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Health professionals concerned for kids as new marijuana law could increase exposure
With the legalization of marijuana in Ohio, many are watching to see how this will impact kids, because while use of marijuana will still be illegal for those under 21 years of age, drug prevention experts expect marijuana to become more accessible to minors.
• Why it’s important: Whether it’s secondhand smoke or a THC edible, THC can damage the pathways of the brain for children and young people who have much less developed pathways
• What could happen: Even short-term marijuana use in kids poses a risk, doctors say. Those health outcomes could include worsening of underlying mental health conditions including mood changes and suicidal thinking, increased risk of psychosis, increased aggression, and increased problems with memory and concentration, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
• What about teenagers? Teenage marijuana use is at its highest level in 30 years, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry says. Will legalization make it worse? At least one study suggests the answer is no, and it may actually lesson use among younger teens.
Local police using victims’ rights law to shield names of officers who shoot suspects
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
A new law expanding victims’ rights in Ohio is being used by a local city and other jurisdictions to indefinitely withhold from the public the identities of police officers who shoot suspects.
• The law: Marsy’s Law is named for Marsy Nicholas, a Cincinnati native who was murdered in California and whose 1983 death led multiple states, including Ohio, to adopt stronger protections for crime victims.
• What’s happening now: The city of Kettering won’t release records identifying two police officers who shot and wounded suspects last year. City officials say the officers are both victims under Marsy’s Law and last year also said the names were withheld under a different section of Ohio law because the officers were “uncharged suspects.”
• What they’re saying: “If the Ohio General Assembly had intended that peace officers not be afforded the same protections as other victims, then the Ohio General Assembly would have written a different definition,” wrote Kettering Law Director Theodore Hamer in a Dec. 29 letter to an attorney representing the Dayton Daily News seeking release of the records under Ohio public records law.
• Is that right? The victim rights advocate who fought successfully for the passage of the Marsy’s Law constitutional amendment in 2017 and the state legislator who sponsored the bill allowing for the implementation of Marsy’s Law last year — and who represents Kettering — both said there was never any discussion of classifying as victims police officers who shoot people in the line of duty.
Number of schools with armed staffers has nearly tripled since last year
The number of school districts registered to give non-police staff access to guns has nearly tripled since the spring of 2023.
• The numbers: In March 2023, about 22 school districts had registered with the Ohio School Safety Center to have teachers and staff who aren’t police officers have access to firearms during school hours, according to an Ohio Capital Journal review at the time. By January 2024, the number had grown to 63 districts, according to the OSSC.
• Why that’s happening: Ohio House Rep. Thomas Hall, R-Madison Twp., the primary sponsor of the house bill that allowed teachers to access guns in schools without undergoing Ohio police officer-level training, said the jump in numbers was likely due to the setup of the Ohio School Safety Center and training guidelines. he expects about 20 to 30 more school districts to register with the OSSC, especially after this summer.