News & Events
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Joe Eberstein, program manager for the San Diego County Marijuana Prevention Initiative, said he doesn’t advocate a vote for or against the measure but worries it wouldn’t tackle potential public health effects of expanded cannabis operations. “Any money that is raised through these taxes should go to prevention and treatment resources,” Eberstein said, adding that the county should specifically direct funding to youth marijuana prevention and treatment programs.
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The San Diego County Board of Supervisors Wednesday unanimously voted to advance a proposed ordinance that would transfer cannabis licensing duties from the sheriff’s department to the planning department.
The board approved a first reading of the ordinance, which if passed will allow Planning and Development Services to handle enforcement, conduct background checks, quarterly and periodic inspections, issue operating certificates and process license renewals and transfers.
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“We’re now counting 37 cannabis-related diagnoses a day,” Dr. Roneet Lev, an addiction medicine doctor at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, said about her emergency department. “It’s been steadily increasing over the years. When I started in the 1990s, there was no such thing. Now I see 1 to 2 cases per shift. The most common symptom is psychosis.”
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The San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a proposal to require fentanyl awareness education in the county's classrooms as well as distribute naloxone to parents and students and train them on how to use the medication.
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There is an opioid epidemic in the United States that stretches into California and San Diego County. People who use drugs are dying from overdoses in record numbers, including 12 kids under the age of 18 who died in San Diego County from opioid overdoses in 2021. A proven strategy to address the rising opioid overdose deaths is through widespread naloxone distribution in our communities which should include local school campuses for grades 6-12. Even one child using drugs and putting their life in jeopardy is one too many.
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