From engaging students with stimulating Canva slides to a perceptive take-home discussion guide, this lesson uses the Positive Youth Development framework to teach middle school students about the health effects of using cannabis products.

Learning Objectives

By hearing and participating in this lesson, students will:


  • To identify the various methods of cannabis use.
  • To explain the health effects associated with cannabis use.
  • To define secondhand and thirdhand effects.

Key Takeaways

  • Smoked or aerosolized cannabis like joints, vapes, or dabbing cause short- and long-term damage to the lungs, heart, and brain.
  • Consuming cannabis edibles can take longer to feel the effects and ingesting high amounts of THC can cause nausea and vomiting.
  • Secondhand & thirdhand cannabis smoke and/or aerosol is not just harmful for the person who is using but to the people and animals around them.
  • Going cannabis-free allows the body to heal right away!

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 2 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.