CYF Features Marijuana Prevention Speaker

DAYTON - Dr. Leslie Walker, Chief, Division of Adolescent Medicine at Seattle Children's Hospital we be the featured speaker at the Liberty Theater in Dayton on June 12 at 7 p.m. Dr. Walker is the co-author of the book, "A Parent's Guide to Preventing Underage Marijuana Use." The presentation is sponsored by the Columbia County Coalition for Youth and Families.

As a researcher, Dr. Walker has focused on adolescent risk behaviors, spanning adolescent substance abuse and ADHD to adolescent pregnancy prevention. She is considered one of the leading national experts on the effects of marijuana on adolescent development and has been a guest speaker on NPR and other national outlets speaking on the legalization of marijuana and how it will affect youth. She is a board member of Smart Approaches to Marijuana focused on highlighting the physical and social costs of increased access to marijuana in the youth population.

Dr. Walker is a Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine at the University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital. She is the co-director of Seattle Children's Adolescent Substance Abuse Program (ASAP). She recently was funded as the Director of the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health interdisciplinary training program UW LEAH funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau.

Dr. Walker grew up in San Jose California and attended college at Stanford University and medical school at the University of Illinois and then competed her pediatrics training at the University of Chicago and Adolescent Medicine training at the University of California San Francisco. Prior to coming to Seattle she directed the Adolescent Medicine program at Georgetown University.