About Us
“What’s Past is Prologue”: Applying Lessons Learned from Alcohol & Tobacco Regulation in Addressing the Cannabis Environment.
Many States and communities are moving at breakneck speed to legalize the manufacture, distribution, retail sale, possession, and consumption of cannabis, believing it to be a panacea for a range of ills that confront their communities. In their zeal to legalize cannabis, many States and communities are failing to head the lessons, both positive and negative, that can be gleaned from how we regulate the alcohol and tobacco industries. Much like their predecessors in the alcohol and tobacco industry, those in the cannabis legalization effort are touting that the legalization of recreational cannabis will increase revenue, reduce crime, and provide medical benefits, among other things. Rarely, if ever, do they discuss the public health implications and the downside to legalization. In this session, we will review the historical reasons why we regulate the sale of alcohol and tobacco and how aspects of those regulatory systems should be applied to the cannabis industry.
We will highlight and discuss the current state of marijuana use among New York State youth and compare that usage to their use of alcohol and tobacco products. In addition, we will discuss the contexts in which youth engage in cannabis use, their perceptions surrounding the use of cannabis use, and the long-term and short-term health implications of cannabis use for youth. We will also discuss how environmental prevention strategies have been successfully used in the alcohol and tobacco spaces to reduce sales, consumption, perception, and negative consequences and discuss if these strategies can be adapted to prevent cannabis access and use problems. We will also discuss potential strategies for engaging key allies in your prevention strategies, including parents, youth, elected officials, and law enforcement, to reduce the negative consequences of cannabis use.
Meet the Presenter:
Nancy M. McGee, JD
Retired Special Agent Nancy McGee served as an enforcement agent for more than 29 years in the Missouri Department of Public Safety—Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. She was in charge of administering the state’s alcohol compliance check program and coordinating the department’s efforts on college campuses and with community coalition groups. Ms.
McGee was designated as the division’s liaison officer for local law enforcement agencies working on youth enforcement issues.
For over 20 years, Ms. McGee has provided private consultation services for numerous federal agencies, state agencies, community coalitions, and law enforcement agencies including but not limited to The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, Project Extra Mile, The Calverton Training Center, Prevention First,
Inc., The North Carolina Training and Technical Assistance Center, North Dakota Behavioral Health Department, Missouri Partners in Prevention, Missouri Department of Transportation, Iowa Alliance of Coalitions for Change, Illinois Higher Education Center, Lake County Illinois Health Department, and The Indiana Coalition to Reduce Underage drinking. In that capacity, she has developed course curriculums and provided technical assistance and training to agencies supporting alcohol and tobacco initiatives.
In 2014 Ms. McGee was selected by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies as an FDA Tobacco Regulatory Science Fellow. Ms. McGee spent one year in residency at the FDA Center for Tobacco Products in Silver Spring, MD, where she assisted the Center with issues concerning implementing and enforcing the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA).
Ms. McGee holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Missouri–Columbia and a Juris Doctorate-cum Laude from St. Louis University School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Missouri and Illinois.
Thursday, September 15th
from 10 am - 2:30 pm
[Registration begins at 9:30]
Location:
Town of Orchard Park Community Activity Center
4520 California Road
Orchard Park, NY 14217-2609
NOTE: This is an in-person event; a virtual option is not available.
Lunch will be provided.
Register for Training