New Haven treatment center counters legal pot billboard with its own

Turnbridge, an addiction and mental healthcare treatment provider based in New Haven, said it launched a billboard campaign to raise awareness about marijuanaaddiction and the availability of treatment. Turnbridge, an addiction and mental healthcare treatment provider based in New Haven, said it launched a billboard campaign to raise awareness about marijuanaaddiction and the availability of treatment. Photo: Contributed Photo: Contributed Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close New Haven treatment center counters legal pot billboard with its own 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN — The highway billboard advertising that legal marijuana is just 60 miles up Interstate 91 is getting competition from a city-based addiction-treatment agency.

Weedmaps’ billboard, just north of Exit 3, on the left side of northbound I-91 , advertises recreational marijuana in Massachusetts with the message, “Weed is legal in 60 miles.”

Turnbridge, a residential program that specializes in treating addictions and related disorders in young men and women, has posted a billboard a little more than a mile up the highway, just before Exit 8, saying, “Addiction treatment is closer.” Its main office is at 189 Orange St. in New Haven.

Diana Clark, family outreach specialist for Turnbridge, said it was important to counter the message of Weedmap’s billboard because “the opinion of the dangers of marijuana is shifting … and we’re beginning to see younger and younger kids” using it.

She said marijuana is not addictive in the same way as opioids, “but there is sleeplessness, appetite suppression, headaches.” Users also become psychologically dependent, she said, adding, “for a teenager who has a vulnerability to another psychiatric condition such as bipolar disorder or psychosis, marijuana can be the tipping point … for the symptoms to surface.”

Recreational marijuana is legal in Massachusetts, although it is illegal to take it across the state line. The Connecticut General Assembly plans to debate legalizing recreational marijuana in the current session. Medical marijuana is legal in Connecticut. Weedmaps connects consumers and businesses, which can list their products for free.

Clark said once an employee saw Weedmap’s sign, “there wasn’t a big discussion” before Turnbridge’s staff decided to post one, too.

“What we know about billboards for alcohol [is] the approval rates for teen use goes up. … So if we draw a natural extension, I’m worried about the legalization leading to younger and younger use,” she said.

“As a treatment center that treats young adults and teenagers, we have a significant number of kids whose lives have been derailed by marijuana, without other substances,” Clark said. She said heavy users “quit going to school, quit getting up in the morning, quit after-school activities. Their sole purpose seems to be getting, using and staying high on marijuana.”

Clark said most of the 180 patients Turnbridge may treat at a given time are between 17 and 27 years old. She said the agency has “seen an uptick in the last two years with kids with marijuana disorders that have really interfered with their functioning. They don’t have coping strategies for normal disappointments of life.”

Turnbridge, a residential program, not only offers treatment for substance use disorders but assists with academic, work, budgeting and social skills. There also is a family program “because what happens with families is they are adjusting to a lower level of functioning,” Clark said. Families are offered therapy and 24/7 on-call support.

In addition, there are “five support groups in Connecticut that are open to the community for parents” who may not have a child in Turnbridge’s program.

Turnbridge can be reached at 203-937-2309 or through its website.

Carl Fillichio, a spokesman for Weedmaps, responded to a request for comment in an email, saying, “We encourage and advocate for responsible consumption of legal, adult use cannabis. Our site includes a comprehensive and easy to understand educational section ... which provides important information for both novice and connoisseur consumers.”