Cannabis Consumer Assessment of Receptivity to Point-of-Sale Education and Safe Storage Intervention

In partnership with Public Health – Seattle King County and the Spokane Regional Health District, CERP collected information to inform a pilot prevention intervention promoting free safe storage devices and youth prevention messaging in cannabis stores to parents and guardians who use cannabis. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with adult cannabis consumers with youth under 18 years of age in the home.  

Participants reported a wide range of storage practices. Nearly all parents were excited and willing to use a cannabis storage device provided to them at no cost from cannabis stores. Youth prevention messaging was supported when it supported open communication with kids. Most parents believed that candid dialog about the reasons that they use cannabis and the risks of young people using would be more effective than limits or prohibition in preventing teen use; and that these conversations strengthened parent-child relationships and avoided secrecy about their own use, which felt dishonest. Messages that were reviewed less favorably included those that suggested that parents consume cannabis out of sight of children, which felt like a return to cannabis being taboo and in the shadows. 

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