Substance Abuse Task Force: Drug use among youth is down, but legal weed causes worry

by Sam Knef

A 2018 study of youth substance abuse in Kalamazoo County reveals some positive results, but the recent legalization of recreational marijuana has police officers worried.

More than 100 people from several different sectors of the Kalamazoo community attended a meeting Thursday at The Foundry downtown when the Kalamazoo County Substance Abuse Task Force reveal the results of the study, and police officers discussed the new marijuana laws.

One of the presenters was Kalamazoo Assistant Chief David Boysen, who showed the audience two bags, one filled with 2.5 ounces of marijuana, and the other with 10 ounces. Some in the crowd were surprised at the size of the bags when Boysen told them these were the amounts people in Michigan can legally possess on their person, and at home, respectively.

"That's 700 marijuana cigarettes," Boysen said, referencing the bigger, 10 ounce bag. "You're not going to use that in a year. I mean, most people don't smoke 700 cigarettes in a year. So what are you gonna do with that? You're gonna sell it."

Boysen used the bags to demonstrate potential issues that arise from state laws regarding marijuana, highlighting the low penalties for breaking those laws.

"We have a product that's legal to use, it's legal to possess, but it's illegal to buy," Boysen said.

"You can't legally buy it, so that's, by the nature of that, creates a black market."

The maximum punishment for possessing more than double the legal limits, more than five or 20 ounces, is 90 days in jail.

Possessing weed under age 21 is a civil infraction, or a ticket. It's young people that mostly concerns police officials.

During the presentation, Boysen pointed to studies showing that teens are more likely to become addicted than adults, and also said weed leads to more crime and homelessness.

Marijuana is just one example of drug use the Substance Abuse Task Force has been fighting, Chairman Adam Herringa said, to much success, shown by the study, which teens helped to conduct.

"It was good to see that some of the traditional numbers are going down for tobacco use, alcohol use, marijuana use are going down," Herringa said.

One area of concern for the task force was an increase in the number of teens vaping, but the study also found the number of teens using substances is a lot lower than what teens think their peers are doing.