Sherburne County Substance Use Prevention Coalition

Meeting Minutes

June 20, 2018

9:00 a.m.

Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Operations Center

 

Coalition Members Present: 

Alicia Maxwell, SUP Coalition Coordinator

Amanda Martin, Sherburne County HHS

Jennifer Pim, Sherburne County Attorney’s Office

Amy Halvorson, Sherburne County Community Corrections

Paul Hickerson, Becker Police Department

Dan Bradley, Sherburne County Community Corrections

Rachel Hilyar, Elk River School District

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Dan Bradley called the meeting to order at approximately 9:05 a.m.  Introductions were made.

 

Dan requested approval of the minutes from the May 16, 2018 meeting.  Jennifer Pim made a motion to approve the minutes, which was seconded by Rachel Hilyar.  All were in favor.

 

Dan asked for any additions or changes to the proposed agenda, none were made.  Eric Balabon made a motion to approve the agenda, which was seconded by Jennifer.  All were in favor.

 

Consent Agenda

Financial update was completed by Alicia Maxwell:

• Of the current budget of $135,548.22, we have $50,172.89 remaining in the grant.

• Current in-kind donations documented through June 2018: $124,924.53

Alicia reminded everyone to continue to send their monthly output logs to Roxanne Schreder.

 

SHIP Tobacco Initiative

Alison Miller presented information on Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) tobacco strategies and how SUP can support these strategies.  Alison advised that SHIP works on Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change (PSE).  They are currently working on tobacco-free park policies for the cities of Becker and Big Lake.  Currently, the only two cities with tobacco-free parks in Sherburne County are Zimmerman and Elk River.  On June 12, the County Board voted to make all Sherburne County parks tobacco-free as well.

 

Alison continued to share information received from a recent Open Streets event in Becker on June 11.  Volunteers from SUP, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Feeling Good MN attended the event to provide education on the dangers of tobacco use and the benefits of tobacco-free parks.  Alison shared that surveys were administered to event attendees to get their thoughts on tobacco-free parks.  Thirty surveys were received with the majority (20) being submitted by Becker residents.  The results displayed that most respondents strongly supported tobacco-free parks.  Only a few expressed uncertainties on making park parking lots tobacco-free.  An infographic is being developed to share the survey results.  Alicia will send this out when it’s completed.  

 

Alison asked members to help identify potential partners/champions in the cities of Becker and Big Lake to help with the tobacco-free parks movement.  A few suggestions given during the meeting included: fitness centers/gyms (Anytime Fitness, Snap Fitness), community centers, church groups (Church youth group “Hub” – Paul will send Alicia the name of the church), and SUP student groups (DREAM Team, EPIC).  If you have additional suggestions, please let Alicia or Mark Lees know.     

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Paul Hickerson inquired about policy language and if it included the exclusion of the actual tobacco devices rather than just the smoking of the devices since some e-liquids do not contain nicotine.  Alicia recalled language being included in the Sherburne County tobacco-free parks policy on electronic nicotine delivery devices, but was unsure in what context.  This prompted further conversation on policy language for school grounds and the Sherburne County Government Center.  The appropriate sectors will plan to look into their policies to ensure language is included for all devices regardless of the substance being used in the device. 

 

Data Update

Alicia and Jennifer presented updated data received from several sources, including the Minnesota Student Survey (MSS), SUP Student Survey, law enforcement (LE), and County Attorney’s (CA) Office.  Access the data slides on the Google Drive. 

 

Data Points:

• Sherburne County students are more likely than the state average to report past 30-day alcohol use, binge drinking, tobacco use, marijuana use, and misuse of prescription drugs (MSS, 2016).

• Overall, for Sherburne we saw an increase in alcohol and marijuana use, Rx drug misuse, and a decrease in binge drinking and cigarette use from 2013 to 2016 (MSS).

• While cigarette smoking has declined over time, 17% of Sherburne County 8th, 9th, and 11th graders reported past month e-cigarette use (MSS 2016).

• Considerable reduction in violations for underage consumption of alcohol since 2012 & 2013 (LE).

• Social access continues to be the overwhelming source for alcohol – friends (42%) and ​parents/guardians ​(34%) ​are two significant sources (SUP Student Survey 2017-18).

• 37 Social Host violations between 2012 – 2017 (LE).

  • With continued education, we would expect to see a decrease in the # of SHO violations.

  • LE from Elk River and Becker reported a reduction in large drinking parties, at least within city limits.  They suggested connecting with Sherburne deputies to see if they are finding different.   

• Social and retail access are sources for e-cigarettes – friends are the primary source for e-cigs (69%); retail sources included smoke shops (10%) and over the internet (18.0%) (SUP Student Survey 17-18).

• Possession of marijuana for juveniles has remained consistently higher around the 40 mark (LE).

• While the vast majority of marijuana users ​(74%) report receiving marijuana from friends, almost half (47%) also report buying from drug dealers (SUP Student Survey 17-18).

  • Members inquired about the definition of ‘drug dealer’.  Due to the stigma, members recommended changing the language from ‘bought from a drug dealer’ to ‘bought from a friend’.  Jenilee suggested asking youth members how they interpret the question before administering again.

• Possession of drug paraphernalia for juveniles has remained consistent – in the 40-50 range (LE).

  • LE reported that this number may not be 100% accurate because sometimes the paraphernalia charge is dropped if drugs are found and/or the suspect is cooperative.

• Juvenile substance use/overdose deaths lower than adults 18+; deaths include all drugs (LE).

• Juvenile suicide deaths lower than adults 18+; suicide rates varied with an outlier in 2015 (LE).

  • Melissa inquired if the suicide rates included were only those related to drug use.  Alicia shared that they aren’t, but that we could begin to track that.  

• Jennifer noted increases in possession of e-cigarettes and marijuana (CA). 

 

Alicia shared that she would like to form a Data Analysis Team to help collect, analyze, interpret, and report data on an ongoing basis to the coalition and community members.  She is looking for individuals with access to data related to substance abuse and/or those interested in data analysis.  Please contact Alicia to join this team.

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Alicia began a prioritization activity to determine the magnitude (data-driven), political will (community-driven), and capacity (resources) of substance abuse problems in the community.  Due to lack of time, we only went through alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco products.  We will plan to finish this activity in August to determine how we will prioritize our efforts as we move forward.

 

TETO Campaign

Tabled due to lack of available meeting time to review.

 

Information Sharing/Agency Updates

• Jennifer shared that the County Attorney’s Office and Community Corrections have moved into the new part of the Sherburne County Government Center.

• Alicia reminded members that there is no coalition meeting in July and to register for the SUP Retreat on Monday, August 6.  Register here: https://goo.gl/forms/AhdJsjPUkEAegCZR2  

 

The regular meeting was adjourned at 10:35 a.m.

 

Next Meeting: Wednesday, August 15 at 9:00 a.m. in the Sheriff’s Office Emergency Operations Center.

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