Though many school students have sat through presentations about the dangers of drugs, some community members worry about the tactics of an upcoming speaker in the Weld RE-4 School District.
Laura Stack, founder of the marijuana prevention nonprofit Johnny’s Ambassadors, will speak this month at multiple schools across Weld County, teaching students and their guardians about the negative impact of THC, the component of cannabis that makes users feel high.
Stack said her findings are based on research about the difference between today’s marijuana and the marijuana past generations ingested.
In 2022, 30.7% of 12th graders reported using marijuana in the past year, and 6.3% reported using marijuana daily in the past 30 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Stack intertwines her son’s story with marijuana use into her attempts to wean middle and high school students off or keep clear of marijuana.
Three days before Johnny, Stack’s son, died by suicide at the age of 19, he told his mother that weed ruined his life and his mind. Stack said Johnny began using marijuana at 14 in the form of heating and inhaling highly potent marijuana concentrates, known as “dabbing.”
Stack’s upcoming stops in the Weld RE-4 School District to educate children about the dangers of THC generated a handful of concerned community members and parents who question Stack’s credibility and bias, arguing she conveys a fear-based approach that may not have…
