In this special Dr. Data takeover episode of Growing Up in America, Child Health Policy scholar Chris Kulesza is joined by Alfred C. Glassell, III, Fellow in Drug Policy Katharine Neill Harris for an insightful hour focused on youth substance use and public policy. Additionally, Child Health Policy research manager Katarina Reyes reveals a striking statistic: 28.9% of HISD students have tried marijuana—a number with real implications for families and schools alike.
As part of the Houston Chronicle Live series, Katharine Harris, Ph.D. will join Chris Tomlinson, Piper Lindeen and Dr. Jokubas Ziburkus at 12 p.m. CST on Wednesday, April 16 to discuss the $8-billion cannabis industry, the struggling medical marijuana business and the new-wave prohibitionists in the Texas Legislature.
While reclassifying cannabis to a schedule III drug will reduce the tax burden for existing dispensaries, Harris said, it’s unlikely to level the playing field for those looking to get into the industry. “Bank of America, like Wells Fargo, I mean, they’re just not going to enthusiastically embrace this kind of gray area of law. That’s just not how they operate.”
Despite its new prescription free status, inconsistencies in policy towards Narcan placement and availability in pharmacies is limiting public access. “This is the opposite of what is supposed to be occurring," Harris said. "When you put something behind the counter, it automatically makes people less likely to ask for it. It makes them think they need a prescription to ask for it."
Before fentanyl’s rise, overdose deaths were more limited to opioid and heroin users, fellow Katharine Neill Harris explains. But now, the risk has broadened to non-regular drug users, like someone trying cocaine for the first time or buying counterfeit drugs.