According to a study by the American Medical Association, people are increasingly comparing smoking marijuana or being around secondhand cannabis smoke to smoking tobacco or being in close proximity to smoke.
Researchers asked 5,035 U.S. adult respondents three times – in 2017, 2020, and 2021 – about their perceptions of the risks associated with both substances. They found that there was a “significant change” over time. More people felt that cannabis smoke is generally safer than smoke from tobacco.
The results of the survey were published on Friday in the Journal of the American Medical Association Substance Use and Addiction (JAMA). It asked people if they thought smoking one marijuana joint a day was less safe than smoking a cigarette – or if it was just as safe.
The authors concluded that “daily cannabis smoke or exposure to smoke was perceived as safer than tobacco.” Over time, “views favored cannabis smoke over tobacco smoke.”
“Regarding daily cannabis smoking vs. tobacco, there has been a significant change from 2017 to 2021 towards a more positive perception of cannabis.”
In 2017, for example, 33.7 percent said that smoking cannabis once a week was more or less dangerous than smoking cigarettes every day, while 36.6 percent said it was safer. Around 30 percent of respondents said that they were both equally dangerous.
In 2021, only 25.5 percent of respondents still believed that marijuana is more harmful than tobacco cigarettes, whereas 44.3 percent now believe the opposite. This represents a 21-percent increase since 2004.
When asked to rate the relative risks of secondhand cannabis smoke and cigarette smoking, respondents showed similar trends.
In 2017, 29,2 percent of respondents said that secondhand smoke from marijuana was more harmful than exposure to cigarette smoke, while 35.1% said the opposite. Another 35,6 percent stated that neither was more nor less dangerous.
In 2021, four years after the survey, 25,5 percent of respondents said secondhand cannabis smoke is worse than cigarette smoke. And 40,1 percent said marijuana smoke is safer than cigarette smoke.
From 2017 to 2021, there was a “significant shift towards a more positive view of cannabis.”
In the survey, people were asked to rate how safe secondhand tobacco and marijuana smoke was for different groups.
Adults rated cannabis as somewhat or completely harmless, while tobacco was rated at only 2.4 percent. Children, on the other hand, were more likely to say that secondhand smoke from cannabis was safe. And 5.3 per cent said that marijuana smoke is generally safe to pregnant women.
The paper states that “US adults are more positive about the safety of secondhand and primary cannabis smoke than they are towards tobacco smoke.”
The authors noted that “the legality of cannabis within the state of residence of the participants was not independently related to change over time.” This suggests that the growing perception of cannabis’ safety may be a national trend, rather than one seen only in states where cannabis is legalized.
This finding appears to contradict a section of the conclusion of the paper where the authors state that “risk perception could decrease further as more states legalize cannabis, which might be associated with an increase in consumption of cannabis or exposure to secondhand smoke from cannabis.”
The perceived relative safety of marijuana smoke has increased over time.
The authors are concerned by the shift in attitude towards the relative safety of marijuana, stating that “public health initiatives may be needed to educate the public about potential risks and curb social acceptance for cannabis smoke exposure similar to previous education on secondhand tobacco smoke.”
This new study was released just days after Gallup published a poll that showed more than half of Americans had tried marijuana. More people are now actively smoking cannabis cigarettes. A majority of Americans are also not concerned with the effects that regular marijuana use has on adults.
A poll conducted by the American Psychiatric Association released in June revealed that Americans believe marijuana is significantly less harmful than alcohol, cigarettes and opioids. They also say cannabis has a lower level of addiction than all these substances.
A survey conducted last year also revealed that Americans believed that marijuana was less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. A separate survey conducted last year revealed that more Americans openly admit to smoking marijuana or eating edibles infused with cannabis , than they do to having smoked cigarettes within the past seven days.
A study published in May also found that legalization at the state level is associated with “a small, sometimes significant, longer-run decline in adult tobacco consumption.”
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Martin Alonso is the photographer of this photo.
The article American Medical Association Journal Study Finds that Smoking Marijuana is Safer than Cigarettes appeared first on Marijuana Moment.
