Network: Combat marijuana use

Wahkiakum Community Network (WCN) youth board members who attended the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America National Leadership Conference presented their logic model framework for combating and preventing youth marijuana use in local communities at the Wahkiakum School Board meeting on September 27.

Seven local teens – Sadie Mace, Ellee Crouse, Shelby Felton, Gabby Mann, and Abby Buennagel from Wahkiakum High School and Austin Smith and Nicole Tarabochia from Naselle High School – went to Phoenix, Arizona in July to gather with 500 youth from across the country to build their skills in developing and implementing youth-focused prevention programs in order to foster effective community change.

The youth explained their process of developing a logic model. They drew a picture of the community to identify resources and risk factors. The group highlighted teen pregnancy and marijuana use as two significant risk factors, but chose marijuana use as their area of focus. They identified several reasons why marijuana usage occurs among local teens. Community members do not recognize marijuana use as dangerous, marijuana is cheap, and medicinal use of marijuana is legal, which muddies the ethical waters surrounding recreational use. The youth explained that no one wants to turn in friends or classmates who use, people don’t believe marijuana use is a high priority for law enforcement, and local growers make it very accessible to purchase.

Finally, the youth developed strategies to solve the problem, including educating teachers about the symptoms of usage, setting up an anonymous teen tip line, using a drug-sniffing dog for random locker checks, and implementing a closed campus policy for school lunches. The students brainstormed a slogan for an awareness campaign: Friends don’t let friends smoke pot. To further awareness, they want to distribute bracelets with the letters FAM, which stands for Friends Against Marijuana.

High School Principal Dan Calser said “It’s very clear there is energy around this issue; the question is how to make that energy effective. I know that creating a change in school climate is tough, and student leadership is essential. I look forward to seeing what you do.”

WCN public relations coordinator Tammy Peterson said the youth will also address the Naselle school board and would like to be part of a teacher in-service training and assembly for their fellow students. She encouraged the administration to send three staff members to training in Tacoma next month that would teach them to assess students to determine if there was a reasonable suspicion that a student was under the influence of drugs.

Network director Lia Sealund said a WCN survey among local seventh to eleventh graders found that marijuana use is preferred over alcohol use but did not clarify if marijuana was easier to obtain than alcohol.

Superintendent Bob Garrett asked the youth to share with him their perception about the seriousness of the problem of marijuana use by students at Wahkiakum High School on a scale of 1-10 with 10 as the high end. One student said she thought it was a 10, and the others concurred. Naselle students said it was similar at their school. Garrett then asked the students to give their opinion about what percent of the high school student body is using. One student said she estimated ninety percent of high school students have tried the drug at some point while about 60 percent continue to use it. All agreed that some of their peers attend school while under the influence of marijuana.

Garrett reminisced that the district had once implemented a random drug testing policy for student athletes until a lawsuit from parents and the American Civil Liberties Union led to a court case that the district lost at the state Supreme Court level. “But,” said Garrett, “if the district had staff that were trained to identify what it looks like when kids are under the influence while coming to the classroom, we then have a right to do not what would be random drug testing, but specific testing of students who had given trained staff reasonable suspicion to believe that they’re under the influence of drugs.” The youth responded that they believed such a program would be an effective deterrent against in-school use.

Garrett encouraged the board to give serious thought to implementing such a policy. Board member Lee Tischer said “Let’s green light it,” and board member Michelle Budd concurred. Board member Tony Boyce responded “Unfortunately this proposal sounds reactive. What are we doing to get ahead of this problem?” Sealund said, “We have to start out reactive and with training and a shift in culture we can lead to prevention.”