(Canadian Press)

By Liam Verster

grades 8-12

Interior Health launches youth vaping and smoking poster contest

Oct 24, 2022 | 3:03 PM

Interior Health has put a call out to youth artists to participate in a poster contest.

The health authority is seeking submissions for the Take a Breath: Teen Voices on Tobacco & Vaping campaign.

Interior teens enrolled in Grades 8 to 12 can submit original artwork that corresponds with the five themes of the campaign:

• Important facts about smoking and vaping
• The importance of ceremonial tobacco
• Strategies used by tobacco and vaping companies to promote products
• The impact these products have on teens’ lives
• The environmental impact of tobacco and vaping

The contest was developed by Interior Health’s Tobacco and Vapour Reduction Team as a way to engage with youth about tobacco use and vaping and the effects it has on them, their friends, family, school, community and environment.

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The team worked in collaboration with teens from the McCreary Centre Society to come up with the campaign. Those teens will also serve as judges in selecting the winning submissions.

Artwork can be submitted through IH’s Take a Breath website until November 15. Participants will also be entered into a draw for a $150 gift card of their choice.

The winning posters will be professionally printed and posted in schools and communities throughout the Interior.

IH noted that a survey in 2021 found 15 per cent of B.C. youth age 16 to 19 had smoked cigarettes in the past 12 months, while 23 per cent said they had vaped within the past year.