SPRINGVALE — While changes in marijuana policy and legal status are gaining momentum nationwide, those who work with young people say little is being said about the impact these shifts have had or will have on public health ”“ especially on the well-being of youth.

Partners for Healthier Communities and Strategies for a Stronger Sanford will host a public forum in early October to share timely information about the health impacts of marijuana, and explore how public policy has influenced the drug’s availability and use in Maine. Organizers will also explain and take questions about the Maine Medical Marijuana Program.

The forum will feature nationally known addiction expert Dr. Mark Publicker, and Marietta D’Agostino, a state regulator of medical marijuana.

Publicker, an educator and an advocate for addiction treatment, was named by Downeast Magazine in 2014 as Maine’s “Top Doctor in Addiction Medicine.” He has served as president of the Northern New England Society of Addiction Medicine, a diplomat of the American Board of Addiction Medicine, and is the editor in chief of the American Society of Addiction Medicine magazine.

D’Agostino has spent her career in social services, working as a child protective caseworker, a juvenile corrections officer and a jail captain at the Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset.

The panel will be held from 8:30-10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7 at the Nasson Community Center’s Little Theater located at 457 Main St. in Springvale. Admission is free and the forum is open to the public; no registration is necessary.

For more information, contact Connie Roux at 490-7704, ext. 311 or Nichole Ivey at 608-6021.