JUNE NEWSLETTER

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SAPCA Members,  
  

We will conduct merchant education over the summer where teens will educate local retailers and encourage them to always check identification so they do not sell tobacco to minors. If you would like to be a part of the team that visits retailers this summer, text "volunteer" to #30644 or email me at noraine.buttar@alexandriava.gov.

 

Noraine

IN THIS ISSUE

* ATI and Keep It 360 Clubs Host Titan Takover
* ATI Club Receives Honorable Mention at WRAP Awards
* ATI Club Wishes a Fond Farewell to Graduating Seniors
* The FDA Needs to Hear From You
* Youth Leadership Conference
* Family Game Night (7/16)
* Marijuana From Colorado Illegally Flowing Into Neighboring States
* Government Allows Increased Supply of Marijuana for Medical Research
* Misusing ADHD Drugs May Cause Long-Term Impairment to Brain Function: Study

SAPCA'S EVENTS

 
ATI and Keep It 360 Clubs Host Titan Takeover 

 

 

 

SAPCA's Above the Influence (ATI) and the Alexandria Campaign's on Adolescent Pregnancy's (ACAP) Keep It 360 Clubs, with the support of ACAP and SAPCA, hosted a fun teen night at the William Ramsay Recreation Center on May 16. Over 100 youth attended the "Titan Takover." The teens danced, ate, took drug and teen pregnancy quizzes, watched a K-9 presentation from the Alexandria Police Department and much more!

 

Check out the album on our facebook page.

ATI Club Receives Honorable Mention at WRAP Awards 
 
 

 

SAPCA's ATI Club received an honorable mention at the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) awards. This annual contest honors Washington-metropolitan area high school groups for their work in promoting alcohol and drug-free lifestyles to their peers. Each school group competes against other groups within the Washington metropolitan region. Several members of the club attended an awards luncheon at Maggiano's in Washington D.C. and received a $100 prize which they will use for prevention activities in the fall.

ATI Club Wishes a Fond Farewell to our Graduating Seniors
 
 
ATI Club members honored their senior members at the final club meeting of the school year. Seniors received graduation cords and certificates of appreciation for their contributions to the club. Congratulations to Mariel Aguilar, Daelyn Hill, Kimani Aylor, Jannie Johnston, Emma West, Yahya Yaziji and Leia Moran (pictured above) with next year's club leaders.
 
Congratulations to next year's club president, Andrea Melara.

In addition to serving as an ATI member, Andrea is actively involved in numerous TC Williams clubs and organizations, including Key Club since her freshman year, Model United Nations since 2013, Latino Youth For Life from 2011-2012, Latin American Student Association since 2012, Emerging Leaders Program since 2013, French Honor Society since 2013 and a member and President of Spanish Honor Society since 2012. She also volunteers regularly at Mount Vernon community school and helps translate during their parent-teacher conference periods each year.


  

ADVOCACY

The FDA Needs to Hear From You

  

On April 25, 2014, the FDA proposed rules that will strictly regulate electronic cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, nicotine gels, water pipe tobacco and hookahs.

 

The FDA is accepting public comments on the proposed regulation until August 8, 2014. Please take a few minutes to submit comments that reflect your knowledge and perspective on the issue. If you would like more information, the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium recently released several new publications related to the FDA's deeming regulation. 

  

UPCOMING EVENTS

Youth Leadership Conference

  

SAPCA will partner with ACAP to hold the third annual Youth Leadership Conference in August. Topics will include leadership, graphic design, public speaking, goal setting and many more. 

 

Please pass this information on to the youth in your lives. Stay tuned for instructions on how to register.

 

 

UPCOMING PARTNERS' EVENTS

 

  
  

 

NATIONAL NEWS

 

Marijuana from Colorado is flowing into neighboring states, according to law enforcement officials. In those states, drug arrests in counties near the Colorado border are on the rise, the Los Angeles Times reports.

 

"It has just devastated these smaller agencies," said Tom Gorman, Director of the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, which includes law enforcement organizations in four Western states. "The marijuana laws [in Colorado] were supposed to eliminate the black market. But in effect they have become the black market."

 

Possession of small amounts of marijuana is legal for adults in Colorado, but it remains illegal to take the drug out of state.

Rural counties along Nebraska's panhandle have been especially hard hit.

 

Law enforcement officials in Thomas County, Kansas and San Juan County, New Mexico also report an increase in marijuana coming from Colorado. Marc Finley, undersheriff for Thomas County, said the number of marijuana-impaired driving arrests recently surpassed those involving alcohol in his area.

 

 

Government researchers will have access to an increased supply of marijuana for medical research, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has announced.

 

Researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) will now have access to 650 kilograms of marijuana, up from 21 kilograms, The Hill reports. The marijuana is grown at facilities at the University of Mississippi.

 

NIDA has conducted about 30 studies on marijuana, according to the article. It also funds private research on the drug. "The additional supply to be manufactured in 2014 is designed to meet the current and anticipated research efforts involving marijuana - this projection of increased demand is due in part to the recent increased interest in the possible therapeutic uses of marijuana," NIDA said in a statement to The Hill.

 

NBC News reports NIDA will increase testing on the effects of marijuana on treatment of many conditions, including cancer, inflammation, pain, seizures, psychiatric disorders and autoimmune diseases.

 

 

Young people who misuse prescription stimulants to increase their attention span and memory may be risking long-term impairment to brain function, a new study suggests.

 

Researchers reviewed studies on potential lasting side effects of misusing "study drugs" such as Ritalin or Provigil. They found any short-term boosts in mental performance were offset by long-term decrease in brain plasticity, needed for planning ahead, switching between tasks and being flexible in behavior.

One of the drugs studied was methylphenidate, sold under the brand names Ritalin and Concerta. The drug is prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The researchers also looked at modafinil (Provigil), used to treat sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, Time reports. In addition, they surveyed the research on an emerging class of drugs called ampakines, being studied by the U.S. military to see if it will increase alertness in soldiers.

 

"What's safe for adults is not necessarily safe for kids," lead researcher Kimberly Urban of the University of Delaware said in a news release. "The human brain continues to develop until our late twenties or early thirties. Young people are especially prone to abuse smart drugs, but also more vulnerable to any side-effects. We simply don't know enough about the long-term effects of these drugs on the developing brain to conclude they are safe."

 

The findings are published in Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience.

 

 

CONTACT INFO

Noraine Buttar, MPH
421 King St
Alexandria, VA 22314
703.746.3670 (office)
703.887.8812 (mobile)
noraine.buttar@alexandriava.gov