According to new Gallup data, Americans believe marijuana is less harmful than other tobacco products such as alcohol, cigarettes and vapes. The polling firm also says that cannabis has “surpassed the use of cigarettes in the U.S. while vaping is still behind both”.
The survey is a continuation in a trend that has been going on for years, as American adults are increasingly avoiding cigarettes due to the growing awareness of their health risks. Data shows a different trend in marijuana perceptions, as the number of states that have legalized its use increases and as more adults become active users.
The respondents were asked to rate seven substances as harmful or not. Two out of five Americans (40%) said marijuana is not harmful at all or too little.
This is 10 times more people than said cigarettes are relatively safe (four%) and double the number of people who said the exact same thing about alcohol (16%).
Gallup.
Only 23 percent of respondents said that marijuana was “very dangerous,” compared with 76 percent who said the same about cigarettes, 54 percent who said it about e-cigarettes or cigars, and 30 percent when they were asked about alcohol.
The analysis published by the firm on Thursday says that “Marijuana received the lowest level health concern compared to other substances,” but that separate Gallup research shows three-quarters of U.S. adults have expressed concern about the effects marijuana can have on teens and young adults who regularly use it.
Gallup’s separate report published on Friday on cannabis and cigarette use also referred to the survey, which involved interviews with 1,015 American adult from July 3 through 27. The margin of error was +/- four percentage points.
This poll revealed that smoking cigarettes has remained at an all-time low. Only 12 percent of adults said that they had smoked in the last week. This trend is partly due to the increased use of electronic cigarettes by young adults. 18% of them say that they vape.
Gallup reported that “but marijuana use surpasses the two products among young adults.” “[S]ince 2019 an average of 27% of 18-29-year-olds smoke marijuana.”
Overall, more than half of American adults say they have tried cannabis a minimum of once. And 17 percent of Americans say they smoke marijuana currently, which is 5 percentage points higher than the current rates of cigarette smoking. The poll only asked about “smoking”, so it is likely that this total excludes cannabis users who smoke edibles or oils.
Marijuana use has surpassed cigarette usage in the U.S., while vaping still trails both,” Gallup a href=”https://news.gallup.com/poll/509720/cigarette-smoking-rate-steadynearhistoricallow.aspx” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>said. Gallup stated that vaping is still behind both cigarette and marijuana usage. These changes are largely due to the changing habits of young adults who smoke more marijuana and e cigarettes than cigarettes. They also smoke less cigarettes than in previous decades.
The report states that “the fact that Americans view cigarettes as being the most harmful suggests that public health campaigns to discourage smoking have had an impact.” The report says that “while most Americans still view marijuana and vaping as being at least somewhat harmful for health, public health experts may want to ensure that young adults also get these messages.”
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A similar poll, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this month, shows that people are increasingly viewing smoking cannabis or being exposed second-hand to cannabis smoke as being safer than tobacco smoking or being around smoke.
In a separate survey conducted by the American Psychiatric Association and Morning Consult, released in June, Americans also believe that marijuana is significantly less harmful than alcohol, cigarettes and opioids. They also say cannabis has a lower addiction level than all of these substances and technology.
A survey conducted last year showed that Americans believed that marijuana was less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. A separate poll conducted in that same year revealed that more Americans openly admit to smoking marijuana or eating edibles infused with cannabis , than they do admit to smoking cigarettes within the last week.
A study published in may found that the state-level legalization of tobacco is associated with “small but sometimes significant long-term declines in adult smoking.”
A Gallup poll conducted in 2020 found that 70% of Americans consider smoking marijuana to be a morally-acceptable activity. This is higher than the views of Americans on issues like gay relationships, animal medical testing, the death sentence and abortion.
Bill Maher, a joint-smoking Bill Maher and GOP presidential candidate Ramaswamy discuss marijuana legalization in a chat
Photo by Mike Latimer.
The post Americans view marijuana as safer than alcohol and cigarettes, Gallup poll finds appeared initially on Marijuana moment.
