News & Events
Much of our work involves measuring the difference others make. Getting involved and making our own difference is also an important part of who we are as individuals and as an organization.
To our partners, community members, and friends,
As we mark our 15th year, it is with great joy and appreciation for all of you!
Reflecting on our journey since 2009, all of us at the Center for Community Research (CCR) are humbled by the incredible people we work with.
Our Journey
CCR was founded to bridge the gap between community needs and evidence-based solutions. From a small but ambitious start, we have grown substantially, not just in numbers but also within the breadth and depth of our reach.
Our work began and continues throughout San Diego County, and our impact spans nationally now as well. Our incredible and talented team utilizes informed strategy, useful data, and lived experiences to save lives and prevent impacts associated with substance use, impaired driving, and community health issues.
Our staff have been recognized at the local, state, and national levels – not as a testament to our own achievements, but as evidence of the change that can occur when committed professionals and passionate communities unite.
Honoring Our Partners
Our success is not a solo endeavor. It has been built on the trust, collaboration, and vision we share with our partners. More than just funders or stakeholders, you have been collaborators in the truest sense. Your unwavering dedication to fostering safe and healthy communities has consistently inspired us. The partnerships we have nurtured over the years have been instrumental in achieving our shared goals, and for that, we are tremendously grateful.
Looking Ahead
As we commemorate this milestone, it’s also an opportunity to look ahead. While celebrating our collective achievements, our eyes are firmly set on the future, ensuring that we continue to be at the forefront of facilitating positive change. Committed to excellence and progress, we aim to continually refine our offerings to meet the dynamic needs of our communities and partners.
Together, we will continue our collective journey towards building even more vibrant, inclusive, healthy, and safe communities.
With profound gratitude,
Kristen Donovan, Ph.D.
Founder & Executive Director
For the past 15 years, it has been an honor to serve San Diego County and work with such committed and incredible partners. We thank the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency and all of our partners in prevention, behavioral health, public health, education, treatment, child welfare, and public safety for the opportunity to have made a difference in the lives of so many of our community members.
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The CCR Team
The report describes in detail the different regulatory frameworks that exist in different states, and it draws on prior research to identify policies that are likeliest to have the greatest impact protecting public health. Those include approaches like restrictions on retail sales,pricing, and marketing; putting limits or caps on THC content in products; and laws about cannabis-impaired driving. They also could include different forms of taxation and even state monopolies. While state monopolies have not yet been tried with cannabis, they have proven effective at reducing the public health impacts of alcohol.
To view NIDA blog, click here.
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The Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC) Network works to improve implementation and delivery of effective substance use prevention interventions and provide training and technical assistance services to the substance misuse prevention field.
It does this by developing and disseminating tools and strategies needed to improve the quality of substance misuse prevention efforts; providing intensive technical assistance and learning resources to prevention professionals in order to improve their understanding of prevention science, epidemiological data, and implementation of evidence-based and promising practices; and, developing tools and resources to engage the next generation of prevention professionals.
For more information click here.
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Cannabis use is more likely when individuals are less informed about its health risks, have perceived positive effects of cannabis, or simply assume it is "natural" and, therefore, benign. This belief has become further entrenched as a result of cannabis’ widespread availability for recreational use, social acceptance, and legalization.
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After declining significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic,substance use among adolescents has continued to hold steady at lowered levels for the fourth year in a row, according to the latest results from the Monitoring the Future Survey, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). These recent data continue to document stable and declining trends in the use of most drugs among young people.
Cannabis use remained stable for the younger grades, with 7.2% of eighth graders and 15.9% of 10th graders reporting cannabis use in the past 12 months. Cannabis use declined among 12th graders, with 25.8% reporting cannabis use in the past 12 months (compared to 29.0% in 2023). Of note, 5.6% of eighth graders, 11.6% of 10th graders, and 17.6% of 12th graders reported vaping cannabis within the past 12 months, reflecting a stable trend among all three grades.
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