Article by Angela Stelmakowich, Growth Op
The Toker is back and is alerting young adults about the dangers of overconsuming cannabis when it comes to lung health.
The second iteration of the Lung Health Foundation’s comic book-inspired anti-hero is aimed at enhancing public health education, notes a foundation statement. Using a series of humourous videos shared on digital platforms, the Toker knows that spreading his message to Canadians aged 18 to 25 about cannabis smoking’s lung health risks is no joke.
Research shows that during these challenging times, not only are people overindulging in online behaviour like excessive streaming of video content, many cannabis users have increased their consumption.
This situation is “alarming” since “many young Canadian adults are still unaware of the lung health risks that come with smoking cannabis,” the statement notes.
Enter the well-intentioned, but ineffectual, Toker, who will appear on screens when young Canadians are overindulging in online behaviours and will try to distract and inform them through a series of humorous exchanges about cannabis and lung health.
But since the Toker can never save the day because of his cannabis smoking-related symptoms, young adults themselves will need to access the educational resources at TheTokerOnline.ca to learn more. (It’s not clear if the Toker has chronic bronchitis or chronic lung disease symptoms like cough, excessive sputum, wheezing or a decline in lung function, which can all can be linked to heavy or long-term weed-smoking.)