Audrey Caro Gomez
Marijuana-related allegations and referrals are nearly double what they were a year ago, said Juvenile Department Director Torri Lynn, during a presentation to the Linn County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 23.
From January to July of 2015, there were 39 minors with non-criminal marijuana-related allegations, and four criminal allegations. For the same period in 2016, there 69 minors with non-criminal marijuana-related allegations and nine with criminal allegations.
Because of the availability of marijuana since it was legalized a year ago, he isn’t surprised by the increase.
“I don’t know that I could specifically say in each case where it’s coming from, it’s just more around,” Lynn said.
He said he thinks that, similar to alcohol, most kids are getting it from their homes.
Lynn also talked about addressing some potential problems that arise with minors and social media.
“District Attorney Marteeny and I have prepared a presentation that we’re going to be trying to hit some parents with at some of the school events,” Lynn said.
Commissioner Roger Nyquist said that he doesn’t know that social media creates the same chaos and problems that drugs do.
“We’ve had a couple of pretty big cases around the social media stuff, and so that’s why Mr. Marteeny and myself wanted to address that,” Lynn said. “I wouldn’t say it’s the biggest criminal problem, but it’s a huge problem.”
Lynn said they are addressing the content that kids are accessing on their phones and some of the types of pictures that they’re sharing, some of which may be part of bullying.
“There’s just a lot of stuff around that social media that we’re hoping to educate parents on, just being more active and supervising like you would anything else your kids are doing,” Lynn said.
In other business, the Board of Commissioners:
– Approved a contract for personal services between Trillium Family Services, Inc. and Linn County;
– Approved an intergovernmental agreement for behavioral health services between Scio School District and Linn County;
– Approved a First-Time Youth Wage Grant agreement between Linn County and OK Country Feed & Supply, Inc.
The next meetings of the Linn County Board of Commissioners are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 30 and Aug. 31 in room 200 at the Linn County Courthouse in Albany.