Students at Tecumseh Vista Academy are now better informed about cannabis.
Windsor police, the health unit, school nurses and social workers have tabled the facts about legal cannabis use during a special presentation. Police have explained the law as it relates to cannabis and how effective officers can be at detecting impairment by drug.
Grade 12 student Doro D'Andrea says the presentation took a different approach that he's heard in the past. "I think this was a very good presentation, very informative. Usually the tone is to scare people, but this time it was like education to inform us, especially because it's legal, it's a hot topic."
Grade 12 students Madison Nantais says she's better informed about what to watch for that might indicate cannabis use among her colleagues. "Watching all the mental health nurses was important because it showed like a lot of the signs we might see just from our friends now that might be using kind of thing, if they're getting lower grades and missing classes and that kind of thing. So I think that's really good to know because they might be developing a problem we that can talk to them about before it gets out of hand."
Nantais adds that the presentation has helped her understand the impact of cannabis on young people. "I think it definitely changed my opinion on what age we should start using at and that kind of thing especially when they talk about the physical attributes of it and that kind of thing where as we get older our connections are still being made and that kind of thing, so I think that's really important."
The presentation will be made at every high school across Windsor Essex in the coming weeks.