• Who: Prevent! Coalition.
• What: Forum on youth marijuana use for people caring for preteens.
■ When: 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday.
■ Where: Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St., Vancouver.
■ Cost: Free.
■ Details: Pizza and child care will be provided for participants.
A Clark County substance abuse prevention organization wants to help parents tackle an important topic with their kids: marijuana.
Prevent! Coalition is hosting a free educational seminar to equip parents, grandparents and caregivers of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders with the tools to talk with their children about marijuana.
The forum will focus on the facts and give parents resources about marijuana, the effects on youth, and what parents can do and say to prevent youth from using marijuana.
The event is 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St., Vancouver.
• Who: Prevent! Coalition.
• What: Forum on youth marijuana use for people caring for preteens.
? When: 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday.
? Where: Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St., Vancouver.
? Cost: Free.
? Details: Pizza and child care will be provided for participants.
Free food from Blind Onion Pizza will be provided for forum participants, and child care will also be available.
Those who can’t attend the forum can watch the discussion live on CVTV Channel 21.
Research has shown that parents are the most powerful influence on whether their child chooses to use drugs. In addition, kids are less likely to use marijuana if they believe their parents or their communities disapprove of youth using marijuana, according to the 2014 Healthy Youth Survey, an anonymous survey administered statewide every two years.
In Clark County, 8 percent of eighth-graders, 19 percent of 10th-graders and 27 percent of 12-graders admitted to recent marijuana use, according to the survey. When it comes to lifetime marijuana use, 12 percent of eighth-graders, 30 percent of 10th-graders and 47 percent of 12th-graders said they had tried marijuana at least once.
The majority of Clark County high school students said they thought there was no risk or low risk from trying marijuana once or twice. About 40 percent of high-schoolers felt the same way about regular marijuana use (once or twice a week), according to the Healthy Youth Survey.
Prevent! Coalition encourages parents to talk early and often with their children about marijuana.
For more information about the forum, contact Joy Lyons at 360-952-3397 or joy.lyons@esd112.org.
