Missoula campaign launched to reduce rise in youth marijuana use

Healthy Missoula Youth coalition, a group under the city-county health department, launched the “CannWeChat?” campaign, which hopes to encourage Missoula County parents and caregivers to talk to their children about the potential risks of weed. 

“Healthy Missoula Youth works to prevent and reduce youth marijuana use through a multi-pronged approach: education for youth, families, and schools; policy and law advocacy; and a public health media campaign directed at parents and caregivers,” a statement from the group said.

In a press release, the group said marijuana use among high-schoolers has greatly increased since cannabis was legalized in 2020, and the increased potency of the products could cause psychological and emotional harm to developing brains.  

Missoula Health Department said in the release that youth marijuana use has grown since legalization in Montana, even though the legal age to purchase and consume recreational cannabis is 21.

Missoula County is home to 59 dispensaries, according to the Montana Cannabis Control Division. Based on 2020 U.S Census data, there is a dispensary for every 1,999 county residents.

The CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey found regular marijuana use among Missoula County high-schoolers rose from 20% in 2019 to 24.5% in 2021. While the rate of use has increased, so have cannabis-related disorders, the local health department said.

The Montana Hospital Association and the Center for Population Health Research at the University of Montana found encounters and hospitalizations for marijuana increased by 32% for teens age 15-19 in Missoula County from 2016-2021.

Leah Fitch-Brody, the substance use disorder prevention coordinator for Missoula County, told the Missoulian the project is not necessarily anti-weed, but more of a way to educate parents of the “new weed” that is out there. 

“We want parents to know this is not a harmless thing and you should talk to your kids about it,” Fitch-Brody said. 

The Healthy Missoula Youth Coalition has existed since 1996 to help reduce youth substance abuse, Fitch-Brody said, adding the group focused on alcohol and tobacco vaping before making this pivot. 

Fitch-Brody said they received fundraising help from the Center for Children, Families and Workforce Development at the University of Montana, All Nations Health Center and the Montana State University Extension Office to develop the campaign.

The new website, cannwechat.org, brings an interactive approach to the potential negative effects of marijuana.