Marijuana Risks and Benefits: What do US Adults Believe?
The perception of marijuana's risks and benefits may be changing within the US adult population. Are you up to date?
As more states legalize medical marijuana (39 plus DC as of this writing) and recreational use continues to broaden (18 states now) public perception of marijuana use is changing.
Using an online survey that asked 16 280 US adults for levels of agreement on statements covering marijuana risks and benefits (safety, health effects, etc), authors of a new study in Annals of Internal Medicine found that respondents now believe that cannabis products are in some instances almost as helpful as they were once perceived to be harmful.
So what do US adults believe these days? Take this 8-question quiz on the survey findings to learn more.
Question 1. National surveys suggest that the perception of "great risk" from weekly use of marijuana dropped from approximately 50% in 2002 to what percentage in 2014?
Answer: C. ~33%. National surveys suggest that the perception of "great risk" from weekly use of marijuana dropped from 50.4% in 2002 to 33.3% in 2014.
Question 2. What percentage of US adults believe that marijuana is somewhat addictive?
Answer: C. 50.1%. Half of US adults believe that marijuana is somewhat addictive vs 25.9% who believe it is very addictive and 22.4% who believe that marijuana is not addictive at all.
Question 3. True or false? Two-thirds of US adults believe that marijuana has at least 1 benefit including pain management and anxiety relief.
Answer: B. False. Approximately 81% of US adults believe that marijuana has at least 1 benefit including pain management and anxiety relief vs 17% who believe it has no benefit.
Question 4. What is the most common marijuana benefit cited by US adults?
Answer: B. Pain management. Two-thirds (66%) of US adults believe marijuana helps manage pain followed by 48% who believe it helps with the treatment of diseases (eg, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis) even though there is limited evidence to support that; 47% believe marijuana can help relieve stress, anxiety, and depression, but efficacy and safety have not been established and possible harms may exist for that treatment.
Question 5. What percentage of US adults strongly or somewhat strongly agree that smoking or vaping marijuana prevents health problems?
Answer: C. ~30%. Approximately 30% (29.2%) of US adults strongly or somewhat strongly agree that smoking or vaping marijuana prevents health problems. More than one third (36.9%) strongly or somewhat strongly agree that edible marijuana can prevent health problems.
Question 6. True or false? Approximately 13% of US adults believe that smoking 1 marijuana joint a day is safer than drinking 1 glass of wine per day.
Answer: A. True. Approximately 13% (13.5%) of US adults believe that smoking 1 marijuana joint per day is safer than drinking 1 glass of wine per day despite little evidence supporting that marijuana use in any form prevents health issues.
Question 7. The majority of US adults believe that marijuana has at least 1 risk. Which of the following do they believe is the most important risk?
Answer: A. Addiction. 21.3% of adults indicated addiction is the most important risk in using marijuana; 20.7% believe legal problems, 5.2% believe decrease in intelligence, and 4.8% believe personal or relationship problems are the most important risks.
Question 8. What percentage of adults agree that smoking 1 marijuana joint a day is much safer or somewhat safer than smoking 1 cigarette a day?
Answer: C. 38.2%. More than 1 in 3 adults agreed that smoking 1 marijuana joint per day is safer or somewhat safer than smoking 1 cigarette per day.
Reference: Keyhani S, Steigerwald S, Ishida J, et al. Risks and benefits of marijuana use: A national survey of U.S. adults. Ann Intern Med. 2018.
