Learning from Nevada: Marijuana Insights for Wyoming Communities - Eye on the Issues - Episode 043

 This week, we have a special guest joining us from Lovelock, Nevada - Heidi Lusby-Angvick, the Executive Director of the Pershing County Economic Development Authority. You might be wondering why we're reaching out to Nevada, but as you'll soon discover, the challenges and stories shared by Heidi can resonate with many communities across Wyoming. Pershing County, Nevada, and several counties in Wyoming have striking similarities. We share common threads with locations along a major interstate and a rich history of agriculture and mining. In this episode, Heidi opens up about the impact of marijuana legalization on her community, a topic of great concern in many Wyoming counties if our state were to legalize. Pershing County has regrets of being reactive rather than proactive when large population areas like Vegas and Reno embraced marijuana legalization and changed the landscape for everyone in their state. Now, they're grappling with the consequences. Heidi also sheds light on the unique dynamics of a small-scale reservation-style colony in her community and how they contribute to some of the challenges they face. Pershing County is dealing with a mental health crisis intertwined with drug use. Heidi says the good news is that various programs and initiatives are coming into their community to support affected families. We encourage Wyoming to consider this point. Wyoming can be proactive and continue to not venture down the marijuana legalization path. Wyoming families deserve better than allowing the motives of poorly informed drug users to harm all of our communities with increased drug use and mental health problems. Why would we want something that leads to our only positive after-effect, being we have multiple state-funded programs to deal with the aftermath? Tune in to this insightful conversation with Heidi Lusby-Angvick, and you'll discover a wealth of valuable takeaways. Learn from the experiences of Pershing County and consider how Wyoming can make informed decisions for the benefit of its communities and families. Don't miss this engaging discussion on Eye on the Issues!