Background: Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentrations in recreational cannabis have risen dramatically with some products routinely exceeding 72% THC. Evidence links use of today’s THC products among adolescents to increased risks for cannabis use disorder, psychosis, and neurodevelopmental harm. Traditional public health channels are less likely to reach young people. To close the gap, Tea on THC, a cannabis-focused public health education campaign, developed a unique strategy to provide authentic messages through trusted teen and young adult messengers on social media.
Methods: Tea on THC deployed a multi-channel social media strategy across TikTok, Snapchat, Meta, YouTube and Twitch. This approach combined authentic youth voices and vetted influencer partnerships. Research was translated into creative assets, with messaging optimized using real-time performance data. Evaluation tracked reach, engagement, sentiment, and awareness using real-time metrics.
Results: Preliminary findings indicated that a diversified strategy combining authentic youth voices, influencer partnerships, and campaign content extended prevention messaging to young people, particularly teens aged 13 – 17 years old. Sentiment analysis revealed favorable reception of creator-driven content. Final reach, engagement, and awareness data will be presented. Using TikTok in Year 2 has generated over 8.4 million impressions just in 2026, driving engagement amongst 13-18 year olds. In February 2026, Tea on THC expanded to new platforms to reach more youth: Snapchat, Twitch, and Reddit, already generating over 5 million impressions. These metrics represent a significant change over previous year.
Implications: Effective youth cannabis prevention requires more complex approaches, especially given the contemporary social media environment. . By combining authentic youth voices and digital creators together with evidence-based content across multiple social media platforms, the Tea on THC campaign expanded youth access to prevention information, . This model offers a novel, replicable framework for multi-channel youth health communication.
