{"id":2443851,"date":"2019-05-06T21:04:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T03:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/giving-thought-glenwood-springs-invests-in-its-teenagers-using-pot-tax-money\/"},"modified":"2019-05-07T08:38:59","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T14:38:59","slug":"giving-thought-glenwood-springs-invests-in-its-teenagers-using-pot-tax-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/giving-thought-glenwood-springs-invests-in-its-teenagers-using-pot-tax-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Giving Thought: Glenwood Springs invests in its teenagers using pot tax money"},"content":{"rendered":"
Aspen Community Foundation, Lauder event, Aug. 13, 2018.<\/strong>
Steve Mundinger<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Colorado voters approved Amendment 64, the recreational marijuana law, in 2012, there was a lot of concern about how this product would impact our community, particularly for youth and children.<\/p>\n

Shortly before legal sales began in 2014, leaders in the Roaring Fork Valley began working together to ensure the safe, responsible integration of recreational marijuana into the community. Initiated by Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo, the Valley Marijuana Councils (VMC) are groups of community stakeholders representing public safety, health, youth services, education and business owners. The two groups, one in Pitkin County and one in Glenwood Springs, have taken action to educate the public as well as advocate for investment in youth prevention.<\/p>\n

Communities across the state have taken various approaches to marijuana sales, from prohibiting retail marijuana shops entirely to welcoming the businesses and adding their own local taxes to the state\u2019s. Glenwood Springs falls into the latter category, and has been particularly creative with its marijuana tax collections.<\/p>\n

In 2017, Glenwood added its own 5% tax on marijuana sales, and set aside $100,000 of the revenue to specific youth-oriented programs. One was counseling support at local schools ($75,000) and the other was free passes for youth in grades 6 through 12 to the Glenwood Springs Community Center, known informally as the \u201crec center.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful use of the funds and the proof is in the pudding,\u201d said Dan Sullivan, president and CEO of The Green Joint and a member of the Glenwood Springs Valley Marijuana Council. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing great feedback from kids and school administrators.\u201d<\/p>\n

First in a 2018 summer-break pilot program and later during Thanksgiving 2018, winter break 2018-19 and spring break 2019, Glenwood youths have been able to enter the rec center at no cost and swim in the pool, lift weights, climb on the wall or shoot hoops with their friends. And they show up by the hundreds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt keeps us from getting in trouble,\u201d said Rayleen Jensen, a sophomore at Yampah Mountain High School. \u201cIt\u2019s a good place to go when you\u2019re bored.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several other Yampah teens echoed Jensen\u2019s sentiment, saying that the rec center is a healthy place to go during their unscheduled hours. They tend to go with friends and they walk away feeling physically fit, less stressed and more in command of their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 17 and I have to support myself,\u201d said 11th-grader Harlee Bell. \u201cI have rent, I have car bills, I have all this stuff to do. Being able to have a rec center pass has helped me lose weight and be more confident.\u201c<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the idea for the rec center passes wasn\u2019t hatched in City Hall. It came from youth who were surveyed about the possible uses of the marijuana tax money.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the top things they said was, \u2018We want healthy places to go,\u2019 and one of those was the rec center,\u201d said Yampah Principal Leigh McGown. \u201cSomething like 85% of the kids said, \u2018We want rec passes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

And the City Council listened. Council members also heard the VMC\u2019s plea for mental-health counseling and education at four schools that didn\u2019t have access to state funding for those purposes. Yampah was one of the four, along with Riverview K-8 School, St. Stephen\u2019s Catholic School and Two Rivers Community School.<\/p>\n

Mind Springs Health is the chosen provider and customized its program for each school according to the school\u2019s particular needs. Each school has a counselor on campus for eight hours per week.<\/p>\n

Specifically at Yampah, an alternative high school for students who haven\u2019t thrived at other schools, the mental-health program consists of regular classes that help teens develop life skills, avoid drug and alcohol abuse and generally stay on a healthy track. Junior Eli Sweeterman said the classes, among other things, have broadened his mind and helped him understand his peers.<\/p>\n

\u201cGabby (the counselor) knows what I\u2019m thinking and can help me understand other people\u2019s stories,\u201d he said. \u201cShe gives me a different viewpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

At St. Stephens, the Mind Springs counselor has provided small group sessions to support friendship, communication, self-regulation strategies and bullying prevention. Glenda Oliver, St. Stephen\u2019s principal, said this support has been a \u201cgame changer\u201d for students and teachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe teachers feel supported because the students are being supported,\u201d Oliver said.<\/p>\n

Soon the Glenwood City Council will consider whether to continue these programs. Advocates expect that the demand of the rec center passes will rise in the coming year, simply because the word is out and more teens want them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the right thing to do,\u201d said the VMC\u2019s Sullivan. \u201cWe need to give back to our kids and help educate them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tamara Tormohlen is executive director of Aspen Community Foundation.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aspen Community Foundation, Lauder event, Aug. 13, 2018.Steve Mundinger When Colorado voters approved Amendment 64, the recreational marijuana law, in 2012, there was a lot of concern about how this product would impact our community, particularly for youth and children. Shortly before legal sales began in 2014, leaders in the Roaring Fork Valley began working […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2443851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-17 20:05:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2443851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2443851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2443851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2443851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}