News & Events
Much of our work involves measuring the difference others make. Getting involved and making our own difference is also an important part of who we are as individuals and as an organization.
The goal of the Marijuana Prevention Initiative (MPI) is to reduce youth marijuana use and increase knowledge of its negative impacts. To accomplish this goal the MPI collaborates with partners across San Diego County to bring awareness and education about: (1) local trends, (2) national research, (3) youth-related harms, and (4) public safety issues associated with marijuana use. This document provides selected county, state, and national data points regarding youth marijuana use and its related health and community impacts, organized by the four categorized referenced above. These data points provide relevant marijuana use/perception statistics to help inform marijuana prevention efforts currently underway across San Diego County. This report was made possible through funding from the County of San Diego, Health and Human Services Agency.
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Many people believe that teen marijuana use is not harmful. Nothing could be further from the truth.
We live in California, where marijuana is now, as of Jan. 1, legal for recreational use. My four teens report that pot is already very easy to come by and that “everyone” uses it. More concerning to me: Many of my friends – fellow parents – believe that teen marijuana use is not harmful.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
First, the good news: Most teens don’t smoke pot or ingest edibles. That said, 41 percent of American high school seniors report having used marijuana or synthetic cannabinoids in the past year, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. That’s a very large minority. Do they know what they are doing? Here is what I wish all kids – and their parents – knew about pot:
Marijuana slows brain development in adolescence.
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Pot inhaled through a vape device produces a more powerful high — and often with more deleterious side effects — than the smoked version, a new study finds.
At the same level of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, vaping led to higher blood concentrations of the chemical than smoking, as well as higher levels of cognitive and psychomotor impairment and a higher incidence of adverse effects, such as vomiting, anxiety, hallucinations and feelings of paranoia, according to the report, published Friday in JAMA Network Open.
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Can be hard to tell between packaging and look of products
By Gary Robbins
Food, candy and drinks infused with marijuana have become commonly available in California since January, when the first licensed pot stores began to open statewide.
The products are among the more popular items sold by the dispensaries. The consumption of edibles also is being popularized by cannabis cooking classes and free online tutorials.
That means there will be more edible cannabis in people’s homes when the public celebrates Halloween on Wednesday.
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A total of 610 drugs (4296 brand and generic names) are known to interact with marijuana.
- 129 major drug interactions (910 brand and generic names)
- 481 moderate drug interactions (3386 brand and generic names)
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