On June 17, 2021, the Florida Supreme Court ruled against a ballot initiative arguing for the regulation of cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol. The sponsor, Sensible Florida, Inc., filed the petition in 2019. It was the courts opinion that the word "use" was inadequately defined and therefore did not meet the criteria to be added as a ballot amendment.
Here are the current (as of May, 2021) cannabis programs for the various states and territories. This is from the National Conference of State Legislatures. On June 17, 2021, the Florida Supreme Court ruled against a ballot initiative arguing for the regulation of cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol. The sponsor, Sensible Florida, Inc., filed the petition in 2019. It was the courts opinion that the word "use" was inadequately defined and therefore did not meet the criteria to be added as a ballot amendment. The Florida legislature has recently taken votes on bills that address transgender high school students and their ability to participate in sports. House Bill 1475 and Senate Bill 2012 were both put forward specifying that students could participate in sports based upon their biological gender assigned at birth. As to be expected, there was significant debate from both side. Proponents claimed the bills afforded protection to athletes from physical /athletic advantages that some transgender athletes would have. Opponents claimed the bills are discriminatory and perpetuate exclusion from mainstream social activities for the transgender community.
Regardless, the points may be moot as both bills have died in their respective chambers with both the House and Senate Bill stalling in Rules on 4/30/21. While there were sufficient votes amongst members, the stalling is something that can be revisited at a later time. For more details, please go here: www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=72710 www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2021/2012 Here are some resources:
Mental Health America www.mhanational.org/ NAMI www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Mental-Health-Awareness-Month ADAA adaa.org/mental-health-awareness-month AACAP www.aacap.org/Mental_Health_Awareness_Month Let's take this time to be our best selves! Beginning October 1, 2o20, the Police Department of the City of St. Petersburg will implement a new division called the Community Assistance Liason (CAL). The CAL is designed to respond to non-violent calls with a member of a contracted social service agency instead of a uniformed police officer. The responding individual of the CAL will be someone with a social work and mental health background. The types of calls the CAL worker will respond to are as follows:
The Police Department reported a total of 259,800 total calls in 2019. Out of these, 12,700 would meet the criteria on the above issues. It is hoped that this will provide the community with a more appropriate response to situations that do not require a uniformed officer and to assist uniformed officers in becoming involved in calls that are better suited to their training and experience. The Police Department has developed this innovative program as a response to recent social upheaval which has been often centered on the need for police reform. For more information, please go here: police.stpete.org/2020/july/09/significantChangeInPoliceResponse.html The following is written and re-posted, with permission, by Dwight Bain, NCC, LMHC.
1. Active Disaster Phase: (March 2020 – June 2020)
On June 15, 2020 the U.S. Supreme court decided that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ+ employees from discrimination in the workplace. In one case, a gay male was fired from his position as a county child welfare coordinator after his employer learned he was gay. In another case, a gay male was fired from his position as a skydiving instructor. In a third case, a male funeral director was fired after telling their employer that they were transgender and would be coming to work as a woman.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I will be conducting all counseling sessions via telehealth beginning on 3/16/2020. There are several options/platforms available for webcam sessions and phone calls are welcomed as well. This change in my practice is to protect the health of my patients, myself and the community at large and will last until our public health officials determine we can return to office visits. I greatly appreciate your understanding and encourage you to contact me to discuss any aspect of this further.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated "Gaming Disorder" as an official diagnosis to be included in the next revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Currently, ICD-10 is in use and Gaming Disorder, as part of the ICD-11, was approved in June, 2018 and will be formally implemented on January 1, 2022.
The description for Gaming Disorder is: As a component of First Lady Casey DeSantis' "Hope for Healing Florida" program, the State Board of Education has approved the implementation of 5 hours of mental health instruction for all public school students in grades 6-12 on an annual basis. Required topics to be covered in the instruction are:
- Awareness of sign and symptoms. - Process of getting or seeking help for themselves or others. - Awareness of resources ( i.e., Fortify Florida app and the National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-825). - What to do or say to peers struggling with mental health disorders. Citing an accumulation of research and knowledge, The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has updated their policy statement "to recommend parents not to use spanking, hitting, slapping, threatening, insulting, humiliating or shaming" as forms of child discipline. The AAP outlines the strong association of spanking and adverse outcomes as:
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