Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
There's only a few weeks to go before California adults can legally buy marijuana in jurisdictions where local governments permit, and Long Beach officials want to get the message out that "driving high" is a bad idea.
City government's Health and Human Services Department plans to spend a $239,000 grant on a yearlong public education campaign to caution Long Beachers against driving under the influence of marijuana. The city's health department is also conducting an online survey to collect responses related to cannabis use and people's opinions on the drug.
The survey results may guide future city-sponsored education campaigns, according to Marijuana Education Program Coordinator Morgan Venter.
"We're trying to take a very fact-based approach. There's a lot we don't know about marijuana's long-term health impacts on a person," she said. "We're trying to leave the drama out of it."
The public information campaign may debut in January, she said. The grant dollars come from state government's Office of Traffic Safety.
Long Beach's City Council voted in January to assign health department staffers to develop an educational campaign addressing such topics as driving under the influence of cannabis and issues surrounding youths' marijuana use.
"We're hoping the dispensaries will partner with us to display literature at the dispensaries," said Councilwoman Suzie Price, who asked others on the council to approve the idea. "Marijuana can affect people differently depending on its potency, depending on their tolerance level."
In 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released findings from the voluntary National Roadside Survey of drivers that revealed nearly 13 percent of U.S. drivers surveyed while driving at night during a 2013-14 weekend tested positive for THC, the active chemical in cannabis. That signified an increase from nearly 9 percent of drivers in 2007.
Over the same time period, the percentage of drivers surveyed while on the road on a weekend night with blood alcohol concentrations of 0.08 percent or greater declined from 2 percent to 1.5 percent.
It's possible, however, to test positive for marijuana without being high when the test was taken. The NHTSA acknowledged that trace amounts of marijuana can be detected in a blood sample taken from a frequent user who has refrained from using cannabis for several weeks prior to the test.
Venter pointed to additional information, however, indicating someone who gets behind the wheel shortly after using cannabis is at increased risk of causing a crash.
In early 2013, Clinical Chemistry published a review of existing literature on cannabis' effects on drivers' abilities that concluded "increased blood THC concentrations and driving within an hour after smoking were strongly associated with higher crash and culpability risks."
That study, financed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, also contained the finding that law enforcement strategies involving randomly testing for cannabis use and arresting anyone who tests positive may be a more effective way to deter people from driving under the influence than a public information campaign.
Additional research influencing the health department's forthcoming educational campaign includes a report published in September 2015 by Drug and Alcohol Dependence assessing the degrees to which alcohol and cannabis can impair a driver's ability to maintain lane positioning.
Proposition 64, passed about one year ago, allows Californians who are at least 21 years old to own or grow cannabis, although sales to people who don't have a doctor's recommendation aren't allowed until the new year.
Several Southern California cities have passed laws banning commercial cannabis sales. In Long Beach, however, the City Council voted 5-3 on Tuesday to ask City Hall staffers to draft regulations that may be adopted in 2018 to allow for legal cannabis sales in the city. In that vote, Price was among the council minority who voted "no."
Long Beach's city government already licenses medical marijuana dispensaries under the terms of a voter-approved law.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Long Beach is working on a marijuana education campaign – Press Telegram
Author: Andrew Edwards
Contact: Contact us – Press Telegram
Photo Credit: AP Photo
Website: Long Beach Press-Telegram: Local News, Sports, Things to Do
City government's Health and Human Services Department plans to spend a $239,000 grant on a yearlong public education campaign to caution Long Beachers against driving under the influence of marijuana. The city's health department is also conducting an online survey to collect responses related to cannabis use and people's opinions on the drug.
The survey results may guide future city-sponsored education campaigns, according to Marijuana Education Program Coordinator Morgan Venter.
"We're trying to take a very fact-based approach. There's a lot we don't know about marijuana's long-term health impacts on a person," she said. "We're trying to leave the drama out of it."
The public information campaign may debut in January, she said. The grant dollars come from state government's Office of Traffic Safety.
Long Beach's City Council voted in January to assign health department staffers to develop an educational campaign addressing such topics as driving under the influence of cannabis and issues surrounding youths' marijuana use.
"We're hoping the dispensaries will partner with us to display literature at the dispensaries," said Councilwoman Suzie Price, who asked others on the council to approve the idea. "Marijuana can affect people differently depending on its potency, depending on their tolerance level."
In 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released findings from the voluntary National Roadside Survey of drivers that revealed nearly 13 percent of U.S. drivers surveyed while driving at night during a 2013-14 weekend tested positive for THC, the active chemical in cannabis. That signified an increase from nearly 9 percent of drivers in 2007.
Over the same time period, the percentage of drivers surveyed while on the road on a weekend night with blood alcohol concentrations of 0.08 percent or greater declined from 2 percent to 1.5 percent.
It's possible, however, to test positive for marijuana without being high when the test was taken. The NHTSA acknowledged that trace amounts of marijuana can be detected in a blood sample taken from a frequent user who has refrained from using cannabis for several weeks prior to the test.
Venter pointed to additional information, however, indicating someone who gets behind the wheel shortly after using cannabis is at increased risk of causing a crash.
In early 2013, Clinical Chemistry published a review of existing literature on cannabis' effects on drivers' abilities that concluded "increased blood THC concentrations and driving within an hour after smoking were strongly associated with higher crash and culpability risks."
That study, financed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, also contained the finding that law enforcement strategies involving randomly testing for cannabis use and arresting anyone who tests positive may be a more effective way to deter people from driving under the influence than a public information campaign.
Additional research influencing the health department's forthcoming educational campaign includes a report published in September 2015 by Drug and Alcohol Dependence assessing the degrees to which alcohol and cannabis can impair a driver's ability to maintain lane positioning.
Proposition 64, passed about one year ago, allows Californians who are at least 21 years old to own or grow cannabis, although sales to people who don't have a doctor's recommendation aren't allowed until the new year.
Several Southern California cities have passed laws banning commercial cannabis sales. In Long Beach, however, the City Council voted 5-3 on Tuesday to ask City Hall staffers to draft regulations that may be adopted in 2018 to allow for legal cannabis sales in the city. In that vote, Price was among the council minority who voted "no."
Long Beach's city government already licenses medical marijuana dispensaries under the terms of a voter-approved law.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Long Beach is working on a marijuana education campaign – Press Telegram
Author: Andrew Edwards
Contact: Contact us – Press Telegram
Photo Credit: AP Photo
Website: Long Beach Press-Telegram: Local News, Sports, Things to Do
