2y ago

Study Finds 79% of Americans Believe Marijuana is As Safe or Safer Than Tobacco

“More than one-third of participants felt that daily smoking of cannabis was safer than tobacco, and their views increasingly favored safety of cannabis vs tobacco over time (1742 participants [36.7%] in 2017 vs 2107 participants [44.3%] in 2021; P < .001)”

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Not that I have anything against Marijuana, but I'd prefer a study or something like "79% of researchers in the field believe.." , because if we go with what majority thinks on scientific topics , we are going to have a bad time.
- That's fair. Agreed, I'd love to see that stat. For me, tracking public perception over time is helpful and insightful in its own way. For example: Anticipating voting trends and legislation.
  It's also worth noting there are several barriers for effective cannabis research to happen, even with all the changes in legalization, production, and access. Here's an article from 2021 about research challenges, but progress has been made recently
  
  Yep, you poll citizens when you want to know if something is politically popular.
- Public perception is a valid topic of study in its own right.
- "Facts are meaningless. You can prove anything that is even remotely true with facts."
  --Homer J. Simpson
- Most "science" is funded people who are paying for specific results.

Twenty years ago it wouldn't be a big deal, but nowadays it's HARD to get 79% of Americans to believe ANY fact.
- Everybody loves weed, across the political spectrum.

Probably because it is... Cannabis smoke isn't that healthy overall, but it's found to be safer than Tobacco smoke is at least. It doesn't carry nearly the carcinogenic risks of tobacco, and afaik, it doesn't carry the same risks for COPD, chronic bronchitis, etc. Though longer term studies would be needed for those to get real data to know for sure.
- Not only that, but I doubt most weed smokers don't smoke 2 packs of weed a day.
  
  Lol, well that might be a challenge to some, but yes you are generally correct! xD
- So one else please admit that they saw aflac

Poll: 21% of Americans are dumber than previously thought

Now do the same for alcohol.
- Forget the poll.
  What we need is to put a dozen angry people in a room.
  Half with weed and half with alcohol and a bunch of irritation and see which half will start a fish fight first.
  I mean I'm not actually trying to solve the debate I just think it'll be a funny experiment.
  
  Watching people slap each other with fish is always funny.
  
  The people with weed will just sit around and laugh at the situation.

Anything that is being burnt is not good to smoke.
- Spotted the vaporent XD
  
  Vape is also bad for you. Lungs are designed to take oxygen.

Depends on how they are smoked. Joints are fucking terrible for you.
- The benefit is that it isn't chemically addictive. It is behaviorally addictive though. Both are very bad when inhaled (of course).
- We should say how it's consumed, because the arguably safest way to consume marijuana doesn't involve smoking at all (edibles).
- (Nods as he puffs from his Dynavap).
  I'm never going back from the dry herb vapes! When you're smoking cannabis, you're turning perfectly good THC into carcinogens. Why would you do that‽ Better to vaporize your cannabinoids without setting them on fire.

Smoking is bad regardless of what it is. You’re putting shit in your lungs that you shouldn’t. And then if your near others your putting it in their lungs too. If you want to get high do edibles or some shit that only affects you. But never tell me smoking weed is perfectly safe. Micro particles are damaging for you and others regardless what they’re made of.
Personally I think smoking cigarettes needs more restrictions and then smoking weed needs to fall in line with those. I’m all for legalization to the point where people can do what they want. But the second it messes with someone else’s choice it’s not your right anymore.
I’m getting pushed to try weed for more shit than ever now that it’s legal here and I can’t stand it. I don’t want to smoke. That’s my choice. Leave me choose it. “Oh but it will chill you out” ya well I’m allergic to THC. My throat swells shut. “Nah you just gotta get acclimated to it. Just trust me and try it”.
We push cigarettes out of so many places because of people with asthma, and rightfully so. But we need to do it with smoking ANYTHING. And I’m tired of hearing all of these “it might be a miracle cure for every disease ever”. I don’t care. It needs to be legalized on the grounds that people can do with their bodies what they want as long as those choice have no impact on others. It doesn’t need to be a miracle cure to be legal. It just needs to be legal. And once it’s legal then actual medical studies can be conducted in the United States to determine how medicinal it really is.
- Square.
- I can't do something so I don't want anyone else to be able to do it either! The more they enjoy it the more I seethe with anger!
  
  You clearly didn’t read my response…
- Don't listen to the haters here, you make a fine point. First, we stop criminalizing it. Let the hatred and the worship fade a bit. Then we can focus on objectively determining it's uses, it's dangers, and it's place in society.
- share this magical place where people are offering free drugs and even insist that I do them?
  Asking for a friend

Especially when you don't smoke it.
- Yeah anywhere it's legal the amount of people vaporizing and consuming edibles far outweigh the people still smoking flower.

Safer when smoked in the same quantities? Not even close. Marijuana smoke has considerably more tar*. Safer when smoked like a sane person? Definitely.
*Cigarettes carry their own risks because of added chemicals, but the headline didn't specify cigarettes, just tobacco.
- Fair point on the Tobacco vs Cigarettes, but generally people interpret the two as synonymous.
  
  They do, which highlights how flawed/pointless this survey and headline are.
  Not accounting for the well known association between tobacco and cigarettes when formulating the question is just lazy polling.

Not quite sure how they got the 79%. Looking at the 2021 data for two questions:
How safe is smoking one marijuana joint a day versus one cigarette a day?
As safe or safer than tobacco totals to 75.5%
How does secondhand smoke from marijuana compare to secondhand smoke from tobacco?
As safe or safer than tobacco totals to 77.5%
- I wouldn't wanna inhale second-hand cannabis either.
  
  Same. Still would rather shotgun cannabis smoke over tobacco

I guess it must be true
- Yeah, it doesn't mean much but it should mean something for legalization. Supposedly the beliefs of the people are what matters (we all know this isn't true), so if people think it's safer than tobacco then either tobacco should be illegal or weed should be legal.
  It's definitely safer to society than alcohol. As long as that's legal, many other drugs should be as well.
- I hope so lol but I know it's not

Falling from 2 storeys down is safer than falling from 3 storeys down.

That's some low bar there lol.
- Gotta start somewhere. Just remember where we came from!

79% of Americans all got the same question right, that alone is kinda shocking.

My local news station aired this story today along with a quote from experts that it is not true because smoking things leads to inhaling bad shit from the wrappers.

I’m glad they feel that way

Who are these crazy 21%?

No siree Bob !?!?!

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