What happens when two sommeliers, both at the height of their careers, meet and fall in love with the iconic French Laundry as their backdrop, start a family, and then decide to stop drinking entirely? You might be thinking their careers are over.  But, for Ian and Carly Blessing the story was just beginning.

Halloween is a wonderful time for families to connect and create lasting memories. At each stage of development, we can set guidelines and expectations around safety and how to address alcohol and drugs during this holiday. Here’s how we can navigate Halloween for kids at different ages, along with valuable resources to support you along the way.

ZYN, named to sound like Zen, is being pushed as a harm-reduction alternative to cigarettes. Yet, in reality, they are another product being marketed to adolescents with deceptive tactics to get them hooked on Big Tobacco products.

As we embrace the new academic year, let's balance our hopes with mindful awareness of the challenges our children may face.

Planning a summer party but want to cut back on the alcohol for the sake of the kids and teens in your life? We have some great options for you to try! 

This normalization of experimenting with different substances is beginning to creep into the lives of young students, and a dependence on drugs is spreading like wildfire.

MHYP member Jennifer Taylor writes about raising healthy teens.

It was a good day this month when news dropped that the e-cigarette maker, Juul Labs, will pay $462 million to six US states and Washington DC.

Now is an ideal time to model responsible drinking and talk about the risks of driving after consuming alcohol or drugs. Each of us can do our part to avoid preventable traffic accidents and keep our roads safe. 

The reality of this time of year, with all the parties and get-togethers and family gatherings, is that often many of those festivities involve alcohol and other substances. So to help, MHYP has put together a list of 10 things you can do this holiday season to keep your tween and teens safe and enjoying the fun substance-free.

When more than 100 youths, many believed to have been fueled by alcohol, took to the streets of Mill Valley after a party was ended by police earlier this month, they did not hesitate to disturb local businesses, throw cans and bottles at officers and jump on a police car. The riotous behavior of these teens was out of the norm for Marin County – but the drinking was not.

“When I wrote my first article on fentanyl, I was floored by the devastation and loss that it is inflicting on communities. Since that time, I have done my best to help spread awareness surrounding the dangers of fentanyl. I’m happy to play a part in our community’s response to this crisis.”

As the leaves start to turn, the days shorten and the morning air gets crisp, Halloween lights emerge in our little neighborhood. This indicates the beginning of the winter holiday season. The holiday season starts on October 31st with Halloween, which has become a notorious holiday for youth trick-or-treating and adult drinking.

Simple searches with hashtags like #weed4sale, #oxy or #painpills will pull up story after story (that is IG or Snapchat stories) with pictures of drugs and cash and emojis such the Christmas tree, fire, and $$ that means it’s for sale. Requests are left in the comments or you can direct message the dealer.

The harmful combination of a still-forming mind, high-potency THC products, and a high frequency of use = Cannabis-Induced Psychosis. Yes, that’s a real diagnosis.

I write to honor and share with my own community and perhaps a broader one, the legacy of a brilliant young soul that I have had the privilege of being the mother of. These words will not be soft or vague or pretty. My vibrant boy/ man is dead.

The complete access to drugs, most of us have never heard of, are 5 minutes away from our homes. And any young person who is hurting knows right where to get them. I keep asking the question. Where is the outrage?

“The gap between what parents know and what teens know about the drug scene here is huge,” is how Don Carney opens our conversation. He informs me bluntly, “Parents are out of the loop.” Despite the knowledge gaps, Don asserts there is plenty we can do to influence behaviors and take care of our children. The keys he offers coalesce around attention, attachment and agency.

Nic Sheff talked about how he started smoking pot at 11 years old and how that ended up spiraling into a full addiction. David Sheff contributed the parent side of the issue. Both Sheffs stressed the point that to counter the isolation of those who suffer from substance abuse – relationships and a community effort are needed.

“I love the youth-driven aspect of MHYP work. We are not treated like kids here, but real members of a meaningful community. This is happening to US — our generation and our peers. And local action is very important because we can react faster than national movements. This is a very real and pressing issue.”

“This is not the pot we grew up with,” is a phrase often used to sum up the complexities of what has happened to cannabis over the course of a generation or two. And yes, when left to stand alone as a justification for “just say no,” this statement rings hollow and hypocritical – but it actually hits at the core truth of the issue. 

Most Marin parents will tell you that it isn’t uncommon to see alcohol consumed on the sidelines at youth sporting events or at team parties. Or that they have been offered a drink while out trick-or-treating with their kids. Or they have sent their nervous teens off to their first prom while sipping wine with other parents. It’s completely normal. But, some are questioning, should it be?

Every stage of parenting presents a brave new world of challenges. What other job can you imagine doing that, even after a decade of experience, can still have you feeling like you’ve been suddenly blindfolded and dropped into the front seat on the wildest ride of your life?

Having young children and teens is a grand opportunity to re-examine our attitudes and habits. With Alcohol Awareness Month as our prompt, let’s invite each other to consider the role of alcohol in our childrens' lives.

Consider this: You would be hard-pressed to find a teenager who is not aware that driving after drinking alcohol is unsafe and unacceptable. Decades of well-funded public health education campaigns have elevated this message to common knowledge status, and medical research and traffic safety statistics confirm it as an inarguable reality.

Across Marin County, local town boards and councils are considering regulations on the sale of flavored tobacco products. The goal: make it harder for young people to obtain tobacco products, which they are suddenly using at an alarmingly higher rates throughout Marin and across the nation.

Surprised that you could be held responsible for teen substance use at your home? Whether or not you are there? Consider how lightweight that fine seems in comparison with the cost that could result if there are any injuries or accidents that occur as a result of underage substance use at a residence.

While trying to get kids to stop using and abusing alcohol and other drugs through educating them on the dangers or by trying to curb our own alcohol use in order to set a better example may have some success, these methods only treat symptoms. Like eradicating any disease, calming symptoms is only a temporary fix until the root cause of the disease is addressed.