2023 Social Impact Fund Partner: University of Calgary

Last updated September 8, 2025 | Published on September 8, 2025

What are young adults’ experiences with cannabis? How do they think about the risks and benefits of using cannabis? What would they tell other young adults about reducing potential harms and staying safe? The The Young Adult Digital Storytelling Cannabis Harm Reduction Project used Digital Storytelling (DST) to engage young adults in creating messages about cannabis and harm reduction.

DST is a community engagement tool and research method used to explore people’s experiences of health and social issues on a deeper level. Participants created three- to five-minute videos using still images, audio recordings, video and music. All content was chosen by the participant, who narrated the story in first person. Script writing is central to DST; a trained facilitator worked with each participant to construct a story centred on a meaningful moment or experience.

In this project, the team used DST to provide young adults with the tools to create messages about reducing cannabis harms, identifying those meaningful moments or shifts in experiences with cannabis that they feel are important to share. The team produced 10 digital stories from perspectives across Canada, with an emphasis on participants in Ontario. 

Several themes emerged from the digital storytelling workshop videos. These themes reflect the diverse experiences and perspectives of the participants regarding cannabis use, including:

• cannabis and mental health
• harm reduction
• personal transformation
• stigma and acceptance
• support systems
• cannabis education for youth
• LGBTQ+ experiences

Impact

• 10 videos created – nine digital stories and one mini-documentary, 160,000+ unique views: 
  • Weightless: Stories of Cannabis Harm Reduction (mini-documentary) 
  • Tanya’s Story: A Journey Through the Shadows 
  • Alsa’s Story: Ungrounded 
  • Dana’s Story: Weightless 
  • Callie’s Story: What Happened to You?
  • Lucky’s Story: Finding Home
  • Jay’s Story: Smoke and Shadows
  • Atlas’s Story: Story of Escape 
  • Josie’s Story: Captive of Cannabis
  • Seven’s Story: Fanning Flames 
• Two conference presentations and one federal workshop presentation with key stakeholders
• Three screening community events hosted
  • 100% of participants rated the events as good or very good
  • 100% of participants felt the events met or exceeded expectations
  

Meet the University of Calgary team

DR. MIKE LANG

Dr. Mike Lang is a health researcher, filmmaker and Level 3 Common Language Digital Storytelling Facilitator. He founded and currently directs Common Language Digital Storytelling, a training organization for Digital Storytelling facilitation around the world. Connect with Dr. Lang on all socials @mikelangstories or @commonlanguagedst, and learn more at mikelangstories.com and commonlanguagedst.org

DR. REBECCA HAINES-SAAH

Dr. Rebecca Haines-Saah is a public health sociologist working at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. Rebecca has over 20 years’ experience as a youth substance use researcher and is widely recognized for leadership and expertise in youth cannabis research. More information about Dr. Haines-Saah’s work is available online at rebeccasaah.com