Here’s some good news: fewer Colorado kids are using high-potency THC than a decade ago.

In the most recent Healthy Kids Colorado Survey (2025), only a minority of high schoolers reported using substances like THC in the past 30 days. Since 2015, high school lifetime THC use is down 41.8% and average past-30-day youth use is down 54.3%. Just as telling: 78% of high schoolers now say they think it’s wrong for someone their age to use marijuana, which is an upward trend from 71% just two years ago.

That progress is the result of years of steady, community-driven education, hard-earned landmark policy safeguards, effective prevention, and the on-going engagement of informed trusted adults in kids’ lives. None of it would have been possible without your support and our collective work to ensure healthier and safer outcomes for kids, families, and communities.

One of the most powerful influences on whether a young person uses THC products are parents, coaches, mentors— the trusted adults. Young people who know a trusted adult disapproves of marijuana use are 72% less likely to use. The federal government’s 2026 National Drug Control Strategy says it plainly: “families, educators, coaches, and mentors play a critical role in modeling healthy behaviors.”

One Chance to Grow Up’s mission from the start has been  to put good information and real tools in those adults’ hands  and to make sure policy keeps kids’ health and futures a priority. 

The past several months have been very productive in Colorado, and we’re keeping up the effort nationally providing trusted and proven tools and resources to other states:

• We helped stop two bills in Colorado that would have dramatically expanded youth access to high-potency THC, one that would have put THC hemp beverages in restaurants, convenience stores, and grocery stores (growing outlets from roughly 700 to as many as 13,000), and another that would have allowed on-site THC use at family events like the state fair.
• We secured and defended $2 million in annual funding for high-potency THC education and research at the University of Colorado’s School of Public Health, protecting it through a tough state budget cycle.
• We are running an ongoing  public awareness campaign in the Colorado Springs region that generated more than 3.7 million impressions, and produced our THC 101: Products, Potencies, Problems and THC and Youth Mental Health: What Parents and Trusted Adults Need to Know educational webinars to help parents and trusted adults understand what today’s products actually are. This effort made possible through Regional Opioid Abatement Council funds is now launching in Arapahoe county as well!
• We defended the science connecting early THC use to later opioid misuse before Colorado’s Attorney General Statewide Opioid Council — work laid out in our new white paper on using opioid settlement funds for upstream youth prevention.
• We continue to fight for closure of the intoxicating hemp loophole without further delay in federal legislation. Earlier this month, One Chance and 55 other public health and youth protection organizations signed a coalition letter telling Congress to support Senator Ted Budd’s amendment that would have rejected a one-month delay in the full implementation date. Although the loophole closure date is now delayed until December 2026, our legislative champions continue the fight.
• We shared influential opinions in Colorado and beyond in the Denver Gazette,  Washington Examiner, and more.
• We spoke at key conferences including CADCA, the Stanford Medicine Cannabis Conference, and more as we made connections with other like-minded public health professionals.
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As the THC industry keeps pushing to expand retail access and put stronger products in front of more people, and new intoxicants keep appearing in gas stations and online–staying engaged is how we protect the ground we’ve gained. 

We recently announced that co-founder Henny Lasley will be transitioning from our Executive Director position to an advisory role.  Moving forward, Henny as well as other original co-founders Diane Carlson, Rachel O’Bryan, and Advisory Council Chair Doug Robinson will continue serving together on the Executive Board, providing strategic guidance, organizational continuity, and long-term stewardship as One Chance to Grow Up continues to expand its impact and national voice. We are currently vetting candidates for our new Executive Director position.

For the rest of 2026 and into the future, our priorities remain clear:

• Protect and strengthen Colorado’s youth safeguards on today’s high-THC products. We will continue advancing evidence-based policies that help reduce youth use while increasing understanding among parents, educators, healthcare providers, and other trusted adults about the impact of THC on the developing brain.
• Stop deceptive intoxicating hemp products and other “gas station drugs.” We will continue leading efforts to remove these dangerous and child-friendly products from store shelves while educating and empowering parents, communities, retailers, law enforcement, healthcare professionals, and policymakers to protect young people.
• Advance upstream prevention through research-based education. We will continue expanding awareness of the growing body of evidence linking early THC use with increased risk for later opioid misuse and substance use disorders—and demonstrate how upstream education, prevention, and healthier community norms can change these trajectories before they begin.

Today, the policies and public understanding that will shape the health and well-being of future generations are being determined. Our work has never been more important. Through innovative education, broad community engagement, and groundbreaking public policy, we have an extraordinary opportunity to continue to create lasting change and public health solutions that protect children, strengthen families, and build healthier communities.

Thank you for believing in this mission and for making this work possible. Your partnership has fueled every milestone we’ve achieved, and together we are positioned to accomplish even more in the years ahead. We will keep you informed as we continue expanding our impact across Colorado and throughout the nation.