"When someone dies of a drug overdose, family members, friends and others are left to anguish over what went wrong and what might have been done to prevent the tragedy. A team formed by the Douglas County Health Department and backed by local partner Coalition Rx aims to help prevent such deaths by digging deeper into those questions.

To that end, the Douglas County Overdose Fatality Review team seeks to conduct confidential case reviews of overdose deaths in the county. The aim is to examine cases systematically, looking at what interventions were in place, said Leah Casanave, the Douglas County Health Department's division chief for community health, nutrition, and clinical services.

One challenge for the team has been getting the local data they need to complete the reviews, Patty Falcone, the Health Department's supervisor of health promotion, told the Douglas County Board of Health in October. It's important for us to bridge that gap," said Carey Pomykata, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Coalition Rx, a local nonprofit working to prevent substance abuse. "We need to have some real-time data when it comes to this.

Pomykata said there are close to 400 overdose fatality review teams across the country. She and Falcone were in Washington, D.C. last week attending a national forum on the topic. Pomykata said they hope to learn what others involved in the work have been through and what they've learned. "We've got to find out what the gaps in communities are so we can put a stop to this, Pomykata said"

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As Alcohol Abuse Declines Among Teens, Marijuana Abuse Soars

By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter

"American kids are drinking to excess less and abusing marijuana more, a new study finds. Marijuana abuse among 6 to 18-year-olds has increased 245% since 2000, while child alcohol abuse has steadily declined over those years, researchers who analyzed poisonings over two decades.

This dramatic increase does coincide with this huge wave of decriminalization in the U.S., said lead researcher Dr. Adrienne Hughes, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. And the use of cannabis has evolved over the years, too.

We're seeing that adolescents are moving away from smoking weed, and they're moving on to alternative modes of consumption, like edibles, Hughes said. A lot of times they're marketed in ways that are attractive to young people and are considered kind of more discreet, more convenient, and not obvious.

This study adds to the growing base of research showing the harms of marijuana to youth, especially in the form of edibles, said Linda Richter, vice president for prevention research and analysis at the partnership to End Addiction in New York City.

These products resemble candy and come in enticing flavors and have high concentrations of THC (the compound that creates the 'high'), said Richter. The proliferation of these products, especially in states where nonmedical use of marijuana has been legalized, normalizes the use of the drug and reduces perception of risk or harm amount young people."

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Kathryn Fenner

Too Good For Drugs and Violence Program Facilitator

Coalition Rx is excited to have Kathryn Fenner, a Secondary Education major at UNO and former preschool student of both Tammie and Carey! Kathryn is excited to work with our students and community.

As we all know, making decisions can be really tough sometimes, especially if we are being influenced heavily by our peers. That is why it's important to have a method ready to use when you're faced with difficult decisions, like the STAR method. (Stop, Think, Act, Reflect). Click the video below to learn more about the importance of decision-making, with Tammie and her special guest.

Adolescents equipped with decision-making and problem-solving skills are better able to thoughtfully plan their actions and evaluate the choices they face in life. The ability to consider the positive and negative consequences of decisions mitigates impulsivity, keeping actions consistent with short-term and long-term personal goals.