Federal Health Official Reviews Public Health Policies To Reduce Youth Exposure To Marijuana Marketing

Tom Coderre, former state senator for Rhode Island and current Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), recently offered some tips to states that are moving toward legalizing marijuana -specifically about deterring youth use, during a webinar hosted by the prohibitionist group Smart Approaches To Marijuana (SAM) on Dec.17, reported Marijuana Moment.

“We have to figure out what to do to grapple with how to best regulate this new market, and there are several evidence-based prevention approaches that our stakeholders—local, state and federal government—can consider for preventing marijuana use,” Coderre said. “Reducing youth exposure to marijuana marketing, obviously, can help prevent or reduce marijuana use among youth and young adults."

He also added that it is important to fund and support funding for public health, along with developing and supporting public health media campaigns “to promote evidence-based messages about youth marijuana use, leading to a reduction in youth use.”

“Public health prevention campaigns that discuss the harms of certain products have been effective in preventing and reducing youth substance use,” Coderre clarified. 

Photo By Lelen Ruete