Disclaimer: The Activator is designed to keep prevention professionals informed about emerging products, industry marketing, public messaging, research, and current events. Content is shared to promote awareness and informed discussion—not to endorse, recommend, or promote any product, opinion, organization, or viewpoint featured within the newsletter.

🎉1,000+ and Growing!💙

The Activator has officially grown to more than 1,000 subscribers across 47 states and multiple countries! I’m incredibly grateful—and still a little humbled—that something I create each week is finding its way into so many inboxes. Now, who has friends in Alaska, Delaware, or North Dakota? Help me color in those last three states! 😉 And there’s more to celebrate: next week marks FIVE YEARS of M3 Consulting LLC! As I reflect on where this journey has taken me—and get excited about what’s ahead—I’d love to hear from you. What do you value? What would you like to see more of? Where should we go next? Your ideas have helped shape this journey, so please keep sharing them!👋 Drop Me a Note!💌

Today’s cannabis marketplace looks very different than it did a generation ago. I recently joined the Avoiding the Addiction Affliction podcast to talk about higher-potency products, intoxicating hemp, changing perceptions, evolving marketing, and what it all means for prevention and our communities. Whether cannabis is part of your work—or you’re simply trying to keep up—give It’s Not Your Grandfather’s Weed Anymore a peek! 🎧👀

⚠️ Cannabis Consequences🌿

Cannabis edibles pose a growing danger to young kids. An ER doctor explains what to know CNN

California marijuana pulled from shelves after farm worker's mysterious death California Post via Yahoo

$20M illegal weed bust leads to arrest in Oregon Fox12

...Authorities seized over 110,000 marijuana plants and 81,000 pounds of bulk cannabis across Clackamas and Marion counties...

🚨Overdose: Risk to Response🚑

Teen overdose confirms arrival of deadly opioid in San Francisco KQED (CA)

...A 16-year-old boy from San Francisco died in April from the city’s first confirmed overdose involving cychlorphine . The synthetic opioid is considered much more potent than fentanyl, which is already more potent than heroin and other opiates. It has killed dozens of people across the country since 2024...

'Ketamine Queen' sentenced to 15 years in connection with Matthew Perry's overdose death ABC News

How are UC and Hamilton County using data to target overdose hot spots in Cincinnati UC Cincinnati

'Bad Batch' - 4 hospitalized after suspected overdoses in downtown Austin KXAN (TX)

...Stedman credited bystanders and bar staff with administering Narcan and helping provide lifesaving care before emergency crews arrived. “The bystanders that gave Narcan are really the first, first responders,” Stedman said...

⚾ Prevention, Right Between the Pitches📺

While watching my NL Champion Milwaukee Brewers on MLB Network, something besides the baseball caught my attention—the commercials! Mixed in with the usual ads were promotions for ready-to-drink alcohol, kratom, and cannabis-related companies. It was a great reminder that today's substance marketplace isn't confined to liquor stores, dispensaries, vape shops, or social media. The marketing is coming right into our homes—and sometimes right under our noses. 👀 For prevention, that means paying attention not only to what products are being marketed, but where, when, and alongside what activities audiences - including kids - are seeing the messages!

"Trust me...you want these popular products on shelves in your store!"

Mitra9 isn't just marketing to consumers—it's encouraging businesses to put its functional beverages on their shelves. With products containing kava and kratom, it's another sign that psychoactive “functional beverages” are moving beyond niche markets and becoming increasingly normalized.

Packaged in colorful cans that can look remarkably similar to sparkling water, energy drinks, or other wellness beverages, they can be easy to confuse at a glance. As availability and popularity grow, prevention professionals should be asking: Do consumers know what's actually in the can?

📸My TV - mitra9

"Elevate any food - and you - to the next level!"

LĒVO is another example of cannabis becoming increasingly integrated into the everyday kitchen and home. Its sleek countertop infusion machines allow consumers to make infused oils, butter, honey, and other products, while the company also sells kits for making homemade gummies. Marketed with the look and convenience of a familiar kitchen appliance, it reflects a bigger shift toward making cannabis edibles easier, more accessible, and more normalized as part of cooking at home.

For prevention, it's worth asking: What changes when making cannabis edibles starts to look as routine as using an air fryer or coffee maker? 📸My TV - LEVO

"You want to hit homers, or no?"

That was the line that grabbed my attention during this Instagram ad for Grinds caffeine pouches. Today, the brand continues to connect its caffeine pouches with sports, performance, energy, and an active lifestyle.

As pouch culture expands across caffeine, nicotine, kratom, cannabis, and more, it’s worth asking: How does sports marketing shape young people’s perceptions of these increasingly similar-looking products?

📸My phone - Grinds

🍹 Remember Those Modelo Cocktails?⛽

Remember when we talked about those Modelo ready-to-drink cocktails—fruity flavors, higher alcohol content, large single-serve containers, and a price tag of just $3–$4, sold cold at a gas station near you? Well, there they were again—this time advertised multiple times during the game, featuring young adults laughing, socializing, and seemingly having a whole lot of fun. I've actually seen their ads more than traditional beer companies.

How about you? What are you seeing while streaming?📸Modelo

ONDCP, HHS, and HUD have released the first-ever Treatment First Toolkit, designed to help state and local communities address the intersection of homelessness, substance use, treatment, and recovery. The resource emphasizes coordinated access to evidence-based treatment and recovery supports, along with strategies aimed at long-term stability and self-sufficiency. For coalitions and community partners, it’s another resource worth exploring as we consider how housing, behavioral health, recovery, and community systems work together. Explore the toolkit

Bonus Article: A recent NDEWS Weekly Briefing focused on polysubstance use, methamphetamine, and fentanyl. Read more

Wisconsin subscribers—here’s one for your radar!

The Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment at the Medical College of Wisconsin is accepting Letters of Intent for its 2027 Momentum Grants through October 26, 2026. Funding supports efforts addressing pressing Wisconsin health challenges through community health projects, health-focused research, and health workforce development. Have an idea that could improve health in your community? Now’s the time to take a closer look! View the RFA

The PATH Conference: Prevention, Addiction, Treatment, Healing returns April 21-22, 2027, bringing together professionals from prevention, behavioral health, human services, healthcare, and community organizations to learn, connect, and strengthen substance use and mental health efforts.

PATH is seeking engaging presenters who can share practical strategies, emerging trends and research, innovative approaches, and real-world lessons for professionals serving youth and adults. Topics may include drug trends, harm reduction, clinical practice, ethics, supervision, community engagement, workforce wellness, technology and AI, and other timely issues.

Have something worth sharing? Bring your expertise, experience, and fresh ideas to the table—and help shape the conversation at PATH 2027! ✨ Call for proposals is now open!

And...In Case You Missed it!

Good prevention doesn't stop at programs—it includes policy and advocacy. As the 2026 election approaches, prevention coalitions have an opportunity to make sure substance use prevention, treatment, recovery, and overdose response are part of the public conversation. CADCA's new 2026 Congressional Election Guide provides practical, nonpartisan tools for engaging candidates, asking questions at forums and community events, working with local media, and learning where candidates stand on issues ranging from prevention funding and youth nicotine use to kratom and intoxicating hemp. And remember: advocacy is not the same as partisan politics. For 501(c)(3), community, and governmental organizations, understanding the rules allows you to educate, engage, and elevate community concerns while remaining nonpartisan.

Why this matters: If prevention isn't part of the conversation, we can't assume decision-makers know what our communities need.