In the advent of a new generation of nicotine-containing products that are known to appeal to youth, such as flavoured e-cigarettes (vapes) and nicotine pouches, nicotine use has become a significant public health concern among students in Alberta.
Nicotine is particularly harmful to youth, as they are more susceptible to the risks such as poisoning, toxicity, smoking uptake, potential long-term health effects and the addictive properties.
Preventing the uptake of nicotine use as our youth progress through adolescence is a priority and a shared responsibility between public health practitioners and all allies of youth.
Email tvcp@ahs.ca
Behind the Haze is a 2-year information campaign on the harms of vaping and vaping products developed by and for youth ages 13-17. This campaign consists of a website (behindthehaze.ca), social media, movie theatre ads, schools and youth groups/organizations and youth events/festivals. The following resources are available to communities/groups to extend the reach of the campaign:
Primary prevention in schools is essential to foster a healthier, more equitable, and conducive learning environment that sets students on a path to success and well-being. Our understanding of effective health education and health promotion in schools has greatly advanced over the years. It is important that school communities understand and use the best available evidence to inform their efforts to prevent substance-related harms and evaluate these activities.
The Public Health agency of Canada has provided this Blueprint for Action: Preventing Substance-Related Harms Among Youth through a Comprehensive School Health Approach
The Tobacco, Vaping and Cannabis program provides curriculum resources/lesson plans and other materials that can be used to enhance student’s knowledge, attitudes and skills related to preventing nicotine use, visit Tobacco & Vaping Resources for Teachers.
Incorporating social-emotional learning into curricula enhances students’ skills related to self-awareness, empathy, communication, self-regulation and conflict resolution – which contributes to healthy lifestyle choices. SELSpace provides easy to use classroom modules for teachers, visit SELspace.
