We’ve expanded our curriculum and tiered our pricing to bring IMPACT to more communities. We now bundle IMPACT for Marijuana, Alcohol, and Opioids/Fentanyl at a significantly reduced cost. While finalizing your programmatic decisions, please reach out to learn more!
Panaptic’s Prevention Hero: Dr. Lisa Roethling aims to replace stigma with curiosity, compassion & shared commitment
This month we’re honored to nominate Director of Counseling at The Hill School Dr. Lisa Roethling as our Panaptic Prevention Hero!
What led you to this important work?
My initial training in counseling focused on addiction work. When I transitioned into the school setting, I recognized a significant gap in comprehensive counseling support and substance use prevention education. Specifically, there was a lack of programming that addressed the science behind substance use and abuse in a way that resonated with students, which is what led me to this important work. In response, I began developing a program that integrates substance education into a more holistic counseling model—one that combines our Health+ curriculum, including the IMPACT program, with direct counseling services for students.
What are some achievements related to this work?
In 2024, The Hill School Counseling Team was honored with the Terry Muzzy Educational Excellence Award. This award recognizes individuals and teams who have shown outstanding commitment to raising awareness, preventing substance abuse, and offering meaningful counseling alternatives to those affected by addiction.
With a notable increase in ICare referrals, our Counseling Team has implemented a robust, comprehensive approach to substance use counseling that includes individual, group, and family support. Through initiatives like Eudemonia Health+, the Cannabis IMPACT program, and targeted awareness events, we’ve been able to provide impactful and ongoing support for our students.
The Hill School has developed a strong, collaborative response to substance use through the ICare Program—a joint initiative between the Dean’s Office, Wellness Center, and Counseling Department. This integrated model emphasizes accountability, education, and therapeutic support, and is considered a best practice for schools aiming to address substance use effectively. Group counseling within this program fosters a sense of shared responsibility, helping students both to abstain from substance use and to explore the underlying reasons for their behaviors.
Another achievement I’m especially proud of is the development of our Students Advocating for Mental Health (SAMH) group. SAMH is a student-led initiative dedicated to promoting mental health awareness and fostering a supportive culture on campus. Supervised by The Hill School Counseling Office, all SAMH programming and content align with the school’s guidelines and values. Beyond awareness, SAMH also serves as a vital platform for students to share their concerns and ideas for improving mental health support within our school community. Students put on various events throughout the year to help destigmatize MH on our campus.
What hard-won lesson can you share about preventing youth substance use? Continue Reading.
Research Update: Canada Explicitly Links Cannabis to Mental Health Challenges and Calls for Stricter Policies to Protect Youth
On March 12, 2025, the Canadian government updated its mandatory warning messages on all cannabis products sold in Canada. Based on new data that reinforces earlier studies, these warnings directly link cannabis use to severe mental health challenges–particularly for those who use high potency cannabis frequently and before the age of 25. Whether smoked, vaped, or ingested, the Health Canada cannabis warnings state that cannabis can:
- Harm brain development
- Be addictive
- Increase anxiety and depression
- Increase the risk of severe paranoia, psychosis, and schizophrenia.
Data also show that legalization is decreasing youth’s perception of risk. On April 18, 2025, JAMA published a cross-sectional study of adolescents in the Canadian provinces that legalized the sale of edibles and extracts. The study found that for these adolescents, legalization is associated with a:
- 26% increase in the overall prevalence of cannabis use
- 43% increase in edible cannabis use
- 34% increase in cannabis smoking
- 28% increase in co-use of alcohol and cannabis.
Despite persistent misconceptions that cannabis eases anxiety and depression, the data is clear: cannabis use is contributing to today’s youth mental health crisis. For educators who provide substance use prevention curriculum and non-profits who call on legislators to improve cannabis regulation, we share these resources to support your critical work to protect youth.
Opinion: The Vicious Cycle of Cannabis Use & Anxiety for Youth
Many adolescents believe cannabis offers a harmless escape from anxiety. How can we explain the vicious cycle of chronic cannabis use and anxiety? In her podcast, How Do I Get My Teen to Give Up Weed?, Dr. Lisa Damour warns that cannabis use can worsen anxiety and create a “slippery slope” where substance use and mental health challenges reinforce each other. In the article As America’s Marijuana Use Grows, So Do the Harms, Dr. Scott Hadland states that “Cannabis should not have a free pass as something that is safe because it’s legal — or safe because it’s natural — because actually it clearly causes harm in a number of my patients.”
In her book Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke outlines how the brain adapts to frequent cannabis use by resetting its pleasure-pain balance. An adolescent may reduce their anxiety when they first use cannabis, but with continued use their brain compensates for this reduction, and their baseline anxiety increases. If they keep using more cannabis to soothe their increased distress, their brain keeps resetting.
This distress can be compounded if they also experience anxiety due to cannabis withdrawal. As their use increases, so does their tolerance, and they may use even more cannabis to prevent the withdrawal anxiety. This is how the vicious cycle of chronic use and anxiety continues.
We can combat this vicious cycle by applying our Panaptic Hero Lisa Roethling’s approach of “gentle pressure, relentlessly applied.” For example, we can keep sharing data that shows how cannabis can increase distress. We can guide youth towards evidence-based, non-intoxicating medical care for their mental health challenges. We can ongoing compassionate conversations in our schools, homes, and communities about cannabis use and anxiety. This is how we break down the stigma of mental health and substance use challenges, and help adolescents find the best treatment for both.
Honoring our Fentanyl Awareness Day
n honor of Mental Health Awareness Month we aim to lessen the stigma and help those suffering know that they’re not alone. As educators, parents, and guardians, how can we spread the word that these challenges are an involuntary illness with a clinical diagnosis rather than a case of a moral failure or lack of mental fortitude?
The National Alliance on Mental Health’s list of mental health challenges includes substance use disorders, depression, psychosis, OCD, ADHD, and eating disorders. For youth, the 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) report states that in 2023:
- 18.1% of adolescents aged 12-17 experienced major depressive episodes
- 12.3% of adolescents had serious thoughts of suicide, and nearly half of those made plans or attempted suicide
- 17.1% of people aged 12 or older met criteria for a substance use disorder
To honor Mental Health Awareness Month, I’m sharing resources that have been vital to my own recovery from cannabis use disorder, as well as resources to help others struggling with mental health challenges.
- Doechii’s Anxiety Is Watching Me website: 2025 Best Rap Album Grammy winner Doechii shares excellent global mental health resources and invites fans to share their stories
- The Heart of Light Podcast: 30-minute Dharma talks by the brilliant high school teacher Mike McGarry on topics including self-love, inner peace, hope, grief, belonging, and discipline
- The I Ching, or Book of Changes: A structured meditation guide for life’s turning points that inspires self-reflection, acceptance, and resilience
- Hazelden Betty Ford Virtual Family Support Group: *Free* 90-minute sessions led by certified professionals to help families understand addiction & strengthen relationships with loved ones
- Marijuana Anonymous (MA) & Mar-Anon: MA helps those struggling with cannabis use & Mar-Anon helps those who love them; both refer to a higher power as a guiding force rather than a religious god
We’re grateful to be alongside you in our collective dedication to erasing the stigma around mental illness. I believe wholeheartedly that together we can create what Dr. Lisa Roethling describes as “a culture where conversations about substance use and mental health are as routine and judgment-free as discussions about physical health.”
– Allie Behr, Panaptic Manager of Customer Success
