Cannabis On Campus - The Growing Prevalence Of Marijuana In K-12 Schools - Part 2

None

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
From the W A and M Studioon the campus of Florida A and M
University. This is Mariform Radio,a weekly conversation on the education and research
of medical marijuana being conducted at musHi. I'm Heidi Otway. You're host
for this Conversations on Cannabis Virtual Form, brought to you by the Medical Marijuana
Education and Research Initiative at Florida andM University. In this conversation, we're

(00:25):
talking about cannabis use in K throughtwelve schools. So let's talk and learn
about this subject with our guests Tamorrow. Tamara Pryor is a holistic cannabis nurse,
educator and health coach who has spentnearly two decades as a school nurse
for students in grades nine through twelvein the state of Illinois. Nurse Pryor

(00:47):
is a member of the American HolisticNurses Association and a recognized expert in cannabis,
nutrition, wellness, and holistic healing. She completed the Medical Cannabis Institutes
Medical Cannabis Curriculum for Nurse's Course andrecently attain her certification as a Cannabis and
Health Coach Nurse. Prior Welcome tothe forum. We're glad to have you,

(01:11):
thank you for the introduction him sohappy to be here. Thank you.
Our other guests is Canine Sergeant KyleJohnson with the Taylor County Sheriff's Office.
He currently serves as a school Resourceofficer at Taylor County High School.
He's worked in law enforcement for morethan a decade and has experienced serving on
a drug task force in North Florida. Sergeant Johnson, Welcome to the forum.

(01:34):
Good morning, Thank you. Thankyou to everyone joining us on this
live program. Please share posts andtag a friend on Facebook to have them
join this conversation. If you're onYouTube, share the links of others can
join us as well. During theforum, we want you to send us
your questions in the comment box andwe'll do our best to have our guests

(01:56):
answer them. We also want youto tell us what you think about the
form by completing the survey that willbe posted in the comments on YouTube and
Facebook. After the live program,your name will be entered into a drawing
on September seven, twenty twenty threeto win a one hundred dollars gift card
provided by one of Mary's partners.Now, let's start this conversation on cannabis.

(02:20):
So, after medical cannabis was acrew for use in Florida, the
state or school districts to create theirown guidelines that allow students with medical marijuana
cards to use the product on campusduring school hours. It's been a few
years since the first policies were createdand it appears that not all school districts
have guidelines. So Officer John said, I'm going to start with you.

(02:42):
Does Taylor County schools and those innearby counties have policies. I'm not sure
on the nearby counties, but theones in Taylor County do not. We
do not have a policy on thatyet. Okay, So what's allowed on
campus? Zero nine? Okay,good to know, Nurse Prior. You're
based in Illinois, what are thelaws there when it comes to allowing students

(03:05):
to use medical cannabis on campus?And so, if the student is going
to use medical marijuana on campus,they have to have a they have to
be certified patients. So they haveto have two certifications signed by a recommending
position and a reviewing physician. Andthen once they have been approved, once

(03:29):
they receive that, they can thenreceive their medical cannabis card. They have
to have either they have to havecaregiver. They can have up to three.
They can be a parent, guardian, or some other caregiver that is
an adult of course, and thenonce they receive that, they have to

(03:49):
present all of that to the schooldistrict, to the school whichever building that
they're in. And now we schooldistrict does have to adopt a policy or
administering cannabis before that cannabis can bebrought on campus, so all of those

(04:11):
things have to be on plate inplace. They have to have a medical
cannabis car, but the school districtalso has to have a policy and in
addition to that, the parents andthe position has to complete what we call
a medication authorization form that has tobe on file also with the school.
So, nurse part, it mightbe a good time for you to kind

(04:32):
of educate our listeners and viewers aboutthe endocannabinoids system and how cannabis affects that,
especially when we're talking about young people, and also a little bit about
dosing because when you think of thegummies, you know it takes a while
for that feeling to happen. Socan you talk a little bit about that

(04:53):
from from the medical side. Okay, yeah, sure. So the endocannabinois
system is the master control system ofall of our other systems and our body,
and so if our endocannabinoid system isout of balance, then they're going
to be other things that are outof balance. And so if you know

(05:14):
something is going on that's out ofbalancing your body, then your endocanabinoid system
is out of balance. And soI wanted to just kind of step back
just a second about just for amoment, about the testing. So let's
say you know, they the childis saying on that day they did not

(05:38):
consume, right, but the parenttakes the child to go get tested on
that day to the doctor to seeif the child is lying about consuming on
that day. The test that wehave it tests for a byproduct of TC
which can last in the body anywherefrom five days to thirty day days or

(06:00):
beyond thirty days, depending on theperson. So it could be that maybe
that child did consume maybe four daysago and actually was being honest about not
consuming on that day, and sosome of the the testing to find out
if they were high on that dayis not reliable. So so I just

(06:24):
wanted to you know, add thatpart of it because we have had parents.
I'm gonna take you today, youknow, to see if you really
did consume today. But it willpick up on obviously that they are consuming
and that needs to be addressed.So so getting back to the endocandeminoid system.
So let's say, you know,they eat a gummy right, they're
feeling fine. It could take anywherefrom thirty minutes to an hour, depending

(06:47):
on the setting that they were inthe food that they ate before it kicks
in. So it could be thirtyfive to forty five minutes and they're feeling
fine and then all the sudden,an hour later, they are extremely high.
Their behavior is erratic, their heartrate is very high, and they

(07:10):
may even start vomiting, depending onhow much THC was in that product.
Uh So it depends on and thatcan depend on what if they eat.
Did they eat? Was it fattyfoods? Because when you have something that's
a fatty food, maybe it's likeavocado or something like that, it takes
longer for the edible to take effect. But when it hits, it hits

(07:35):
hard. When you've had a fattymeal and they don't understand that, and
what are kids eating usually in thecafeteria, you know, burgers, fries,
pizzas, fatty meals, right andso and so, they don't they
don't understand that. They don't understandhow the endocannabinoid system works, and so

(07:58):
that's where they can get into trouble. Also, when they're consuming is it
possible for a kid to overdoseun gummiesthat are that are you know, CBD
or TC gummies. So when yousay overdose, are the term that you
know most people would think that youcan't. I'm just curious. I don't
know what other term to use.Could they ever consume, overconsume, or

(08:22):
overdose? What overdosing looks like iswhen they're vomiting. What overdosing looks like
is when they're paranoid. Can theydie, No, because there's not enough
receptors in the brain stem where itwill depress their respiratory system. But can
they overdose? Yes, That's whatoverdosing looks like for them. The paranoia,

(08:46):
the vomiting, their red behavior,that's what it looks like. It's
it's not pleasant, it doesn't lookpleasant. Yeah, I can imagine with
a child too, that's probably terrifying. It's terrifying. It's scary. And
when you take it edible the otherthing that they don't understand. So when
they smoke, they're they're usually okaywithin one to four hours when they taken

(09:11):
edible, that they don't understand thatonce you overdose, that could take six
to eight hours and even longer someeven twenty four hours or more for them
to leave their system. So they'refeeling pretty horrible for a long time.
Wow. Obviously, Kyle, haveyou seen any kids in those kinds of

(09:33):
states in your schools? We haven't. I haven't had any here at the
high school that has been in.We've had them come down, but they've
all been able to walk down ontheir own, dilated pupils feeling feeling dizzy,
a little nauseated. We I knowthat there was a parent that their

(09:54):
child called them from the school Iwant to say it was the middle school,
and she took her to the hospitalbecause the kid admitted that they was
not feeling well and it was inediblethat they had gotten from a friend that
had caused them. So they actuallywound up in the hospital for a little
bit. So wow, So pleasecontinue. I was just going to add

(10:16):
that and that, you know,the symptoms that we're talking about. That's
if only THHC is in that product. If there's other things, other drugs
that's in that product, then yeah, there is a chance that they could
die. They don't know what's inthe products that they're consuming. That's why
it's so dangerous. Yeah. Yeah, I mean we're talking about fentnyl and

(10:37):
all kinds of raid. Roach sprayis one of them too. Spray.
When I worked on the street,they would put their put their drugs on
a screen and they would actually sprayit would raid uh roach spray, and
they put a little bit electric currentto it and it crystallizes it and it
they mix it in with their fortheir for their highs. So I mean

(11:01):
you're getting all kinds of chemicals thatyou don't know. I mean, you
buy it on street level, youdon't know what's in it. I'm completely
right. And to some unsuspecting children, a gummy is just a gummy to
them. Yep. So what isyour advice to a kid whose friend says,
hey have a gummy or brown?I actually have a high school student

(11:26):
and I've already given him the speech. I actually gave him the speech when
he went to middle school and elementaryschool. No, the answer is no.
I told him, don't take anythingfrom anyone. I don't care if
it is a friend, because maybethat friend got it from someone else and
they don't realize what's in it.So I tell him, if if you

(11:46):
want some candy, you have money, you either go to the vending machine
and you get it yourself and openthe package yourself yourself. Or we also
have a school store. You goand you purchase your candy from school.
Sort. Don't take anything from anybody. I don't care if it is your
friend. That's my speech. Ye, So we've talked a lot about you

(12:07):
know, consumption, But what aboutif students are caught selling the product,
you know, illegal product. I'lltell me a little bit about your experience
if they if they are caught oncampus, then they follow the letter of

(12:28):
the law and they just have tounderstand it. I've had the conversation with
many as students the other thing too, Just to back up just a little
bit on what you tell your studentswhen they if they are approached by some
of that. I actually have anopen door policy in my office and I
encourage every kid just walk in hereand talk to me. I don't.

(12:50):
I don't try to hide anything.They can come in and I have three
in the in the high school myself, and I tell them the same thing.
You know, if you don't know, come talk to me and we'll
get it figured out. But yeah, we we follow the letter of the
law. I mean, and Idon't. I don't sugarcoat it when I

(13:11):
talk to them, and I tryto give them as many warnings as I
can before we get to that level. If I suspect something, they get
caught in, they get talked to, they get explained the process, and
when by the time it gets tothe point that they're caught with it,
they already know that they've had ampleopportunity to stop what they were doing.
So, you know, most ofthe time, in a couple of occasions

(13:35):
that I've had, it's been you'reright, I'm sorry, and they'll deal
with it. You know, they'vealready known, I've already we've already set
the groundwork that I explain it tothem. This is what's going to happen.
This is the process of it.So that's how we it's how we
roll MM. Interesting, So thishas been a very enlightening conversation I'm still

(13:56):
speechless about the rose. I can'tget it. You're welcome, You're welcome.
Get over that part. But wedid get a question from one of
our folks who registered to participate inthe show, and the question is how
prevalent is this in the elementary schools? Are signs and symptoms of marijuana use

(14:20):
different in a child who's in elementaryschool than a child that's older. You
know, I want to answer thatquestion nurse prior, and the signs and
symptoms are not any different. Itreally depends on the person. So maybe
someone's going to depending on what they'veconsume. Maybe someone's going to be really
sleepy, maybe someone's going to beparanoid, Maybe someone else is going to

(14:45):
vomit. It doesn't there isn't adifference in age. It depends on the
person. And then Officer Sergeant Johnson, have you seen cannab as used or
any heard of any stories at theelementary school? The only the only thing
I've heard, And I'm not onehundred percent on it because I don't I

(15:07):
don't do those elementary school but Ibelieve there was an incident where a child
took a backpack to school unbeknowing tothem. But somebody had put something in
it at home and it was foundin the book bag at school. But
it was a that was a frommy understanding, that was a completely innocent
child that had just had it putin their backpack, whether it was to

(15:31):
be head or distributed or whatever.But the kid didn't have anything to do
with it. Okay, that's good. Well, I'm thinking about pop culture
and you know how we're seeing moreyou know, movies and TV shows and
you know, celebrities talking about cannabisuse. And then I'll go a little

(15:52):
bit deeper when it goes to schooland in pop culture where you know,
kids would walk into the bathroom andeveryone's smoking pot. Right, So are
you all seeing that or is thathappening in your schools? And and what
do you what? What what doyou do about that? What do kids
do? I mean, are theydoing it? Or you know, how
do you enforce that or stuff itfrom happening? Again that I'm sorry,

(16:18):
miss pryor again they you know they'redoing it, and they're doing it on
the streets and the ones that walkin and you can obviously smell that they've
been doing it. They come tomy office, and we we have a
heart to heart about it, youknow. I mean, I've had I've
had kids. Tell me, misterKyle, we're not bringing it to the
school because you got that dog.We know what the dog does, you

(16:40):
know, which is which is goodfor me. But that doesn't stop them
when they step off a off acampus, you know, or when they
get in the car with winder buddyon the way home or something like that.
So you know, we were fightingwhat I'm gonna say is an uphill
battle. Whenever you know there areparents out there that's okay with it,
and so I think we're we're fightingan uphill battle at times. Nurse Prior,

(17:06):
Yes, we do. We seethat in our our schools. You
smell it coming out of the bathroomand then you know you have to go
on there and say, you knowwhat's going on in here, and we
follow our our policy. They goto the dean's office, and the Dean's
handle it from there. Maybe I'llbe called down, depending on the situation.

(17:27):
Usually I am, and I butI think it's about presence. And
that's one thing about my district.You know, I love my district.
We we try to be and weare. We are really present in the
hallways. We do the hallway youknow, the sweeps, the walks,
just to see, you know,where students are, where they're supposed to,

(17:48):
you know, find out where they'resupposed to be, where they're going.
And so that's how we manage that. We're just being presents, being
president in the hallways and where theymay be. Right. So, just
like Sergeant Kyle has this dogs yougot, we're present. You know,

(18:11):
we're walking around and we're seeing what'sgoing on and we're asking questions. So
are you all have any closing thoughts? You know, I'm sure we're gonna
have parents listening, We're gonna haveteenagers listening, We're gonna have caregivers listening.
Any closing thoughts that you'd like toshare with our listeners and viewers when
we talk about cannabis use on Kthrough twelve schools, And there's probably going

(18:32):
to start with you, and thenI'm going to close with Sergeant Kyle.
Okay, Yeah, you know,this is about education. It's about educating
the parents, and it's about educatingthe students and the parents. I just
want them to realize that just asany other medication, that you have in
your home that you don't want yourchild to have access to. That's how

(18:53):
you should be treating your adult usecannabis, just the way it's locked you
know, the it's locked up,it's put away, and you're trying to
avoid your child from getting a holdof your maybe your opiates. Then that's
the same way that we should betreating our our adult use cannabis o our
medicinal canvas. Make sure it's putaway, and have a conversation with your

(19:18):
child. You know, children shouldknow just like this other medication is for
adults only, this medical cannabis isfor adults only as well. And I
also think that we need to starteducating our children about their endocannab annoyed system.
We educate them on all the othersystems, but we're not educating them
about their endocannab annoyed system. Andthat's the master control system of all of

(19:44):
the other systems in our bodies.And so we can teach them, you
know. Officer Kyle mentioned that someof the students are consuming because of anxiety,
some students are consuming because of ADHD, some students are consuming because of
the and so we are teaching themthat you can actually produce your own endo

(20:06):
cannabinoids based on what you eat,your nutrition, moving your body, exercise,
meditation, breath work, You canactually produce your own endo cannabinoids.
And so you can help your youryour yourself, your your body can manage

(20:26):
help manage your depression and your anxietyand your ADHD. And make sure that
you are you know, and encouragethem to speak with their counselor speak with
their parents, Speak with their theirsocial workers that are available in the school
to help them through this. Speakwith the school nurse and and then parents,
if your children are having concerns,get them to their pediatricians, sit

(20:49):
down and have a conversation. Andyou all are a part of the process.
You all should not be a victimof the process. The student and
the parent. You are a teammember when it comes to that healthcare plan.
So get your pediatrician involved. Andif you have to, get all
you know, the other team memberswithin the school involved, get all of

(21:11):
them involved so that we can allhelp your child. We can help the
student. Thank you. That's greatadvice. It takes a village. It
takes a village for sure, SonyKyle, So I'm gonna speak to it
on the law enforcement side of it. I'm gonna speak to it on the
SRO side. And I know herein Florida we've got a great group of

(21:33):
s ros. I know in ourdistrict, we've got a great group of
SROs that are here one hundred percentfor the kids, I'm gonna I'm gonna
say, be honest with them,be that voice that corrects them when you
know that they're doing wrong. Andyou don't have to brow beat them.
All you have to do is explainit to them. You just talk to

(21:55):
them, make those connections when you'reout and about when you're in the school
and when you see these kids,because some of these kids they don't they
don't have the correction when they gohome, and and that kind of breaks
my heart at times because there's there'ssome of these kids that just want to
hug, you know, and sojust be that person that they can come
to. Like I keep the opendoor policy. I give my business card

(22:18):
as a hall pass for them becauseit's got my number on it, and
I tell them, if you needme, you call me, you text
me. I answer at twenty fourseven. And so if they need anything,
I think they need to have somebodythat they can approach. Because kids
are curious, that's that's one thing. And if they're not told no,
or if they're not told what thedangers are, then they're not gonna know.

(22:40):
You know, they know that,you know, if they touch a
hot stove, it burns them.But how did they know that? Did
they touch it or did we tellthem? You know? So I think
I think being present is great,but be approachable. Be approachable to these
kids where they feel comfortable to cometalk to you about anything, and it
may stem the conversation into where youcan make you know your impact on them.

(23:02):
Wow. Great great, great resourcesand information. Thank you all so
much so. Sergeant Johnson and NursePrior, thank you for being our guests
on this Conversations on Cannabis virtual formbrought to you by the Medical Marijuana Education
and Research Initiative at Florida and MUniversity. Thank you to everyone that's watching
this program. Tell us what youthink about this form by completing the survey

(23:25):
that will we post it in thecomment boxes on YouTube and Facebook after this
live program you can complete. Ifyou complete the survey, your name will
be entered into a drawing on Septemberseven, twenty twenty three, to win
a one hundred dollars gift card providedby one of Mary's partners. We also
want to encourage you to go tothe Florida Department of Health Office of Medical
Marijuana Use website to learn how toobtain a legal medical marijuana card in the

(23:49):
state of Florida. We also encourageyou to go to Florida and M University's
Mary website to learn more about thisinitiatives, educational programs, and dational information
about cannabis use in Florida. Thankseveryone. The views and opinions of our
invited guests are not necessarily the viewsand opinions of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

(24:12):
or the Medical Marijuana Education and ResearchInitiative.