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Youth Cannabis Education and Prevention Media and Social Marketing Campaign

The Substance and Addiction Prevention Branch (SAPB) is partnering with Rescue Agency, a media contractor, to develop an age-specific, developmentally appropriate, cannabis education and prevention media and social marketing campaign for youth ages 13–17 and their parents and guardians. The goals of the campaign are to educate youth about the risks and impacts of cannabis use, influence youth attitudes, social norms, and perceptions of cannabis use, empower parents and guardians to engage in initial and ongoing conversations with youth about cannabis, and provide educational toolkits for local health departments, community-based organizations, and partners.  The campaign for parents/guardians is called "Let's Talk Cannabis," and includes resources in English and Spanish.

• Information on the formative research conducted for the campaign can be found in the CDPH Cannabis Education and Youth Prevention Formative Research Executive Summary (PDF).​
  
• Information on the creative concept testing for the campaign can be found in the Creative Concept Testing Executive Summary (PDF)​.
  

Webinars

• In October 2022, SAPB hosted a webinar titled, "Addressing Youth Cannabis Use and Adult Influence," for local partners. The webinar discussed the current California landscape of youth mental health and cannabis use; the learnings from SAPB's formative research and community needs outreach efforts; and insights on how the learnings informed SAPB's Youth Cannabis Education and Prevention Media Campaign and supporting materials. To access the webinar, please use the link: Addressing Youth Cannabis Use and Adult Influence webinar link. ​

• In May 2023, SAPB hosted a webinar titled, “Youth Cannabis Education and Prevention Campaign & Your Part." The webinar discussed the current CDPH campaign for youth (Mind Over Marijuana) and parents/guardians (Let's Talk Cannabis) and materials for local use. To access the webinar, please use this link: Youth Cannabis Education and Prevention Campaign & Your Part​ webinar link.
  

Past Campaigns

In 2016, California voters passed Proposition 64, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), which legalized the possession, consumption, cultivation, and purchase of cannabis by adults 21 years of age or older. The Let's Talk Cannabis Campaign was launched by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) in 2017 to educate Californians about the new law, responsible cannabis use, and health education. Under this campaign, CDPH developed several resources such as fact sheets, frequently asked questions (FAQs) documents, and a Community Toolkit for parents, youth, and other community members. To obtain any of the Let's Talk Cannabis Campaign materials, please contact  cannabis@cdph.ca.gov. 

For questions, please contact cannabis@cdph.ca.gov.