What Is it All About?
Participants attend a lunchtime Weed Talk (involving a recorded talk found online) to learn more about cannabis and have their questions answered.
Why Do It?
These videos provide information in a quick, interesting format to peak viewer interest about a topic. They provide a perspective and/or information about a topic and can also be used to generate discussions.
How Do We Do It?
Work with your team and your adult ally to find a recorded talk that would engage your chosen audience. For your search, use keywords such as teen brains, marijuana, vaping, edibles, health, and wellness.
Engage an expert to help facilitate a discussion after participants have viewed the Weed Talk and to answer any questions.
Decide when you will run the Weed Talk session, and advertise it ahead of time in order to generate interest about it.
Run your Weed Talk session, being sure to include time for discussions and a question-and-answer period.
Provide participants with a Weed Talk session discussion sheet to help generate large-group or small-group discussions after viewing the video.
Consider surveying participants at the end of the session to find out what other topics they might like to learn about through future Weed Talk sessions.
Consider inviting participants to become involved in your group to organize future Weed Talk events.
Ideas for Use in a Variety of Settings
Find or have your team find a recorded talk about a topic related to cannabis that would engage their peers. Have the team formulate questions based on the Weed Talk to use in facilitating a group discussion with participants using available technology. Sample questions: What information surprised you? What did you find out that you didn’t know before about cannabis? Consider using breakout rooms/spaces for smaller group discussions and to facilitate a large number of participants.
Invite an expert to the group to help facilitate the online discussion and answer questions.
Use available technology to survey participants at the end of the session in order to find out what other topics they might like to learn about through future Weed Talk sessions.
Have experts invite participants on a virtual field trip to their organization to find out more about their services.
Have the team create and post a Weed Talk of their own on a topic of their choice using available technology.
Create “Weed Talk Movie Nights,” consisting of a curated list of related recorded talks with question starters, for families to access at home.
What Else Do We Need?
- A recorded talk
- An expert to help facilitate discussions and answer questions
- A space for the anticipated size of the audience
- A post-Weed Talk session survey for participants to complete (if needed)
- Writing implements for participants who may not have brought one to the session
How Do We Get Creative?
Use the Weed Talk to generate topics for students to debate.
Have participants create and deliver a Weed Talk of their own on a topic of their choice.
Organize bi-weekly or monthly “Weed Talk Movie Nights”