PORTAGE — With continued efforts to legalize the recreational usage of marijuana nationally, local school districts and nonprofit organizations are finding increased usage and acceptance of the illegal substance.

And that is creating a challenge for school districts along with drug and alcohol prevention partnerships.

Portage Area School District Superintendent Eric Zelanko said new movements to legalize recreational marijuana usage has increased the usage among students.

“With marijuana slowly starting to become legalized in other states, many students think it’s OK now to use it,” Zelanko said.

Pennsylvania is preparing to offer medical marijuana for certain medical conditions, but it will not be in a smokeable form and not intended to provide the high commonly associated with the plant.

Numbers increasing

Recreational use and possession of marijuana remains illegal in the state.

Kimberly Kozak, junior and senior high school counselor of the Glendale School District, said, “There’s been an overall acceptable attitude towards it. Students are a lot more open to using it than before.”

According to 2015 reports from the Bedford County Drug and Alcohol Prevention Partnership, 3.9 percent of Bedford County students in 10th through 12th grades admitted to using marijuana.

That number has more than doubled over one year, as 9.8 percent of Bedford County students admitted to using marijuana in 2016.

With the number of students using marijuana continuing to grow, and a misperceived allowance to use the drug, combating pot use has become much more difficult.

The Portage and Glendale school districts are participating members of the Remembering Adam program, an organization that administers random drug screenings and surveys to promote healthy lifestyle choices.

Zelanko said the program provides many benefits to the students by offering rewards for choosing healthy lifestyles, but when students do not choose to live drug-free, issues begin to arise.

Some parents ‘condone’

One of the main issues, Zelanko said, is that many parents even condone their child to use marijuana.

“If a student fails a drug test, we contact his or her parents and inform them of the results,” Zelanko said. “When we talk to these parents, unfortunately, some of them are actually OK with their child using drugs.”

Bedford County reports show that parent approval of marijuana continues to grow.

A survey in 2016 SHOWS that 20 percent of Bedford County parents approve of their children using marijuana.

One of the main reasons for general acceptance of marijuana, as reports indicate, is the misconception that marijuana has a “low risk perception.”

Judy Rosser, executive director of the Blair County Drug and Alcohol Partnerships Inc., said that despite misconceptions, marijuana is not beneficial to an individual.

‘Not safe substance’

Rosser said that while many people believe marijuana to be a harmless drug, studies show the drug can actually be very harmful to an individual’s development.

“Marijuana is not a safe substance,” Rosser said. “The impact of marijuana on the developing brain is very significant.”

Of the students that use marijuana, Rosser said there is a “strong correlation” between marijuana usage and struggles in school.

“Marijuana is the top drug of choice for students who are not thriving,” Rosser said. “Their usage of this drug is being identified because they are not thriving in school.”

Debbie Fowler, founder of the Remembering Adam program, said school districts throughout the area must “increase their efforts” to combat marijuana usage and help students that are struggling.

The Remembering Adam program is a non-punitive program, and instead of suspending or expelling a student for failing a drug screening, participating school districts enroll the student in counseling and other services in an attempt to discourage future drug usage.

The program is named for Adam Fowler, a 1997 graduate of Cambria Heights who died from a heroin overdose on May 19, 1998 — two months shy of his 19th birthday.

Nineteen school districts across five counties currently participate in the Remembering Adam program, Fowler said, and she hopes that more school districts will join together to combat drug usage.

“This program promotes good choices,” Fowler, Adam’s mother, said. “It gives students an opportunity to join together and say ‘no’ to drugs.

Fowler said that properly educating and counseling students to make good choices is “the ultimate tool” to fighting drug usage and addiction.

Districts that participate in the Remembering Adam program agree.

“We push to educate our students on the dangers of any illegal substance,” Kozak said. “We promote students making good choices. … That’s the only way to fight it.”

School districts participating in the “Remembering Adam” program include:

Berlin Brothersvalley, Blacklick Valley, Blairsville, Cambria Heights, Conemaugh Township, Conemaugh Valley, Glendale, Greater Latrobe, Harmony Area, Jeannette City, Mount Pleasant Area, North Star, Portage Area, Rockwood Area, Saltsburg, Turkeyfoot Valley Area and Yough.