On August 5th the San Diego Board of Supervisors will discuss rolling back the pot shop ban in unincorporated San Diego county. Supervisor Fletcher introduced a bill that would do away with the 2017 ban on pot shops in unincorporated. While the county is locked down from the pandemic and people are isolated; increasing use of alcohol and other substances may likely increase, specifically among our youth. This decision to increase access to potent marijuana products during the pandemic is contrary to the public health data that we have compiled. Our 2020 MPI report points to 29 marijuana related hospitalizations a day in the county. Let your voices be heard during the meeting by using the e-comment link below to submit a comment. The agenda item number is 17.

https://sdcounty.granicusideas.com/meetings/1395-board-of-supervisors-meeting/agenda_items

Happy last day of July! Read some good news below.

• During the pandemic, seven in ten Americans have been shopping with small businesses, showing their support in this difficult time. Further, in the last two months, there have been over 2.5 million searches for Black-owned businesses on Yelp, compared to 33,000 this time last year. Read the support being shown for these businesses at this Good News Network link and this Upworthy link.

• This month the 2020 Live Well San Diego 5K and Fitness Challenge was launched. This virtual event has free registration, free fitness challenges, and free race swag. This all leads up to the event on Sunday, August 16^th, but gives you time to get in shape and get healthy. Read more here.

• In a story about a promise 28 years ago, two friends split the winnings of the Powerball jackpot. Read about the friends here.

More good news can be found at the Good News Network, Upworthy, and Good News from Today.

Today organizations around the world commemorate World Hepatitis Day to raise awareness of the problem of viral hepatitis, which impacts more than 325 million people worldwide. This day allows an opportunity to educate people about the burden of these infections, CDC’s efforts to combat viral hepatitis around the world, and actions people can take to prevent these infections.

Viral hepatitis — a group of infectious diseases known as hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E — affects millions of people worldwide, causing both acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) liver disease. Viral hepatitis causes more than one million deaths each year. While deaths from tuberculosis and HIV have been declining, deaths from hepatitis are increasing.

Looking at San Diego’s history, there was an outbreak of hepatitis A, which took two years of extensive efforts to fight. To learn more about how this virus was controlled locally, this arread ticle from AP News.

Visit these sites to learn more about hepatitis and World Hepatitis Day:

https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/awareness/worldhepday.htm

https://www.worldhepatitisday.org/

https://www.fhcsd.org/hiv-and-hepatitis-services/