Members of the Monroe County Coalition For Drug-Free Communities decided on an organization logo on Monday and discussed this Friday’s upcoming marijuana panel.

After Waterloo High School provided logo contest submissions for the coalition members to vote on, Emily Gastro’s “Finger Prints” was chosen.

In describing her work, Gastro said “what stands out is that we are all unique and a part of the same larger community. We leave our prints on this world and we wish to make them better.”

Her logo will now serve as a symbol to the coalition.

In addition to choosing a logo, members of the coalition also talked about Friday’s panel at Columbia Middle School, which will feature addictions psychiatrist Dr. Christian Thurstone and address the science of adolescent addiction.

Bill Rebholz, one of the coalition founders, strongly recommends that parents, teachers, administrators, school counselors, medical professionals, police, youth leaders, civic leader, media members, business leaders and clergy all make it to the panel.

“Dr. Thurstone is a part of the group Smart About Marijuana, a very thoughtful group that is taking a scientific and very real approach to this whole issue of marijuana,” Rebholz said. “They are very much opposed to the legalization of marijuana.”

He said Smart About Marijuana members stand against marijuana, but don’t think people arrested with minor possession should face hefty charges. Instead, they want these people to be directed somewhere where they can get help.

“The science of the brain strongly suggests that marijuana has a huge impact, and the people most susceptible to its use are adolescents, as we’ll hear more about on Friday,” Rebholz said. “It’s really a tipping point for continued use and other substance abuse as well.”

The panel will include Dr. Thurstone, a DEA agent, the mother of a son in recovery, and a young man in recovery.

“You’ll have some really neat perspectives of people who are in the trenches either experiencing (addiction) or dealing with it,” he said.

Friday’s panel will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will end at 8:30 p.m.

Also at the meeting:

•Regional Superintendent of Schools Kelton Davis announced that the coalition should have the data from the Illinois Youth Survey by the end of the month.

•Natalie Benjamin, an outreach representative from Harris House in St. Louis, spoke to the coalition about services Harris House provides, including the 28-day intensive inpatient program, the long-term inpatient program and the intensive outpatient program.