On Thursday, February 28th, the
Alliance of Coalitions for Change (AC4C), a state-wide collaboration to affect
positive change in substance abuse, will be meeting with state legislators to
discuss their concerns about youth marijuana use and substance use in Iowa
along with education on increasing the beer excise tax in Iowa, increasing the
tobacco age of purchase, and implementing a user fee on electronic nicotine
delivery systems.
Seven of the Van Buren County High School Youth Leadership
Council (YLC) members will be among the many community coalitions, representing
a mixture of Iowa’s rural and urban populations at this event.
Iowa has a low rate of marijuana use when compared to the
national average. However, the
perception of harm among youth is declining.
A lower perception of harm historically shows us that there will be a
rise in use.
The 2016 Iowa Youth Survey showed 10% of 11th graders in
Iowa (8% in Van Buren County) reporting marijuana use in the past 30 days. 41% of 11th graders in Iowa (39%
in Van Buren County) believe there is a slight risk or no risk in harming
themselves if they use marijuana once a week.
In states with policy expansion of marijuana, youth use rose as
perception of risk decreased.
For
32 years, Iowa’s beer tax has remained at LESS THAN $.02 per drink. In Iowa,
excessive alcohol use including binge drinking cost $1.9 billion or $1.59 per
drink in problems associated with binge drinking in 2010 (CDC, 2016). Alcohol
is the most commonly used substance in Iowa and binge drinking is a common form
of alcohol consumption. It is a serious public health concern!
Young
adults aged 25-34 years of age are most likely to binge drink, followed by
those aged 18-24 and 35-44 years old (IDPH). In 2015, 20% of adult Iowans (over
400,000 people) engaged in binge drinking (BRFSS). In 2015, Iowa ranked 5th
in th nation for percentage of adults who binge drink (CDC, 2016). According to
the 2016 Iowa Youth Survey, 13% of Iowa 11th graders in Iowa (17% in
Van Buren County) have binge drank in the last 30 days.
The AC4C press conference will be held in the East Hall of
the 1st floor rotunda 12:30 to 1:00 PM. Media, legislators and the
public are encouraged to attend.
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