing teen marijuana use?  That question is being studied by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) which recently released an updated review of scientific evidence about prevention programs.  They reviewed 23 youth marijuana prevention and treatment programs  and categorized them as "evidence-based", "research-based", or "promising."  (Definitions appear at the end of this post.)

School-based Programs
For the Prevention WINS coalition, the report brings good news: Life Skills Training, the program implemented at Eckstein Middle School since 2007, is identified as one of two top-tier evidence-based prevention programs.

Parenting Programs
The two parenting programs implemented through Eckstein, Guiding Good Choices and the Strengthening Families Program, are considered research-based for preventing teen marijuana use.

Community Programs 
Communities That Care is the other evidence-based prevention program identified by WSIPP.  Similar to the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) that Prevention WINS uses, Communities That Care guides communities to identify local risk factors and implement tested and effective programs to address them.

Using the SPF, Prevention WINS this year, for the first time, identified "community laws and norms favorable to drug use" as NE Seattle's primary teen marijuana use risk factor.  The "laws and norms" risk factor is determined by how easy it is for teenagers to access a drug; if they think they will be caught by police if they use a drug; and what they think others in the community think of kids using the drug.

To address community laws and norms favorable to marijuana use, the Prevention WINS coalition will continue to advocate for policies that reduce youth access to marijuana and for the adoption and enforcement of laws regarding minors and marijuana. These types of policies will support the messages that children and families hear when participating in school-based and parenting programs.

Summary of definitions: For complete definitions, see page 4 of the report)

Evidence-based: A program that has been tested multiple times and the weight of the evidence from a systematic review demonstrates sustained improvement in at least one outcome.  It also means a program that can be implemented with a set of procedures to allow successful replication and is determined to be cost-effective.

Research-based: A program that has been tested once and demonstrates sustained desirable outcomes but does not meet the full requirements of evidence-based.

Promising: A practice that shows potential for meeting the evidence-based or research-based criteria based on statistical analysis or a well-established theory of change.

Seattle marijuana businesses and preventing teen marijuana use

Over the past few days the Seattle Times published two opinions about the emerging recreational marijuana system and what they see as barriers to the establishment of a commercial marketplace.

On October 24, an opinion piece laments, “The fact that Seattle, triple the size of any other city in Washington, has only a handful of stores is ‘odd’ . . . because there are 21 locations authorized for the city.”  Though there are multiple reasons for less than 5 of those 21 retailers opening shop at this point, the writer suggests that, “Tweaking I-502 to loosen the 1,000 foot rule seems an obvious fix for some of this.”  (The 1,000 foot rule disallows marijuana businesses from being within 1,000 feet of schools, community centers, parks, and other places where children congregate.)

Instead of allowing for more marijuana retailers, Seattle should support limits on the number of retailers since such limits on businesses selling alcohol and tobacco are proven methods for preventing teen alcohol and tobacco use.  If marijuana legalization is to be successful in keeping the drug out of the hands of minors, then limiting retail outlets is sound policy to implement and support.

Getting rid of recreational marijuana’s main competition – medical marijuana – is one way to encourage more recreational marijuana retailers to open shop.  As an October 25 editorial states, “In reality, Seattle marijuana users shun recreational stores because they’re getting the cannabis from a larger, cheaper and unregulated source: medical marijuana dispensaries.  As Seattle’s former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan warned last month, medical marijuana is ‘not a loophole: It is the market.’”

The editorial goes on to say that the state legislature is to blame.  However, the City of Seattle can do something before the legislature decides whether or not to act on medical marijuana.  They can start by enforcing their own law and closing down medical marijuana businesses that opened within the last year.  Medical marijuana retailers are not recognized or protected by state law so they can be shut down if the political will exists.

With almost 40% of Seattle high school students who use marijuana reporting that they used marijuana that came from a medical marijuana dispensary, closing them is another way of preventing teen access to the drug.