Montreal, QC
Layla Dehbidi Assadzadeh
Layla has recently graduated medical school and has begun her residency in paediatrics over the summer of 2023. Her passion for child and adolescent health as well as her interest in health promotion led her to co-create, along with her colleague Dr. Arianne Khorasani, an initiative entitled Drop the Vape.
Drop the Vape Food & Health
Drop the Vape (or " Échappe la Vape " in french) is a medical student-led non-profit youth vaping prevention program that aims to spread awareness about the dangers of teen vaping, provide the tools to resist peer pressure, and challenge the notion that vaping is "cool". Medical students from across Quebec host 45-minute workshops where they engage directly with high school students on the topic of teen vaping using a non-judgemental approach. These workshops are held in high schools across Quebec and beyond. Our organization also hosts Teen Vaping Awareness Day in Quebec every year where we partner with schools to dedicate a day to raising awareness of the impact of vaping in adolescence.
https://www.dropthevape.caAbout this Project
Communities Served
My project will involve and/or impact the following communities:
- At risk youth & children
- LGBTQ2+ Community members
- Indigenous Peoples
- Persons with disabilities
- Refugees & newcomers
- Racial or visible minorities
- Vulnerable individuals (e.g. those experiencing addiction, abuse)
- Multi-barrier populations
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
When it comes to community impact projects, the UN has created 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These are the Sustainable Development Goals associated with my project.
- SDG 3: Good health and Well-being
- SDG 4: Quality education
How the project works
Drop the Vape offers high schools free workshops for students on the topic of teen vaping. These workshops are hosted by passionate medical students from University of Montreal, McGill and Sherbrooke. The workshops are for teens between 11 to 17 years and are offered both in person and virtually.
Project Impact
Since October 2021, over 100 workshops have been given in schools in Montreal, Montérégie, Laval, Lac-Saint-Jean, Saguenay, Estrie and even New Brunswick. We were able to deliver workshops to an average of 15 schools per year since beginning our project in 2021 and have five schools per year participate in Teen Vaping Awareness Day. We are most proud of the amount of students that have participated in our workshops since our project began (over 10000). We hope these workshops have allowed teens to make informed decisions about their health particularly when it comes to vaping.
Project Mission
Drop the Vape's mission is to empower adolescents to make informed decisions about their health and help create a nicotine free generation.
Project Team
Our team has includes driven, passionate and dynamic medical students volunteers from across Quebec.
- Executive team includes: Layla Dehbidi, Arianne Khorasani, Wanthida Voraboud-Lecours, Olivia Serhan, Rasha Alhaeik, Doug Lebo, Hadia Selouani
Optional Photo Gallery
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