By implementing the project, partners aimed to respond to the challenges posed by changing cannabis policies in Europe and to strengthen youth work in this sensitive area. The central goal was to improve the quality of youth protection and youth-oriented education, reduce knowledge gaps among youth workers and enable them to engage in informed, sensitive discussions about cannabis prevention. At the same time, the aim was to improve cooperation between youth work and addiction prevention and to strengthen existing interfaces. For the organizations, CanCo served to build expertise: Jugendagentur and Euroaccion developed a specialist knowledge base on the effects of cannabis use on young people, examined cannabis policy from various European perspectives, and gained practical insights from an established cannabis social club in Spain. For bwlv, the focus was on internationalizing its prevention work. Concrete outputs of the project were a practice-oriented guide for youth workers and a concept for a cooperation partnership in the field of youth protection/cannabis prevention.
Against the backdrop of the growing significance of cannabis use among young people and insufficient cooperation between youth and prevention work, the partners responded with the project to changing social and legal conditions and to the discrepancy between the reality of consumption and the professional preparation of youth workers and caregivers. A key motive was the sometimes high level of regular consumption despite known health risks, especially for young people, coupled with the taboo nature of the topic in practice. The partial legalization of cannabis in Germany from 2024 onwards posed an additional challenge for addiction prevention, for which professionals needed to be prepared. The partnership with the Spanish organization and the Cannabis Social Club enabled a European exchange of experiences with a country with a more liberal cannabis policy. CanCo addressed the need for sound knowledge, guidance for discussions with young people, and improved cooperation between youth work and addiction prevention. The project served to build competence and internationalize the participating organizations, and forms the basis for a cooperation project.