UPC Weekly Blog 11-27-12: National Runaway and Homeless Youth Awareness

Please support this important event on Friday!
Cheryl

November is National Runaway & Homeless Youth Awareness Month
During the month of November Family of Woodstock has organized activities throughout Ulster County designed to educate and raise awareness about the ever increasing numbers of runaway and homeless youth.  Jess Robie, Team Leader of Adolescent Services at Family of Woodstock indicated, “According to best estimates there are well over 300 homeless youth in the Kingston area alone; the scope of the crisis is often hidden from view because so many homeless youth are couch surfing and do not seek assistance.”  Nationally it is estimated that as many as 1.5 million youth are homeless and at least 1.6 million run away from home every year.

• November 30, 6:30-8:30 pm – Join us at Back Stage Productions, 323 Wall St., Kingston for a screening of “Invisible: The Diaries of NY’s Homeless Youth” followed by a panel discussion with some of Ulster County’s own homeless youth and the adults who are helping them.  Find out how you can help.

Updated information can be found on Facebook - www.facebook.com/nothopeless

Contact: Jess Robie 845-331-7080

Ulster Prevention Council Weekly Blog 11/20/12:Drugged Driving a Concern in Washington and Colorado

Since the elections a lot of people have asked me about the "legalization" of marijuana in Washington and Colorado. The following article from the Communty Anti-drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) discusses one concern.

Drugged Driving a Concern in Washington and Colorado

Nov 15, 2012

While marijuana is still illegal under federal law, statewide legal recreational use in Washington and Colorado has caused the law enforcement sector additional concerns about drugged driving. 

“Given that marijuana is already the most prevalent illegal drug detected in impaired drivers, marijuana ballot initiatives serve to further compromise highway safety,” said CADCA’s Chairman and CEO Gen. Arthur Dean.

“Marijuana use doubles the risk that you will get in a crash,” Dr. Susan Weiss, Acting Director of the Office of Science Policy and Communications at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Colorado's measure doesn't make any changes to the state's driving-under-the-influence laws, despite the fact that the Colorado Department of Transportation found that drivers who tested positive for marijuana in fatal car crashed doubled between 2006 and 2010, leaving lawmakers and police to worry about its effect on road safety.

"We're going to have more impaired drivers," said John Jackson, police chief in the Denver suburb of Greenwood Village, to the Associated Press.

Washington's law includes DUI provisions that set a blood-test limit for marijuana, which some lawyers are already gearing up to challenge.

"We've had decades of studies and experience with alcohol," said Washington State Patrol spokesman Dan Coon. "Marijuana is new, so it's going to take some time to figure out how the courts and prosecutors are going to handle it. But the key is impairment: We will arrest drivers who drive impaired, whether it is drugs or alcohol."

And law enforcement has good reason to be concerned: Marijuana can cause dizziness and slowed reaction time, and drivers are more likely to drift and swerve while they're high. Unlike portable breath tests for alcohol, there's no easily available way to determine whether someone is impaired from recent pot use.

CADCA had previously reported in Coalitions Online that in Colorado, drugged driving cases were up even before the legalization vote. In 2009, the state toxicology lab obtained 791 THC-positive samples from suspected impaired drivers. Last year, it had 2,030 THC-positive samples.

CADCA hosted a webinar on this topic today. The webinar, sponsored by CADCA’s National Coalition Institute, featured Dr. Weiss, former Obama Administration drug policy advisor Dr. Kevin A. Sabet, Sue Thau, CADCA Public Policy Consultant; and Rhonda Ramsey Molina, Deputy Director of Dissemination and Coalition Relations for the CADCA Institute. View the webinar on demand athttp://www.cadca.org/trainingevents/distancelearning/webinars Friday.

CADCA also issued a legislative alert today, calling on key Administration officials to publicly and swiftly declare the marijuana ballot initiatives in Colorado and Washington State illegal. If you haven’t already, please visit http://capwiz.com/cadca/issues/alert/?alertid=62157591&type=ML to respond to this alert.

For more information about the facts on marijuana, please check out the following resources:www.nida.gov, www.whitehouse/gov/ondcp/marijuanainfo, and www.cadca.org/policyadvocacy/policy-links. CADCA also developed a toolkit for coalitions dealing with marijuana which CADCA members can access by contacting Membership Associate, Dana Landers, at dlanders@cadca.org or  703-706-0560, Ext. 257.

Cheryl DePaolo

Director of Ulster Prevention Council

Ulster Prevention Council Weekly Blog 11-9-12: Marijuana Initiative Results Across the Country

CBS News/ November 7, 2012

Justice Department: Drug laws "remain unchanged" following passage of marijuana ballot initiatives

The federal government said Wednesday that its enforcement of drug laws "remains unchanged" following voters' approval of ballot initiatives in two states allowing recreational marijuana use.

Wa. legalizes recreational use of marijuana

Voters in Colorado and Washington passed similar initiatives on Election Day legalizing marijuana as well as regulating and taxing it.
In response, Justice Department spokeswoman Nanda Chitre said in a statement: "The department's enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged. In enacting the Controlled Substances Act, Congress determined that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance. We are reviewing the ballot initiatives and have no additional comment at this time."
The Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. attorneys in Denver and Seattle issued identical statements.
Earlier, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who opposed the initiative in his state, also indicated that legalization was far from a reality.
"Federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug," he said, according to The Associated Press, "so don't break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly."

Oregon voters also considered a legalization initiative but rejected it.
The federal government said Wednesday that its enforcement of drug laws "remains unchanged" following voters' approval of ballot initiatives in two states allowing recreational marijuana use.

Voters in Colorado and Washington passed similar initiatives on Election Day legalizing marijuana as well as regulating and taxing it. In response, Justice Department spokeswoman Nanda Chitre said in a statement: "The department's enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged. In enacting the Controlled Substances Act, Congress determined that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance. We are reviewing the ballot initiatives and have no additional comment at this time."
The Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. attorneys in Denver and Seattle issued identical statements.
Earlier, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who opposed the initiative in his state, also indicated that legalization was far from a reality. "Federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug," he said, according to The Associated Press, "so don't break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly."

Oregon voters also considered a legalization initiative but rejected it.

2012 State Ballot Initiatives

Arkansas

•Arkansas “medical” Marijuana Question – sought to legalize marijuana under the guise of medicine and allow for the establishment of marijuana dispensaries licensed by the state. The question was sponsored by Arkansans for Compassionate Care. Defeated – 52 percent opposed 48 percent supported.

Oregon

•Measure 80, Int. 9 Oregon Cannabis Tax Act Initiative - sought to legalize and regulate the cultivation, possession and sale of unlimited amounts of marijuana. The measure would also prohibit regulation and fees to grow hemp. Defeated – 56 percent opposed 44 percent supported.

Montana

•Initiative Referendum 124 - sought to reaffirm legislation passed in 2011 that replaced the state’s current ““medical”” marijuana law and replaced it with a more restrictive program. Passed – 66 percent voted to keep legislative changes to the “medical” marijuana program.

Colorado

•Amendment 64 allows those 21 years of age and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and cultivate six marijuana plants. The initiative also allows for over-the-counter sale of marijuana, reduces penalties for larger possession charges and legalizes hemp farming. Passed- 55 percent supported 45 percent opposed.

Massachusetts

•Question Three– legalizes marijuana under the guise of medicine and allows for the establishment of marijuana dispensaries. Passed – 63 percent supported 37 percent opposed.

Washington

•Initiative 502 – allows adults 21 and over to purchase marijuana from state-licensed and state-regulated businesses. Creates a regulatory system, much like the liquor control system, in which a board oversees licensing of marijuana producers, processors and retailers, and imposes an excise tax of 25 percent at each step. Passed – 56 percent supported 44 percent opposed.

Cheryl DePaolo
Director of the Ulster Prevention Council

UPC Weekly Blog 11-5-12: UPC New Updates

The Ulster Prevention Council has expanded, allowing us to provide more services.

Lori Rotolo is our new Community Prevention Specialist. She will be working to facilitate cross-sector collaboration to increase the capacity of communities to address local substance abuse issues. In plain English, that means that she will be getting folks together in areas don’t currently have prevention coalitions. She will also work with youth in schools and communities to develop relevant media messages.

We also welcomed Prevention Educator Mary Beth Carpino, who facilitates the PATHS® (Providing Alternative Thinking Strategies) program in two elementary schools in the Kingston school district. The PATHS® curriculum is designed to facilitate the development of self-control, emotional awareness, and interpersonal problem-solving skills with elementary school-aged children, as well as to facilitate educational processes in the classroom.

We started an Ulster County Prevention Providers group and had 16 attendees at our first quarterly meeting today.  

Some of our other goals for the next months are:

• To hold community forums for youth and adults
• To assist in the formation of a county-wide task force to develop a comprehensive plan to address the prescription drug epidemic
• To assist schools in implementing best practices in substance abuse prevention and intervention
• To implement a comprehensive media plan to reach all sectors of the community

For more information, or to become involved in any of these initiatives, please give us a call at 458-7406.