Marijuana policy and youth

Within the last few weeks, several people have asked me if there has been anything published, from a medical point of view, about marijuana policy and its effect on young people.   Here is what I've been sharing, from the June 2004 edition of Pediatrics -- Legalization of Marijuana: Potential Impact on Youth. 

General coalition meeting next week

Prevention WINS General Meeting
Thursday, June 2, 2011
9-10:30 a.m.
Seattle Children's Hospital, W3747
4800 Sand Point Way NE

Agenda

• RADD Spring Forum presentation
• Coalition capacity: enlarging our ability to create change and implement multiple strategies
• 2010 Healthy Youth Survey results
• Nominating Committee
• Quarterly meeting schedule

All coalition meetings are open to the public . . . everyone interested in preventing youth substance abuse in NE Seattle is invited to participate.  A full schedule of meetings are listed on the coalition website. 

For more information, contact the coalition's coordinator. 

Depression and substance abuse linked to bullying

A coalition member forwarded this to me this morning . . .

According to a study completed at the University of Washington, girls who are bullied are at risk for substance abuse through depression.  Findings were published in the December 2010 issue of Prevention Science. 

"Both boys and girls who are victims of bullying, including bullying through e-mail and the internet, are at elevated risk for depression. However, according to a new study, adolescent girls may engage in substance use as a result of bullying-related depression . . . If your daughter is a victim of bullying, take it seriously, do all possible to prevent recurrence, and attend to possible depression and substance use."

Health communication tools

As I was preparing for tomorrow's Parenting Social Norms Workgroup meeting, I came across the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) webpage: Gateway to Health Communication & Social Marketing Practice.  As I browsed through the site, it struck me that many community organizations could use the information and tools provided through it to better communicate about health-related topics. 

Some of the tools I found especially helpful are:

-- Audience Insights, papers that provide analysis of certain populations to plan for effective communication strategies.  Audience Insights include reaching tweens and reaching teens. 

-- a Social Media Toolkit. 

Local high school marijuana use rates

From the 2010 Healthy Youth Survey results . . .

While youth marijuana use rates have increased statewide, they have not increased in NE Seattle.  Following are marijuana use rates among high school students in our community.  The charts show local (Hale and Roosevelt) results compared to Washington State averages.

Nathan Hale High School
2008 10th grade: 29.3%

2010 10th grade: 21.4%

2008 12th grade: 37.5%

2010 12th grade: 33%

Roosevelt High School

2008 10th grade: 19.8%

2010 10th grade: 22.7%

2008 12th grade: 33.8%

2010 12th grade: 27.5%

 
Full local results are posted on the Prevention WINS website.  Below are high school marijuana use rates for the state and the school district.
 
Washington State
2008 10th grade: 19%
2010 10th grade: 20%
 
2008 12th grade: 23%
2010 12th grade: 26%
 
 
Seattle Public Schools
2008 10th grade: 24.8%
2010 10th grade: 21.7%
 
2008 12th grade: 35.1%
2010 12th grade: 30.3%

NE Seattle underage drinking rates decline

Prevention works! 

Regular alcohol use among students in NE Seattle declined between 2008-2010.  Below are the data comparing 2006, 2008 and 2010 Healthy Youth Survey results regarding regular alcohol use among sophomores at Nathan Hale and Roosevelt High Schools. 

Nathan Hale High School 30-day (regular) alcohol use rates among 10th grade students

• 2006: 38.6%
• 2008: 35.7%
• 2010: 20%

Roosevelt High School 30-day (regular) alcohol use rates among 10th grade students

• 2006: 37.7%
• 2008: 30.1%
• 2010: 24.5%

More on NE Seattle 2010 HYS results to come . . .

2010 Healthy Youth Survey: NE Seattle high school underage drinking rates decrease

Seattle Public Schools released results of the 2010 Washington State Healthy Youth Survey (HYS) yesterday which delivered some good news: underage drinking rates are down since 2008. 

Below are charts summarizing the regular alcohol use rates among students at Eckstein Middle School, Nathan Hale High School and Roosevelt High School.  Dark green bars represent local (Eckstein, Hale or Roosevelt) rates compared to state average rates in light green.

Eckstein Middle School

Nathan Hale High School

Roosevelt High School

Full 2010 Healthy Youth Survey results for all three schools are posted on the Prevention WINS website.

Upcoming coalition meetings

Retail Outreach Workgroup Meeting
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
10-11:30 a.m.
Seattle Children's Hospital, T-3127

Parenting Social Norms Workgroup Meeting
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
7-8:30 p.m.
Seattle Children's Hospital, Giraffe Starbucks

Evaluation Committee Meeting
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
10-11;30 a.m.
Seattle Children's Hospital, SDR-1

For more information, please contact the coalition's coordinator.

Promoting healthy families

Federal health care reform (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) places significant emphasis on the role of community-based health promotion initiatives.  Community organizations are seen as critical partners for improving community well-being.

To help communities take advantage of these initiatives, RAND Health created a report that provides the content for a community health promotion toolkit. This includes key facts and figures about health topics, handouts for community groups, and web links for resources.  

Section 4 of the report deals with promoting healthy families.  The report states that, "Parenting quality makes a difference for children.  Children with positively engaged parents are more likely to do well in school, are less likely to use drugs or have sex early."

The report goes on to identify ways that community organizations can support positive parenting.  Among them are:

• Help to start a support group where parents and fathers share experiences.
• For parents of teens, share the handbook: Navigating the Teen Years.
• Post information on parenting kids of all ages.

 

To support NE Seattle families, Prevention WINS is developing a campaign to promote parenting skills to reduce youth substance abuse.  Eckstein Middle School, in partnership with Seattle Children's, hosts series of the Strengthening Family Program.  In partnership with the University Family YMCA, the Eckstein Community Learning Center offers forums for parents to learn about healthy adolescent development.  These are just a few local examples of ways that community organizations can promote healthy families. 

School-based prevention programs shouldn't be the "lonely voices"

According to a story appearing in the Health Behavior News Service, "school prevention programs aimed at curbing alcohol misuse in children are somewhat helpful, enough so to deserve consideration for widespread use." 

It goes on to say that not all school-based substance abuse prevention programs are effective but, “School-based prevention programs that take a social skills-oriented approach or that focus on classroom behavior management can work to reduce alcohol problems in young people.”

The authors concluded that their evidence supported the use of certain generic prevention programs over alcohol-specific ones. They cited the Life Skills Training Program, the Unplugged Program and the Good Behavior Game as particularly effective interventions.

“Some interventions might be more effective in a rural setting with limited alcohol availability but not so effective in a big city with lots of alcohol and drug availability,” researchers said.

They emphasize that “school-based programs are so often expected to do the whole job of prevention, and this is an unfair expectation.” He describes school-based programs functioning as “lonely voices” in an environment saturated with marketing messages promoting youthful drinking. The amount of drinking in a youngster’s home and community and the price of alcohol are other major influences that need addressing, he said. Until then, “we can't expect large effects from school-based programs alone.”

Coalitions, such as Prevention WINS, consider youth substance abuse to be a community problem requiring a community solution.  While Prevention WINS successfully introduced Life Skills Training into Eckstein Middle School, we are currently working to reduce access to alcohol among young people and increase positive parenting skills that have proven to reduce youth substance abuse.