This lesson taps into students’ curiosity about the brain, teaching them how it develops, what it can do, and how cannabis affects it, including causing addiction. The aim is to help students understand their brains better, see the risks of cannabis use, and learn how to keep their brains healthy.

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Learning Objectives

By hearing and participating in this lesson, students will:


  • Unique features of the adolescent brain
  • Ways the brain reacts to drugs, including cannabis.
  • Problems that arise from using cannabis as an adolescent.
  • Ways to reduce harms of cannabis use.

Key Takeaways

  • The teen brain's job is to figure out what make you - you!
  • Your brain is awesome and full of potential.
  • Everyone’s brain is unique.
  • An adolescent's brain is especially vulnerable to drugs.
  • Drugs like cannabis are tricky for the brain, because they may feel good at first but harm the brain over time.

Click above to view the talking points for this lesson. Use the talking points alongside the Canva slides!

We suggest providing students with the Discussion Guide that they can take home and discuss with a trusted adult such as a parent/caregiver, coach, mentor, and/or a peer.

We suggest you end with a Kahoot, which can be found and easily linked to in the last slide of this lesson OR using the link above.

We recommend using Canva to get the full-scale experience of each lesson. If you need to go offline, feel free to download lesson 1 below.

** Disclaimer: Please note that because of the conversion between Canva and PowerPoint, some fonts, images, animations and videos may not work properly. For the full experience, utilize the Canva slides above.