The Government of Nunavut’s Tobacco and Cannabis Program (TCP) has been looking to rebrand its logo and reach a younger audience to raise awareness for harm reduction and prevention.
Both these goals were accomplished on Nov. 13 at the Makkuttukkuvik Youth Centre as the TCP team gathered some young Iqalummiut at the youth centre for a pizza party and to share information, something that hadn't happened with the youth camp since the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Now at least we have cannabis program coordinator [Emmanuel Ogundimu] and our program analyst [Dorine Dounla]... we will have to chance to reach out to other populations," said Fellen Atienza, manager of the TCP for the past five years.
Atienza says Ogundimu was key to collaborating with the City of Iqaluit for this and other events in support of National Addictions Awareness Week.
“Having come to a very vibrant team, we just felt we needed different ideas to get... the information out there, because information is key. If you are trying to create awareness or outreach, you have to give such information to the youth, because the youth have a big role to play,” said Ogundimu.
The TCP team reached out to the youth centre coordinator in Iqaluit. It was determined in team meetings that the best way to reach young Iqalummiut was to share the information informally.
“We needed to have a fun activity where you can still pass down the message about the dangers... of using cannabis, tobacco and vape to make informed decisions when using [these products] about some of the health risks associated with them,” said Ogundimu.
At the event, the TCP team had the 22 teens who showed up in a relaxed and informal setting where they played games, held a raffle, and partied with pizza and prizes. Most significantly, the TCP team had a trivia wheel that asked the teens questions about the uses of cannabis and tobacco, where the negative health effects of these products were conveyed in a fun environment.
There was emphasis placed on the resources available to help with making healthier choices. For teens, activity substitution is used as a method to distract the mind and help manage cravings, as products like Nicorette cannot be legally sold to minors.
“There was also education about the implementation of harm reduction [measures], like medication... you can also make informed decisions in the long run about things like second-hand smoking. So someone is smoking close to you, but it is also going to have the same effects like if you were smoking.”
Also communicated was the importance of “holding yourself accountable” in respecting what are legally mandated smoke-free areas, such as indoors, playgrounds and social areas. “I say accountable, because the person next to you might not be a smoker,” said Ogundimu.
“It was a good way as well to inform them that we have the new Tobacco Smoking Act,” said Atienza. “Not a lot of people are aware because it was just enforced last year. So part of this campaign, as well, is to give information about the new law [that says] there are certain areas where you’re not supposed to smoke and there are the buffer zones.”
The new legislation dictates that there is no smoking of any kind within nine metres of the entrance or exit of a building, no smoking of tobacco with a minor in the car and no smoking at all of cannabis while operating a vehicle of any kind (including ATVs and snowmobiles).
“Also, in collaboration with Nunavut Housing Corporation, we have included public housing and social housing, so those two areas are now smoke-free.”
“The turnout was impressive,” said Ogundimu, “even though the word got out in such a short time. We also got a lot of responses from social media. We’re already thinking of having something very big, probably in the first quarter of next year, some sort of very large program for youth based on creating something more informal.
“The youth came out, spoke their minds, had interactions that we never felt we were going to get when we started the conversation about the program.”
Dounla explained that this event was part of a greater mass media campaign aimed at Nunavummiut youth. The pizza party was also used to gather feedback about the program’s new logo.
“So that evening was really fun, but also very informative and engaging because we saw a lot of youth that came and expressed their voice in terms of how they would like to see the Tobacco and Cannabis Program in terms of promotion, prevention, protection... also I was feeling like I was a young kid.”
