She also warned passage of pending state legislation will further harm local efforts.
McKee said, “With legalization of marijuana on the horizon, there will be more accessibility to youth. They will see adults smoking more of it, which normalizes the use of marijuana.”
Partners in Prevention focuses on reducing substance abuse among local youths.
The group also shared results from a recent study that members said reflects an alarming trend among local adolescents.
Current use statistics
While recreational marijuana use remains illegal now, findings indicate 13.8% of youths in 9th to 12th grade in Clark County have used marijuana. Sixty-eight percent of the youths surveyed consider marijuana use as of moderate or great risk when they are in 7th grade, but by 12th grade, only 30% say it poses a serious risk.
Tracey Tackett of Partners in Prevention shared data from research in states where recreational marijuana use has been in place. Colorado voters approved legalization 10 years ago, and the result has been an increase of 128% in marijuana-involved car crashes and use of the substance becoming a leading factor in public health issues.
“Some products are reaching 90% potency levels, and (it) has become a leading factor in admissions to hospitals and emergency rooms, treatment for cannabis use disorders and THC psychosis,” Tackett said.
Proposed safeguards
The group is asking city leaders to consider implementing safeguards to better protect the community from harm if voters elect to legalize marijuana in Ohio. Officials were asked to consider measures to:
• Restrict the location of retail vendor outlets in proximity to schools;
• Enact a retailer cap similar to that which limits and licenses local liquor sales;
• Expand the distance between retailers;
• Enhance penalties for selling to youths;
• Enact potency caps on products;
• Establish policies regarding sales and use at pubic events, and
• Opt out of local retail sales of marijuana entirely.
Legislators consider tax change
McKee also questioned a proposed Ohio Senate Bill she said will undermine efforts to reduce substance abuse by vastly expanding new cultivation and processing licenses, contributing to an oversupply of marijuana in the state and expanding a sales taxes for those requiring medical marijuana.
City Commissioner David Estrop criticized Ohio Senate Bill 9, which ”eliminates medical marijuana from under oversight of the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, where all other drugs remain, and places it under the auspices of the Department of Commerce.”
Estrop suggested state legislators are more concerned about exploiting the economic opportunity offered by marijuana than making needed medication available to Ohioans at a reasonable price.
“There’s a simple answer as to why they want to change oversight to the Department of Commerce — because it allows them to tax medical marijuana more. There are people who have legitimate needs for medical marijuana, and their drugs are now going to cost more if Senate Bill 9 is approved,” Estrop said.
He urged voters to contact state legislators and the governor to urge opposition to Senate Bill 9, arguing “to sacrifice the needs of those who benefit from medical marijuana for more taxes is pitiful public policy.”
“The Department of Commerce uses our money to promote the sale of commodities produced in Ohio, so the State of Ohio will soon be pushing sales of marijuana … Before we even vote on it, they are putting this change into place. What is going on in Columbus is an absolute travesty that will increase the cost of healthcare for some people in our community.”
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