Cannabis & You(th): Promoting Conversations in the Youth Work Field

26 Jan

2025

Cannabis & You(th): Promoting Conversations in the Youth Work Field

Among young people aged 18 to 25 (in Germany), around half have experience with cannabis use, with about 8% using it regularly. Cannabis use is part of young people’s lives, either as users or, often, as witnesses to its use. However, its use is particularly harmful for adolescents: intensive use at an early age can cause irreversible brain damage in adolescents and increase the likelihood of psychosis.

Youth education on the effects and risks of cannabis use is mainly provided through addiction support services, which are not always accessible to young people in their everyday lives. This is where the Jugendagentour Erasmus+ project “Cannabis Conversations: Equipping Youth Workers for Informed Guidance” (CanCo) comes in.

Within the first year, three project partners from Spain and Germany – Euroaccion and Jugendagentur with expertise in international youth projects and Baden-Württemberg State Association for Addiction Prevention (bwlv) – explored the field of Cannabis use among young people in the two countries, the legal frameworks and safe spaces where cannabis conversations can take place on equal terms.

One central output of the project is the handbook “Cannabis & You(th)” available in English, Spanish and German, summing up the findings of the project and showing youth work professionals how to have successful Cannabis Conversations – with a stigma-free, dialogical approach in which professionals support young people as accompanying discussion partners and acknowledge ambivalence. Feel free to browse through this link.

Another output is a concept aiming at an international project about the protection of minors/cannabis prevention, adding AI as an important source of information for young people, and expanding the consortium to other European countries. You can explore more here.

If you are interested in being part of the future project, please contact Jugendagentur (info@jugendagentur.de).