Shelia L. Jackson
Board of Education, President
Dear City Council President and Council Members,
Young people in San Diego face many challenges as they work toward high school graduation. As educators, we partner with our students’ families, helping guide them toward that goal, and hopefully, on to higher education and career success.
Marijuana’s potential impact on a student’s progress cannot be overstated. Marijuana use can impair young people’s ability to concentrate and retain information.1 Marijuana is linked to lower grades. A teenager with a “D” average is four times more likely to have used marijuana than a teen with an “A” average.2
The California Healthy Kids Survey shows that by the eleventh grade, one out of three San Diego Unified students has tried marijuana; 13 percent of our juniors who participated in the survey used marijuana within the past month. 3
In San Diego County, nearly three-fourths of juveniles entering treatment for substance addiction indicate marijuana is their drug of choice.4 Forty-four percent of the young people in Juvenile Hall in San Diego tested positive for marijuana.5 And finally, a teenager who uses marijuana is twice as likely to drop out of high school, compared to those who don’t.6