In a recent article on Thrive Global, Awakening Co-Founder and Executive Director David Van Der Velde discussed the the challenges that young people who have co-occurring mental health issues face when they abuse marijuana and methamphetamine.
It is an issue that needs to be addressed as adolescent cannabis abuse has increased by 245% in the U.S. since 2000, with a particularly dramatic rise in the recent years since marijuana legalization has become commonplace.
From his many years experience working with young people who suffer from substance use issues, David has seen firsthand how meth and marijuana use to go hand in hand with co-occurring mental health issues. Together, these can lead to a substance use disorder (SUD) with co-occurring mental health disorders.
David concludes that we need to reach and educate our youth about the dangers of these substances so that they will have the best chance of reaching adulthood and living a successful life.
Read the informative article on Thrive Global here.
David got clean and sober in 1988 at the age of 19, close to death from his own struggles with drug addiction and alcoholism. Now 32+ years clean and sober, he has been consistently active in his recovery community by mentoring others, serves on recovery and youth related non-profit Boards such as LifeWorks and the West Hollywood Recovery Center, and serves on panels at institutions speaking from his own experience about recovery.
Joelene Knight, is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Grace Recovery, a sub-acute and residential treatment program located in Hollywood, California, as well as a Board Member at Awakening Recovery, a unique life-saving nonprofit that specializes in recovery homes with a long-term, 12-Step addiction solution that creates a lasting change in core beliefs and behaviors.