Healthy Lamoille Valley recognizes that the passage of Act 164, marijuana commercialization, will have impacts on our work in prevention as it has the potential to increase the risk factors that contribute to youth substance misuse during this important time in a young person’s brain development. We are working in partnership with Prevention Works VT and coalition partners around the state to understand what this law means for our youth and how we can undertake meaningful work to reduce risk factors and promote protective factors.
Alison Link, Healthy Lamoille Valley Policy and Community Outreach Coordinator, will serve on a Prevention Works VT workgroup that will spend the next few weeks analyzing the bill and creating prevention-focused recommendations. It is anticipated that this group will present their findings and recommendations through a Zoom meeting on November 20th at noon. The session will be recorded and made available to participants and those who cannot attend.
Healthy Lamoille Valley will also be forming a cannabis workgroup made up of local individuals to identify next steps. If you would like to be part of this work, please email jessica@healthylamoillevalley.org.