Bringing Youth Together Through Stories of Cannabis Harm Reduction
In the Spring of 2024, nine young adults from across Canada gathered in person for a Digital Storytelling Workshop to craft short films exploring their experiences with cannabis use in connection to the harm reduction principles in the CSSDP’s cannabis education toolkit. This in-person workshop reminded us of the power of bringing people together. It communicated a value for the storytellers and their personal experiences. You matter and your story matters.
An in-person workshop for youth requires a depth of planning to ensure that the wellness meter stays high for the participants. The team included two peer supports from Get Sensible, University of Calgary Researcher and CLDST Level 1 Facilitator Dr. Rebecca Haines-Saah, Common Language Digital Storytelling (CLDST) Founder Dr. Mike Lang and Krystle Schofield, a CLDST Level 2 Facilitator. It resulted in new friendships and a deeper understanding of the nuances of youth cannabis use.
Being together in person in a safe space created a synergy that invited vulnerability, casual conversation and collaboration among the team and participants. This was visible as the storytellers leaned over each other’s computers to share what they had created, or to ask each other for feedback.
The workshop was hosted over a weekend in a modern hotel that offered diverse physical spaces, and gave participants a sense of belonging and ownership over their experience. We spent most of our time in a big open room with floor-to-ceiling windows, flanked by a casual lounge area, and a smaller private meeting room. There was easy access to good coffee and food, and a long quiet walk outside if needed. Creating digital stories is an emotional process. Being together in person with the freedom to flex into different spaces helped to decrease some of the natural anxiety that comes with feeling vulnerable and away from the comfort of home. The flexibility of space also supported various learning and processing needs for the group.
The workshop concluded with a private screening of the digital stories, each crafted with an artist statement. As you can see in the mini-doc, “Weightless, Stories Of Cannabis Harm Reduction” It was a moment of vulnerability for the young adults to be affirmed in their lived experience and to share their art. For most, this was their first time working with video editing software and talking openly about their experience.
The 9 digital stories and a mini-documentary are now being shared through the Cannabis Harm Reduction website, and in ongoing virtual and in-person screenings, to bring new understanding to the way Cannabis can play a role in the life of young adults.
