Rachel O’Bryan Vaping Teens (copy) Vaping Teens (copy) Many eagerly anticipate the July start of the Olympics, which alternate every two years between summer and winter games. Who will win gold? Who will have a false start and be disqualified?
Every other summer, my organization, One Chance to Grow Up, eagerly anticipates the results of the biennial Healthy Kids Colorado Survey. One Chance is a nonprofit focused on protecting youth from commercialized marijuana, so we look to responses from youth statewide concerning their marijuana use.
This year did not disappoint. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment recently released the results of the 2023 survey. There were some gold-medal performances, but there were also some baton drops.
This in-school survey asks about 100 behavioral health questions and provides a snapshot of the health and well-being of Colorado middle and high school students.
The percentage of students reporting that they recently dabbed ultrapotent marijuana concentrates decreased for middle and high school students. Dabbing is the process of heating nearly pure THC resin with a blowtorch, creating an intensely strong high.
Between 2021 and 2023, among students who reported marijuana use in the previous 30 days, the percentage who dabbed THC concentrates dropped from 49.2% to 31.2% for high school students and from 39.5% to 23.3% for middle school students.
This is gold-medal worthy. THC is the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana and has been proven to harm the developing brain, which is growing up to the age of 25.
This win required committed effort by many organizations that support youth and a substantial investment of financial resources including donations from everyday citizens and private foundations, as well as state funds.
In 2021, One Chance was instrumental in informing state legislators that loose medical marijuana regulations had created a pipeline of marijuana to our high schools. We also pointed to 2019 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey results that showed an increase in high school students dabbing and vaping marijuana.House Bill 21-1317 required the state to create a mandatory educational handout on the health risks of using high-concentrate marijuana products and also dramatically reduced the purchase amount allowed for marijuana […]
Oklahoma’s Own Focus On Kids: Health Experts Alarmed By Rising Teen Marijuana Usage
As the marijuana industry continues to grow in Oklahoma, state
