Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2S1, Canada.
British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, Vancouver, Canada.
Can J Public Health. 2019 Aug;110(4):472-475. doi: 10.17269/s41997-019-00209-0. Epub 2019 May 13.
Cannabis is now legal in Canada, yet important questions remain regarding how the provinces and territories are approaching cannabis education and messaging aimed at youth. Although widespread education and awareness campaigns are long considered cornerstones of substance use and related harm prevention, there is limited evidence to support the effectiveness of such campaigns. We continue to see examples of cannabis-related messaging that focus on risk and harm and often adopt a narrow view of the ways in which young people may use cannabis. This traditional risk-based messaging does not resonate with how many youth experience cannabis use. We have further observed that most provinces and territories have yet to fully reveal concrete details regarding what they are and have been planning in terms of youth engagement in the development and delivery of educational initiatives. As Canadian youth desire reliable, evidence-based educational material on cannabis, and can be credible key partners in the development of such materials, we hope that all levels of government will see the value of promoting balanced cannabis discussions and co-designing resources with youth.
加拿大已将大麻合法化，但各省和地区在针对青少年的大麻教育和宣传方面仍面临一些重要问题。尽管广泛的教育和宣传活动长期以来一直被视为预防药物使用和相关伤害的基石，但几乎没有证据支持此类活动的有效性。我们仍然可以看到一些侧重于风险和危害的大麻相关信息，而且这些信息往往采用狭隘的视角来描述年轻人使用大麻的方式。这种传统的基于风险的信息传递方式与许多年轻人的大麻使用体验不一致。我们还观察到，大多数省份和地区尚未完全透露他们在制定和实施针对青少年的教育计划方面的具体计划。由于加拿大青少年渴望获得有关大麻的可靠、基于证据的教育材料，并且可以成为此类材料开发的可信关键合作伙伴，因此我们希望各级政府都能看到促进平衡的大麻讨论和与年轻人共同设计资源的价值。
