Local teenagers seem to be getting the message about the dangers of prescription drug abuse, but the opposite is true when it comes to marijuana, according to Mary Ball of the Advocates for Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition.
That worries Ball, and it's one reason she was thrilled to learn her organization, based in Weirton and serving both Hancock and Brooke counties, will receive $125,000 in annual federal funding over the next five years - a total of $625,000 - to continue educating youth about drugs and underage drinking.
The offices of Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., announced the award this week.
"This is our second time receiving the Drug-Free Communities grant. ... It is a really big thing for us," Ball said.
The organization, part of the Brooke Hancock Family Resource Network, coordinates a variety of efforts aimed at reducing teen drug abuse, from media campaigns and organizing neighborhood watch groups to putting on plays in local high schools and installing drop boxes for unused prescription drugs at local police and sheriff's departments throughout the Northern Panhandle.
In its early years, Advocates for Substance Abuse Prevention focused on prescription drug abuse and underage drinking, but Ball said changing attitudes toward marijuana have prompted the group to focus its efforts in that direction, as well.
"In 2013, 59 percent of the teens that took our survey reported that they felt marijuana was a great risk to their health. When we did it in 2015, only 37 percent felt that way," Ball said. "That is a big drop."
About 17 percent of teens felt marijuana posed no risk at all to their health, up from 4 percent just two years ago, she added.
"There's a lot in the media saying it's not that bad," Ball said. "It is bad. ... We want to make sure people have all the information and tools necessary to keep themselves safe and make a sound decision."
Meanwhile, prescription drugs drew a different reaction from teenagers. This year, zero respondents felt abusing prescription drugs posed no risk to their health, compared to 7 percent in 2013.
Ball said the coalition will be required to come up with a 100 percent match to maintain the grant over the next two years, through a combination of monetary gifts, in-kind donations such as supplies and volunteer hours.
That will escalate to 125 percent over the last three years.
This, Ball said, is to ensure recipient agencies show enough community support to continue their efforts even when the grant funding is no longer available.