While several applicants for Mashpee’s one adult use Cannabis dispensary are offering money to the town generally for “drug prevention”, only one of them has proposed a locally-focused plan and campaign directed at area youth. Holistic Health Group has partnered with the Evolution Communications Agency, a public health communication company that executed similar campaigns in Colorado during that state’s rollout of legalized Cannabis.
“Evolution Communications’ work in Colorado demonstrated that this type of data when shown to the actual student population, was useful in correcting misconceptions about use, thereby potentially reducing and preventing youth substance abuse”
Evolution Communications advises towns to start these plans early in the licensing process in order to learn from local stakeholders how best to obtain baseline data in Mashpee prior to any dispensary opening. Anyone can launch a drug prevention campaign, but a group should aggregate present-day data to know whether the campaign is successful. Methods ranging from social media to handout surveys were employed by Evolution Communications in the past, collecting information on perceptions and usage from local area youth. But recommendations made by parents, school administrators and health professionals must ultimately determine which tools are used in any local setting.
A slide from Evolution Communications’ Mashpee proposal demonstrates the agency’s tailored local approach to its substance use prevention and education campaigns.
HHG has therefore sought input from the Town’s Board of Health, the School Committee and others on these methods to help determine the ultimate cost of its proposal to Mashpee. If successful, HHG’s plans have the potential not merely to educate, but also to actually reduce student use. Evolution Communications’ work in Colorado demonstrated that this type of data when shown to the actual student population, was useful in correcting misconceptions about use, thereby potentially reducing and preventing youth substance abuse.
Creating a youth education and prevention strategy tailored to Mashpee’s needs, and being prepared to collect the necessary data immediately upon the grant of a license from the Town, should be the hallmarks of any dispensary applicant’s plan.