Upcoming Events 

March 3, 8:00 pm: Operation Parent’s rebroadcast of "Hiding in Plain Sight" designed to educate parents and those working with youth about current drug trends. You can register here even if you are not available to attend the webcast, because Operation Parent will send all registrants a link to the recording afterward. If you’re not familiar with Operation Parent, they have tons of great free resources for parents!

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March 5, 10:00-12:00: Finger Lakes Marijuana Listening and Networking Session for Monroe County. The focus will be on workforce, health equity, and safety/enforcement. The session will be broken up into two parts. Part one will be the actual listening session. During this time there are some great speakers lined up to express concerns around the above topic to local legislators. Part two will be an hour of networking to see how local coalitions can approach the topic of marijuana legalization and what prevention efforts can be applied to make the biggest impact. To register, RSVP as soon as possible to Irene Lawrence with your name, WHEN:DFCC, Monroe County, and your email address.

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Save the date - May 3: WHEN will offer free online naloxone training again on May 3rd at 6:00pm. Stay tuned, registration will open next month on our website under Events.

Webster Headlines

Thank you to all who responded to WHEN:DFCC’s community survey throughout the month of February. The goal was to identify where to focus resources in the coming year, in order to have the most positive impact on Webster families. Expect findings to be shared in our April newsletter. 

Congratulations to Gabby G. whose name was randomly drawn from participating survey respondents to receive the $100 VISA gift card! 

A community mapping project is underway. WHEN:DFCC coalition members participated in a community mapping project during our February meeting. This was an opportunity to identify community assets and challenges in order to grow our partnerships and focus resources where they will be most effective.

WHEN:DFCC has wrapped up our “12 Things Parents Can do to Prevent Addiction” campaign in collaboration with the Addiction Policy Forum. We will be adding additional resources to our new Prevention for Parents webpage this month, including four new educational handouts on teen vaping, each tailored to meet the needs of parents, based on their kids’ current situations.
 

Scientists are still learning more about how e-cigarettes affect health. However, there is already enough evidence to justify efforts to prevent e-cigarette use by young people.
 

What effects does vaping have on the brain?

Vaping puts nicotine into the body. Nicotine is highly addictive and can: slow brain development in teens and affect memory, concentration, learning, self-control, attention, and mood. Additionally, it can increase the risk of other types of addiction later in life. [KidsHealth] 

Does nicotine kill brain cells?

Nicotine can kill brain cells and stop new ones forming in the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory. The finding might explain the cognitive problems experienced by many heavy smokers during withdrawal, they say. Cell death also increased. [New Scientist: Nicotine stops new brain cells forming]

“Nicotine-induced changes to the brain during adolescence can be permanent”

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Nicotine is toxic for adolescents with developing brains, as they are more susceptible to both the addictiveness and harm of nicotine. Simply put, nicotine is brain poison for youth. Because brain development continues until about the age of 25, nicotine can have negative impacts on teens and young adults. Nicotine actually changes adolescents’ brain cell activity in the parts of the brain responsible for attention, learning, and memory. It can also worsen:

• anxiety

• irritability

• impulsivity 

 
Nicotine-induced changes to the brain during adolescence can be permanent and the harm can lead to long-term effects on the ability to make decisions and can also leave teens with an increased risk of addiction to other substances. [Tobacco Free California]

Upcoming Meetings

We meet online via Google Meet the second Wednesday of each month at noon. Many of our members join during their lunch break to share their feedback on current projects and learn about what’s coming up. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join our monthly meetings. In fact, our goal is to have representation from all walks of life, to better meet the needs of the whole community. Our next meeting is Wednesday, March 10th at noon. Simply register here to receive the meeting link, or email Janine Sanger, Executive Director for more information.

Spotlight

We would like to thank all our partners who helped promote our community survey throughout the month of February. In particular, we appreciate the Webster Chamber of Commerce for providing posters to local businesses, the Webster Central School District and Webster Central PTSA for sharing our social media posts, as well as all those in the youth sports and faith communities who shared the information with their members.

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Your partnership is one of our greatest assets and we are grateful for your support!

Reminders

ROCovery Fitness, Inc, is a resource for recovery support through fitness and sober living, connecting peers, friends and family through wellness, acceptance and understanding. You can find their calendar of events here.

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If you are a parent of a WCSD student and looking for ways to grow your network of caring parents, consider volunteering with Webster Central PTSA next school year. They are recruiting now for many positions that are open for next school year. It’s a great way to stay connected to parents, teachers, administrators and current issues affecting your kids. See open central positions here, or contact any board member to ask how you can get involved at your school.

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View past issues of this newsletter under the Current News dropdown menu on our website.