Jeffrey L. Reynolds, Ph.D, CEAP, SAP President/CEO Family and - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Jeffrey L. Reynolds, Ph.D, CEAP, SAP

President/CEO Family and Children’s Association (FCA) April 1, 2019

Relevant Experience

— President/CEO, FCA — Former Executive Director, Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD) — Current member, NYS Heroin and Opioids Task Force (Appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo) — Current member, Governor’s Regulated Marijuana Workgroup (Appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo) — Board Member, NYS Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare — Former NYS Coordinator, SAM

The National Landscape

— Nine states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, Washington) and Washington DC have legal recreational & medical cannabis. — In four states (Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota) cannabis remains illegal. — All other states, Guam and Puerto Rico allow medical cannabis, though 16 states allow only for "low THC, high cannabidiol (CBD)" products for medical reasons in limited situations or as a legal defense. — NJ will likely legalize by end of year — Canada – 10/2018

Marijuana Policies

New York State’s Proposal

— Long standing medical program — OCM — Age 21+ — Decriminalization — Tax revenues — County Opt-out provisions

Shift in Public Opinion

— Public opinion – polls — Failed war on drugs — Opioid crisis — Fiscal crisis — Social Media

Gallup Polling

Pew Research Center

About six-in-ten Americans support marijuana legalization Majorities of Millennials (74%), Gen Xers (63%) and Baby Boomers (54%) say the use of marijuana should be legal.

Among US Adults

Use Linked to Support

Relative Risks

Legal Status Matters

Not Really Just For Fun…

As Perceived Risk Decreases…

— Past month use of marijuana is noticeably greater in states that have legalized among those 12+ by 7.6% (legal: 16%; non: 8.5%), 12-17 by 2.8% (9.1%; 6.3%), and 18+ by 8.7% (17.4%; 8.7%). — Past year use of marijuana is noticeably greater in states that have legalized among those 12+ by 10% (legal: 23.48%; non: 13.43%), 12-17 by 3.7% (15.7%; 12%), and 18+ by 10.5% (24.1%; 13.6%). — In 2017, past month marijuana use among 12-17 year-olds was highest in Vermont (10.75%), followed by Oregon (10.35%). — In 2017, past year marijuana use among 12-17 year-olds was highest in Vermont (17.88%), followed by Oregon (17.01%).

Use Increases

— In 2017, perception of risk from smoking marijuana once a month among 12-17 year-olds was lowest in CO (16.21%), followed by OR (16.84%). — WA saw a significant increase among 12+ and 18+ year-olds reporting both past month & year use in 2017, vs 2016. — OR saw a significant increase among 12+ and 18+ year-olds reporting both past month & year use in 2017, vs 2016. — D.C. saw a significant increase among 12+ and 18+ year-olds reporting past month use in 2017, vs 2016. — CA saw a significant increase among 12+ and 18+ year-olds reporting both past month and year use in 2017, compared to 2016.

Game Changers

• The marijuana industry took in nearly $9 billion in sales in 2017, according

to BDS Analytics, which tracks the cannabis industry. Sales are equivalent to the entire snack bar industry, or to annual revenue from Pampers

• diapers. $21 billion by 2021.
• The pot industry employed 121,000 people in 2017. If marijuana continues

its growth trajectory, the number of workers in that field could reach 292,000 by 2021, according to BDS Analytics.

• Sales of CBD, or cannabidiol, derived from both hemp and marijuana,

totaled $360 million last year, according to Sean Murphy, publisher of the Hemp Business Journal. He said it's expected to grow to $1.1 billion by 2020 and $1.8 billion by 2022.

Game Changers

Game Changers

Game Changers

Key Facts about Marijuana

— Smoked=works fast — Delta-9- tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is main active ingredient — THC binds to cannabinoid receptors (CBRs) located on the surface of nerve cells. These receptors are found in high-density in areas of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thinking, concentration, movement, coordination, and sensory and time perception. — THC stimulates the CBRs artificially, disrupting function of the natural, or endogenous, cannabinoids. An overstimulation of these receptors in key brain areas produces the marijuana "high," as well as other effects on mental processes. — Average potency of marijuana has risen steadily for three decades now exceeds 10% and goes up to 30% — Contamination is an issue.

“Motor Skills”

— Driving is probably the most complex psychomotor task undertaken by everyday people on a routine basis. — Movement — Coordination — Learning — Memory — Visual perception, visual processing, and visual- spatial skills — Selective and divided attention — Executive skills

Marijuana and Driving

Marijuana and Driving

— .

The research

— The Institute of Medicine (IOM) - “For most people, the primary adverse effect

• f acute marijuana use is

diminished psychomotor

• performance. It is therefore

inadvisable to operate any vehicle or potentially dangerous equipment while under the influence

• f marijuana, THC-Δ9 or

any cannabinoid drug with comparable effects” (1999).

— Using a driving simulator, marijuana use before driving seriously impacted

• skills. Roadside alertness is severely

diminished as is concentration, motor coordination and the ability to react quickly. — Research subjects found it difficult to judge distance and react appropriately to roadside signals and sounds after smoking marijuana. These effects were still present in the research subjects 24 hours later, demonstrating that the impairment continued long after the “high” was gone (Liguori, Gatto & Robinson, 1998).

More research

— Marijuana is the illicit drug used most often (70%) by drivers who drove after drug use and is a major factor why car crashes are the leading cause of death for American young people (NHTSA, 2000). — Research indicates that 28% of driver fatalities and more than 11% of the general driver population tested positive for non-alcohol drugs, with marijuana being the most commonly detected substance. — Columbia University did a meta-analysis of nine epidemiologic studies and found that drivers who test positive for marijuana or who report using marijuana are more than twice as likely as other drivers to be involved in motor vehicle crashes. — The researchers also found evidence that crash risk increases with the concentration

• f marijuana-produced

compounds in the urine and the frequency of self-reported marijuana use.

Pot and alcohol combined

— NHTSA investigators reported that THC-Δ9- impaired drivers were more likely to fall asleep during prolonged vehicle

• peration.

— Marijuana and low doses of alcohol (.04 BAC, less than two drinks in an hour) interact additively to produce greater impairment for drivers than the sum of changes that each drug produces separately.

Challenge for Law Enforcement

— Time Magazine: 7% of California Drivers Test Positive for Marijuana, but are They Impaired? — How impaired are they? — THC can remain in blood and saliva for highly variable times after the last use of the drug. — Determining the precise role of marijuana in traffic deaths is more complicated than studying alcohol because THC levels are not always directly linked with levels of impairment the way blood alcohol levels are.

Impact on Kids

— Developing brain — Dependence — Link to psychosis — Decision-making — The “gateway theory” — Connection to vaping — Approach to prevention

How do we mitigate potential downsides?

Action Steps

— Talk about it — Ask questions — Stay alert — If you see something, say something — Trust your gut — Ok to start again — Some conversations are better had at another time — Model the behavior you want to see in your kids — Use the resources around you.

Contact info

Jeffrey L. Reynolds, Ph.D President/CEO Family and Children’s Association (FCA) 516-746-0350 jreynolds@fcali.org — LICADD — Tempo Group