Cities & counties hurt by liquor privatization

Liquor privatization has hurt local governments and their ability to provide alcohol-related public safety services according to an opinion published in today’s Seattle Times.

Though I-1183 proponents promised more money to address alcohol-related harms, funding was cut.   “In 2012, the state Legislature was balancing its budget and chose to ignore the voters and I-1183’s clear wording. Lawmakers diverted more than $100 million in liquor revenue from cities and counties to the state’s general fund,” write the authors.

They go on to note, “City and county law enforcement currently handle half of all DUI arrests, and cities employ two-thirds of the state’s public safety personnel. The Legislature’s action to reduce liquor revenues for local government is a direct cut to funding for local law enforcement.”

As those of us who advocate for substance abuse-related policy know, diversion of dedicated revenue is nothing new.  The state’s highly successful tobacco prevention program was decimated a few years ago when the legislature diverted dedicated prevention funding to the general fund.

Since even recent history apparently repeats, it is not surprising that public health advocates are concerned about marijuana revenue.  I-502 dedicates marijuana revenue for prevention programming, but how long will it be before it is diverted to the general fund, especially considering our state government still needs to fill holes in their budget?  

Local jurisdictions also have concerns about the impact of I-502 on their budgets.  The opinion piece states, “Marijuana legalization will add new costs for local law enforcement to police legal sales, crack down on the illegal black market and to enforce impaired-driving laws. However, to add insult to the injury of the liquor-revenue cuts, the Legislature has ignored cities’ and counties’ requests to recognize the local impact from marijuana legalization, and share some of the estimated millions of dollars a year in new tax revenue.”

Marijuana poisonings among kids are up

Source: Washington Poison Center

Pediatric exposures to marijuana reported to the Washington Poison Center (WAPC) are on the rise in our state.  As of July 7, 54 cases were reported to the WAPC while in all of 2013 58 cases were reported.  As with all poisonings, the WAPC says marijuana poisonings are likely under-reported.

Earlier this year, study results published in JAMA-Pediatrics reported similar problems in Colorado.  

Susan Mazor, MD, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Seattle Children’s Hospital and a medical toxicologist at Children’s and the WAPC, says that it makes sense that as marijuana becomes more available in the community, children’s exposures to the drug increases. “More availability of any poison usually translates to more unintentional poisonings in kids,” she says.

In an editorial accompanying the JAMA-Pediatrics article, a public health response is called for:

The public health community needs to be vigilant for unintended consequences of legalized marijuana, such as increased ingestion by children as reported . . . Unfortunately, as with tobacco, some of the most significant health consequences will likely take years to manifest.

In the meantime, we can inform the public about the known harms of marijuana even in states where use has been made legal. This has been happening with tobacco. While rates of adolescent tobacco use remain unacceptably high, they have fallen dramatically since their peak in 1996.  It is nearly impossible to be sentient in 2013 and not know about the health consequences of tobacco. Anecdotally, nearly all of the patients treated in the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program at Boston Children’s Hospital who use tobacco would like to quit because of health concerns, while few adolescents can understand why we advise them to stop using marijuana. The skyrocketing rates of adolescent  marijuana use indicate that we are losing an important public health battle and we have a lot of work to do if we want to reverse these trends.

While our state has made available education materials encouraging parents to talk to their children about not using marijuana, education also needs to be done about the availability of marijuana in homes.  Since I-502 funding for marijuana education campaigns has yet to come in, other sources of funding need to be found by policy makers on the state and local levels.  

As we know from experiences with alcohol and tobacco, and is evident with these latest reports about marijuana, increased availability of a drug is harmful to children.  Limiting availability is one step policy makers can take to ensure that fewer children are exposed to marijuana.  Keeping the number of retail recreational marijuana stores as it is now and eliminating medical marijuana stores is good public health policy.  

Limiting marijuana promotion to reduce public health implications

Though most of his message is a little late for Washington, Dr. DuPont makes the case for limiting the promotion of marijuana as a way to reduce public health costs.

Federal budget cuts hurt local substance abuse prevention and treatment programs

In a time when Washington wants to treat substance use more as a public health issue than a justice system issue, public health funding is not keeping up with changing laws.  Not only has our state reduced funding for substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, the federal government has, too.  According to a report by the Coalition for Health Funding, overall federal funding for public health programs has been drastically cut over the past four years and federal agencies that deal with substance abuse prevention and treatment have been affected the most.

From: http://www.cutshurt.org/ 

The National Institute of Health (NIH), which includes the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and comprises about half the federal government’s spending on public health, has experienced a 10 percent budget cut over the past year.  Funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been slashed by 16 percent and funding for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which includes the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), has been cut about 8 percent.

In our state, most substance abuse prevention programming is implemented through coalitions.  The state’s Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative coalitions are funded with Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment block grant monies from SAMHSA.  Drug Free Communities coalitions are also funded through SAMHSA.  Federal cuts to the SAMHSA budget reduce our state’s primary source of prevention funding.   

If Washington is serious about treating substance abuse as a public health issue, and it's not just political rhetoric, both federal and state policy makers need to increase prevention and treatment funds, not reduce or eliminate them.  

No pot gummy bears? WSLCB: Marijuana products that are appealing to children are prohibited

Since the adoption of I-502, I’ve been asking public health advocates, “If we could better regulate the tobacco industry before it became Big Tobacco, what would we do?”  As Washington develops a marijuana industry, answers to that question can guide the way.

This week, the Liquor Control Board adopted a process for approving marijuana-infused foods and beverages to attempt to reduce the number of products that appeal to youth.  This is a wise move considering what public health experts know about alcohol and tobacco products that are attractive to youth. 

As we know from our experiences with tobacco and alcohol, some products are attractive to youth even though they are to be consumed only by people over the age of 21. 

• For instance, several years ago 20% of smokers ages 17 to 19 reported using flavored tobacco products within the last 30 days, compared to 6% of adult smokers.  Soon after the study that produced this finding was released, the Food and Drug Administration banned flavored cigarettes.  Now the FDA is in the process of determining how to regulate e-cigarettes, including flavored nicotine products.    
• Flavored alcoholic beverages are highly popular among underage drinkers.  A recent study shows that among alcohol brands favored by underage drinkers, Smirnoff malt beverages are popular.  This brand includes flavors like blue raspberry lemonade, pineapple, green apple, grape, root beer, and root beer float.  

Regulating products so that they do  not appeal to children is an important component of a multi-pronged strategy for preventing underage substance use.  The LCB's regulations for marijuana-infused products are a perfect example of how multiple sectors in our state have roles to play to prevent underage marijuana use.  

Throwback Thursday: Flavored cigarettes banned for public health reasons

In 2007, the World Health Organization released The Scientific Basis of Tobacco Product Regulation, a report that included information about the public health impacts of flavored tobacco products.  From the report:

Basic public health principles dictate that flavours should not be used to adulterate contaminated food or make highly dependence-causing drugs more enticing.

Studies based on the tobacco industry’s internal documents suggest that flavouring agents may also play an important role in the industry’s targeting of young and inexperienced smokers. Menthol has been used to target new smokers across different ethnic groups, and additives such as chocolate, vanillin and licorice have been part of an intensive industry effort to increase the market share of the Camel brand within the youth market. Additives have also been shown to promote smoking among youths by masking the negative taste of tobacco smoke with flavours.

In 2009, in response to public health concerns, the Food and Drug Administration banned cigarettes that contain flavors other than tobacco or menthol. The ban includes cigarettes that contain “an artificial or natural flavor . . . including strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, or coffee, that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or tobacco smoke.”

Public health concerns included flavored cigarette use rates among young people.  At the time of the WHO’s report, 20% of smokers between ages 17 to 19 reported using flavored cigarettes within the last 30 days, compared to 6% of adult smokers.

Online resources from the Public Health Law Center at William Mitchell College of Law provide prevention advocates and policy makers with information on how to regulate tobacco and related products. 

Why investing in drug use prevention is important

“The state is no longer wasting law enforcement time on marijuana use,” according to a recent Seattle Times opinion piece about I-502, the initiative that decriminalized and legalized marijuana. 

In 2004, a Seattle Times article about Seattle’s Initiative 75, which made marijuana the lowest enforcement priority for police, reported similar results.  “Statistics for the first six months of 2004 show that the city has prosecuted just 18 cases of marijuana possession compared with roughly 70 during the same time period last year.”  In other words, de-facto decriminalization worked to reduce the number of people arrested and prosecuted for marijuana offences. 

According to a recent report from the National Academies of Science (NAS), the rise in United States incarceration rates can be attributed to “significantly increased sentence lengths, required prison time for minor offenses, and intensified punishment for drug crimes.”  Racial disparities in incarceration rates are exacerbated by sentencing laws, such as three strikes and mandatory minimums, and by “law enforcement strategies associated with the war on drugs.”  In other words, how laws are enforced and how people are sentenced are the primary factors leading to high incarceration rates. 

Authors of the NAS report offer specific suggestions for reducing incarcerations rates:

• changing sentencing policies, especially those having to do with the enforcement of drug laws;
• changing prison policies;
• addressing social policies especially those addressing “economic insecurity, low education, and poor health that are associated with incarceration in the nation’s poorest communities.  Solutions to these problems are outside of the criminal justice systems, and they will include policies that address school drop-out, drug addiction, mental illness, and neighborhood poverty – all of which are intimately connected to incarceration.”  

That’s where youth drug use prevention comes in.  Preventing the onset of drug use among teenagers prevents school drop-out, drug addiction, some mental illnesses, and supports healthy youth development.  To be most effective, multiple community partners must join together to prevent teen drug use.  Parents and schools are only part of effective drug use prevention strategies.  Organizations concerned with economic insecurity, health, and the justice system also have stakes in keeping kids drug-free. 

WA House Committee updated about the implementation of I-502

Earlier this week, the Washington House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee held a work session about the implementation of I-502.  For a limited time, a recording of the session may be viewed online.



From a youth substance use prevention point of view, a few discussion items stuck out.

• Marijuana business owners repeatedly stated that the medical marijuana market and the recreational marijuana market should not co-exist.  One said that the medical marijuana market "is the black market" and another one called it a "free for all."  They agreed that the medical marijuana market is going to be a problem for I-502 businesses.

• A few people talked about the need for preventing youth marijuana use and said that children and parents need to know about the negative affects of the drug on the developing brain.  Nobody talked about how policy is a key part of a comprehensive prevention strategy.  

• The University of Washington is conducting research on the impact of I-502 retail stores on the communities in which they are located.  The research will be conducted in King County and look at youth use rates, crime  rates, and economic impact.  Representative Hurst wondered if marijuana stores will really have much of an impact on communities since we already have "a saturated market" and people who want marijuana can easily get it. 

• Throughout the work session it was obvious that most people think that the marijuana system is going to change a great deal over the years.  Just like the alcohol system, rules will change.  Liquor Control Board Director Garza predicted that more marijuana business licenses, including retail licenses, eventually will be issued by the agency.  

Throwback Thursday: Tobacco companies cast doubt on research

From "Inventing Conflicts of Interest: A History of Tobacco Industry Tactics" published in the January 2012 edition of the American Journal of Public Health:

"One R.J. Reynolds official announced to other industry executives in November 1953 that the company had formed a bureau of scientific information to 'combat the propaganda which is being directed at the tobacco industry.'  At the same time, American Tobacco began to collect the public statements of scientists who had expressed skepticism about the research findings indicting tobacco.  The company's own public relations counsel understood that it would be critical to create questions about the reliability of new findings and to attack the notion that these studies constituted proof of the relationship of smoking to cancer."

The Legacy Tobacco Documents Library includes tobacco industry videos used to attempt to debunk research showing that smoking is harmful to health.

Click here to view videos that cast doubt on scientific research including one in which it is suggested that auto emissions, not cigarettes, may be to blame for increasing rates of lung cancer.

Liquor Control Board issues first marijuana retail licenses

From the Liquor Control Board: 

The Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) today issued the state’s first 24 marijuana retailer licenses. A complete listing, including contact information of the new retail licensees, can be found online within the Public Records section of the WSLCB website.

The 24 applicants were notified via email early this morning that they were approved for a retail license. Once approved for a license, producers and/or processors are able to file a required manifest for transporting to retail locations. Following a 24 hour quarantine period, they may begin transporting products to retail stores. Marijuana retailers may begin selling marijuana at their discretion following receipt of product and entering it in to the traceability system.

Businesses receiving their licenses today represent the first of 334 licenses allotted by the WSLCB for retail sales who have successfully completed the licensing process. Locations receiving licenses were selected by taking into account population, geographic dispersion and the individual applicant’s readiness to be licensed.

Today’s issuance of the first retail licenses represents the latest step following nearly 18 months of establishing a controlled and comprehensive system of producing, processing and retailing recreational marijuana.

The WSLCB was especially concerned with the impact to children. There are strict rules regarding packaging, labeling and advertising to ensure they not appeal to children. In June, the LCB announced emergency rules that include a label and product approval process.

WSLCB licensing investigators will continue to issue producer, processor and retailer licenses as those applications are completed. To date the WSLCB has licensed over 687,000 square feet of plant canopy for marijuana production, roughly the equivalent of a dozen football fields.

For more information including summaries of the rules frequently requested lists please visit the LCB website at www.liq.wa.gov.

Where will marijuana tax revenue go?

Once marijuana is sold in stores, revenue from sales will be directed to several areas.

Tier 1: Funds collected through marijuana excise taxes, license fees, penalties, and forfeitures will be distributed every three months as follows:

• $1,250,000 to the Liquor Control Board to administer the marijuana system.
• $125,000 to the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to administer the Healthy Youth Survey, analyze data, and produce reports.
• $50,000 to the Washington Institute for Public Policy to conduct a cost-benefit analysis and produce four reports from September 2015 to September 2032.
• $5,000 to the University of Washington's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute to develop and maintain web-based public education materials with scientifically accurate information about the health and safety risks of marijuana.  

Tier 2: Of the dollars that remain, the following will receive funding:

• 50% to the Basic Health Plan.
• 19.07% to the General Fund.
• 15% to DSHS to implement substance use prevention strategies among middle and  high school students. 
• 10% to the Department of Health to implement a marijuana education and public health programs.
• 5% to community health centers for primary health and dental care services, migrant health services, and maternity health care services.
• 0.06% to the University of Washington and 0.04% to Washington State University for marijuana research.
• 0.03% to the Building Bridges programs.  

Any of the above can be changed by lawmakers starting next legislative session.  With lawmakers looking to fill budget shortfalls, especially education funding shortfalls, earmarks for prevention needs to be guarded.

Even if the earmarks remain untouched, it is unclear how much revenue will actually be generated by the new marijuana market.  The Liquor Control Board does not expect that all marijuana consumers will use the new system at first, limiting the amount of revenue generated in the short run.  According to researchers, 24% of the current market is made up of people under the age of 21 who will never use the legal "recreational" market. Some predict that a minority of current adult marijuana users will ever use the new market.

Right now, predictions are all that we have to go on.  It may be a few years before we know how much money communities will receive to fully implement prevention strategies.

Liquor Control Board to limit marijuana-infused products appealing to children

Today, the Washington State Liquor Control Board adopted emergency rules adding a requirement that all marijuana-infused products, packaging, and labeling be approved by them.  The rules are to clarify the types of marijuana-infused products the board will allow to be produced and sold.  The board's issue paper on the emergency rules states:

"Many marijuana-infused products on the medical marijuana market today are appealing to children.  Products such as lollipops, gummy bears, and cotton candy are very appealing to children too young to read a label."

To gain approval from the board, marijuana processors must submit a picture of the product, its label, and packaging to them.  The board will not approve products that appeal to children. 

Marijuana-infused products that look like foods and beverages that children commonly eat and drink have been a concern for WASAVP and adolescent substance use prevention advocates even prior to the I-502 vote.  Concerns were expressed to the Liquor Control Board during their rule-making process and as they developed recommendations for reconciling the recreational and medical marijuana systems. 

The emergency rules also include guidelines regarding serving sizes.  The new rules read:

"Marijuana-infused products in solid form that contain more than one serving must be scored to indicate individual serving sizes, and labeled so that the serving size is prominently displayed on the packaging."

"Marijuana-infused products must be homogenized to ensure uniform disbursement of cannabinoids throughout the product."  

State agencies preparing to address health and safety problems associated with marijuana use

Earlier today, Governor Inslee and state agencies held a press conference about the new marijuana system in our state.  Here are my notes: 

Governor Inslee:

• First retail “recreational” marijuana stores to open July 8
• No recreational marijuana for people under the age of 21.
• Public safety is his top priority. 
• Liquor Control Board to adopt rules regarding edibles that are particularly attractive to youth.
• Drive high get a DUI.
• Marijuana revenue will not solve state fiscal problems.  Billion dollar deficit won’t be filled considering marijuana revenue will likely only fill in 1% of the budget shortfall.

Attorney General Ferguson:  Just like his office was instrumental in reducing tobacco marketing to youth, his office will work to reduce marijuana marketing to youth.  

Liquor Control Board Chair Foster:

• On July 7 they will issue about 20 retail licenses which means stores can open July 8 if they have product.
• Today’s marijuana is much more potent than it used to be.
• She doesn’t want to see “marijuana candy bars laying around somebody’s coffee table” and eaten by children. 
• Tomorrow the Board will adopt emergency rules requiring all edible marijuana product labels, and possibly edible marijuana products, to be approved by the Board to ensure they do not appeal to youth.  Emergency rules go into effect immediately.

State Health Officer Lofy provided an overview of negative health impacts of marijuana, particularly among youth.  The Department of Health launched a media campaign to help parents talk to their children about marijuana.    

Washington State Patrol Chief  Batiste:

• In Washington there are 220 drug recognition officers available to assist troopers and other law enforcement officials in arresting people driving under the influence of marijuana.   State police have been able to effectively detect marijuana DUI for a long time.
• The state toxicologist reports an uptick in marijuana DUIs last year

Cannabis Inc.

Australian ABC News recently interviewed Dr. Leslie Walker and two Seattle marijuana business entrepreneurs for a story about marijuana legalization in Washington.  The resulting story, Cannabis Inc., is available to view online.

Marijuana addiction starts early
During her interview, Dr. Walker notes that addiction is a pediatric disease that carries over into adulthood.  The vast majority of adults who are addicted to drugs, including alcohol and marijuana, started using when they were adolescents.  The tobacco and alcohol industries make their profits from the people who use a lot of their products, including people who are addicted to them.  For the marijuana industry to be profitable, they will need to do the same.  Like the tobacco and alcohol industries, the marijuana industry will need to attract young people to use their products because the people who start using before they are legally eligible to will make up the majority of their future adult market.

Regulating the cannabis industry
To counteract industry activities to attract young people to use their products, strict regulations need to be adopted and enforced.  For instance, marketing and advertising restrictions, such as the strict restrictions on tobacco marketing and advertising, can be adopted.  This includes a ban on sweet flavored products.  Another example is limiting the number of marijuana retailers that are located in a community.  The Guide to Community Preventive Services provides a list of policies that prevent tobacco and alcohol-related harms and can be used to do the same for marijuana.

Watchdogs needed
As those of us who work to prevent youth drug use know, the tobacco and alcohol industries are constantly trying to loosen or eliminate regulations.  They are constantly lobbying lawmakers to create a more business-friendly environment for them.  The same is already true for the marijuana industry.  (The ABC News journalist interviews a marijuana industry lobbyist in Washington, DC.)  To counteract marijuana lobbying, people concerned about the health of adolescents will need to be vigilant, organized, and prepared to provide lawmakers with information about how marijuana policy affects children in their communities.

Liquor Control Board to adopt rules to include marijuana concentrates

Earlier this week, the Liquor Control Board adopted a Revised Interim Policy on Recreational Marijuana. This policy is needed to implement ESHB 2304 which was passed during the 2014 legislative session. The interim policy will be in effect until permanent rules are adopted.  The interim policy may be read here.

The law changes the definition of marijuana to include concentrates: 

"Marijuana concentrates” is defined as resin extracted from the Cannabis plant with a high THC concentration, in contrast to “marijuana,” which includes the entire Cannabis plant.  The definition of “marijuana-infused products” is changed to include marijuana or marijuana extracts with between 0.3 percent and 60 percent THC concentration.

Under state law, during one transaction adults can buy: 

• one ounce of usable marijuana (leaf form);
• 16 ounces of marijuana-infused product in solid form (foods including candies); 
• 7 grams of marijuana concentrates (oils, waxes);
• 72 ounces of marijuana-infused product in liquid form (beverages).

What does that look like?

By Greg Farrar, Appearing in Issaquah Press

The picture above is of one ounce of usable marijuana.  Depending on who you ask, an ounce can produce 30 to 50 joints.

Analytics 360 is a state-licensed cannabis testing lab.  Their website contains test results for marijuana products that include photos.  The above photos is of a caramel which is listed as weighing 17 grams, about 0.6 ounces.  This particular caramel seems to contain 8 servings according to the Liquor Control Board's definition of serving size.

The orange soda analyzed by Analytics 360 is in a 12 ounce bottle.  It appears to contain 3-4 servings according to Liquor Control Board rules.  

The above concentrates are advertised on a Seattle marijuana dispensary's website and are listed as weighing 0.5 grams each.  Concentrates are highly potent and they are used for "dabbing" because "a dab will do ya."  

"Buddy the Bear" advertises marijuana

From KING 5:

Buddy is a guy in a green bear suit, reminiscent of artwork associated with The Grateful Dead. He waves to people heading in and out of town while wearing a sandwich board advertising the dispensary's "discreet delivery."  The service bills itself as an answer for patients who aren’t comfortable walking into a marked dispensary.

Beavers (the dispensary owner) says her business is no different than Dominos Pizza, and she should be able to advertise the same way.

"Advertising is extremely important. Word of mouth will only get you so far in this business," she said.

Beavers concedes her dancing bear may appeal to children, but that’s not the intent.

Throwback Thursday: "Medical alcohol" edition

From the History Channel:

When Prohibition dawned, many doctors continued to prescribe alcohol for anemia, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and high blood pressure, among other disorders.  The new law required them to use special prescription pads issued by the U.S. Treasury Department . . . 

Medical alcohol prescription pad from the 1920's from the History Channel

From the Puget Sound Business Journal: 

In Seattle, the parallels between modern-day medicinal marijuana and medicinal alcohol of 100 years ago are remarkable. Consider that the number of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city increased to 274 in May 2013, up from 63 in September 2011. During the first three months of 1916, when the only place one could legally buy liquor in Washington was at a pharmacy, 65 new drugstores opened in Seattle, according to a master’s thesis cited by HistoryLink.

Kid-friendly marijuana strains

According to the Huffington Post:

Owners of brands geared toward children of all ages are battling to keep notable names like Thin Mint, Tootsie Roll and Cinnamon Toast Crunch off the flavored nicotine used in electronic cigarettes.

Now the owners of those trademarks are fighting back to make sure their brands aren't being used to sell an addictive drug or make it appealing to to children.

"Using the Thin Mint name — which is synonymous with Girl Scouts and everything we do to enrich the lives of girls — to market e-cigarettes to youth is deceitful and shameless," Girl Scouts spokeswoman Kelly Parisi said in a statement.

The recent attention e-cigarettes have gained can be used to inform the emerging marijuana market.  For instance, the name “Thin Mint” is also used for a strain of marijuana that apparently tastes similar to the Girl Scout cookies.  Below is a medical marijuana ad that not only promotes Thin Mint marijuana but uses a cartoon character and offers a "free Capn Cosmics medible for first time patients."

Throwback Thursday: "Alcopops are for adults" edition

In 1999, Smirnoff Ice was introduced and the company that makes these alcopops dismissed public health claims that their fruit-flavored products targeted minors.  Despite ads appearing in media with large youth audiences.

Image from the
Center for Alcohol Marketing and Youth

Marijuana is not popular

The idea that marijuana is “popular” and use is “prolific” pops up in many news articles lately.  Just this past weekend, the New York Times Magazine included an article, “The Bud Light-ification of Bud”, that in the beginning states, “. . . marijuana’s popularity as a consumer product: 38 percent of Americans admit to having tried it, and 7 percent use it on a regular basis."

Wait, what?  Since when does 7% equal “popular”? 

Let’s see how it compares to other “popular” substances. 

• Two-thirds of American adults drink alcohol.  Now that’s popular.
• Tobacco, with 18% of American adults smoking, is more popular than marijuana. 

Yet, a few times in the article, and in other news stories about marijuana, it is called popular.

In our state, data readily indicate that marijuana use is not “popular".  According to research about the marijuana market, about 10% of Washingtonians 12 years old and older used marijuana within the past month.

Source: RAND Drug Policy Research Center, 2013

  

Even in King County, less than 10% of people 12 and older currently use marijuana. Among 10th grade students, 16% in King County and 23% in Seattle report current marijuana use according to the Healthy Youth Survey.   

The perception that marijuana use is “popular" or normal among adults and teenagers is a barrier to youth marijuana use prevention.  According to local researchers, perceived peer and adult norms favorable to marijuana use contribute to teenage marijuana use.  If teens perceive that adult marijuana use is widespread and socially acceptable (normal), they may view marijuana use as a way to project a desirable adult image.

Throwback Thursday: "Nicotine is not addictive" edition

In 1994, United States Congressman Henry Waxman held hearings about tobacco.  During the April 14, 1994 hearing, the presidents and CEOs of the seven largest American tobacco companies told members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health and the Environment that they did not believe nicotine was addictive.

Vaporizers marketed to teenagers

Example of e-cigarette social media
marketing from "Gateway to Addiction?"
April 2014

From the Prevention Hub:

Even though e-cigarette makers have insisted on not targeting young adults with their products, a new report by a group of U.S. senators seems to have proven them otherwise. The report revealed that the nature of their products and their marketing strategy is likely to be geared towards the younger generation. E-cigarettes are available in a variety of flavours (i.e. Piña Colada, Vivid Vanilla and Cherry Crush) that seem to appeal to youth in particular. As far as their advertising is concerned, they were found to give out free samples at youth events and extensively market their products on social media sites. E-cigarettes continue to cause controversy with some considering them as an aid to quit smoking while others see them as a ‘gateway’ for smoking traditional cigarettes.

Link:  Gateway to Addiction: A Survey of Popular Electronic Cigarette Manufacturers and Targeted Marketing to Youth

Marijuana business owner hopes customers "use common sense" and don't distribute to minors

Earlier this week, one edition of KING 5's New Day Northwest focused on marijuana and several people were interviewed on a variety of related topics.  Here is the segment dealing with marijuana businesses.



When asked about what he will do to ensure that minors don't get marijuana sold at his store, the retail business licensee notes that "unfortunately" he cannot control what customers do once they leave his store but he hopes that they will "use common sense."  After a short laugh he notes that this may be "a hard thing to believe."