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The per centum of mass in the United States who see regular marijuana use as harmful has fallen since the kickoff of the 21st century , a young survey see . That could translate into more pot drug user in the future , expert say .
In 2002 , about half of Americans ( 51 percent ) thought there was a great risk assort withsmoking potonce or twice a week . By 2012 , that figure had dropped importantly , to 40 percent , according to data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health .
Despite the bigshift in public persuasion , rate of cannabis exercise did not change that dramatically over the same 10 - year period . [ Where Americans Smoke and Grow Marijuana ( Maps ) ]
The percentage of people who used marijuana at least once in the previous yr only increase from 11.0 per centum in 2002 to 12.3 per centum in 2012 . The percentage of Americans who admitted to using toilet on a day-by-day basis stay small ; however , it did rise by a statistically pregnant amount : 1.3 per centum in 2002 versus 2.1 percentage in 2012 .
Dr. Silvia Martins , an associate prof of epidemiology at Columbia University and senior author of the subject area , was n’t all that surprised by the break between public views on marijuana and genuine marijuana use .
" These social changes take time to reflect in the prevalence of function , " Martins told Live Science . " If we revisit the data five years from now , we might see something dissimilar going on . "
Martin has reason to consider that variety will eventually go on ; she said preceding studies of kernel maltreatment have shown that the less speculative a individual thinks a drug is , the more uncoerced he or she is to employ that drug .
Data from the survey showed that young adults ( those 18 to 25 ) , masses with more education ( at least a high school diploma ) and people with high incomes ( $ 75,000 or eminent ) were among the least probable to comprehend peril in regularmarijuanause , accord to the cogitation . Martins said this is consistent with polls that have shown that these segments of the population are broadly speaking more in favor of legalizing marijuana and more likely to attempt selective information about drug usage .
Women were most twice as potential to comprehend risk in regularcannabisuse compare with homo . ( Still , the share of women who envision this peril dropped from 59 pct in 2002 to 47 percent in 2012 . ) In general , women are more probable than workforce to view drugs and other gist as risky , Martins said , although human being and woman now have similar rates of rate of risk perception regarding alcohol . This could be the event of a generational shift key , Martins said , as it ’s become more socially satisfactory for women to use alcoholic drink and get inebriated in populace .
Among Dr. and research worker , there ’s still no widespread consensus about the risks of marijuana , Martins said . That ’s largely because researchers have been limited in their power to study the effects of an illegal drug in clinical trials .
" Some people will use that as an argument in favor of legalization , and then other people will habituate exactly the same argument against legalization , " Martins said .
But more inquiry opportunities are opening up as states approve marijuana use . A bit of states have legalized aesculapian marijuana , while Colorado , Washington , Alaska , Oregon and the District of Columbia have all approve the recreational use of marijuana and are at various stages of implementing those new laws .
The annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health involves C of thousands of respondents from across the land . As part of this survey , participant were asked about their own cannabis use . They were also asked , " How much do people risk harm themselves physically and in other ways when they smoke [ cannabis ] once or twice a week ? " Their reception options included " no hazard " " flimsy peril , " " moderate risk " and " swell risk . "
The findings were publish online Feb. 17 in the journalDrug and Alcohol Dependence .
