A new poll released on Tuesday by POLITICO and Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health shows that the majority of Americans believe that alcohol and tobacco are more harmful than marijuana.
Only 1 in every 5 Americans believes marijuana to be harmful to its consumers while 2 in 5 Americans believe alcohol is detrimental to its users. 52% of Americans consider cigarettes to be very dangerous, while 80% say that tobacco is very harmful.
Robert Blendon, the Harvard professor for health policy and political analysis who conducted the poll of 1007 Americans, said that in the past decade, people were being jailed for marijuana, but today, they are saying marijuana is not harmful.
Since the 2012 ballot referendum authorizing recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington, marijuana legalization is rapidly being adopted by different states across the U.S. Currently there are 33 states in the U.S. that have legalized the use marijuana medically or recreationally. However, marijuana is still categorized as an illegal drug at the federal level.
The poll shows that despite the outbreak of the vaping-related lung illnesses which left 37people dead, people’s perception of marijuana was not affected. THC was present in the vaping products linked with the lung ailments. THC is a compound of cannabis that gives the high effect. According to the survey, some of the vaping products were purchased from the black market, and only a few of the products were purchased through legal channels.
The poll was conducted in October, a month after the outbreak of the vaping related lung illnesses. Blendon said that people have termed vaping as very dangerous, but the same is not true for cannabis.
During the poll, almost half the participants did not know what CBD is. Among the 8% of the adult participants familiar with the product, 5% said that the product is very harmful. Most of those familiar with CBD said that the federal government should not interfere with the product. And half of those said that the Food and Drug Administration should oversee the safety of products infused with CBD.
Fifty-five percent of those familiar with CBD said they would buy CBD over the counter regardless of whether those products passed or failed clinical trials. And, 3 out of 5 Americans said that they would still use their favorite products, even after the FDA confirms that it does not fulfill its intended purpose.
Blendon said that people do not perceive CBD as harmful; so, the FDA regulations of this cannabinoid should not be stringent.
Federal legalization of marijuana is supported by 67% of the Democrats, 69% of the independents, and 45% of the Republicans, which translates to 62 percent of all Americans. This is a marked increase from 44% in 2009, said Blendon.
Analysts believe that it is opinion poll findings like these which make marijuana companies, such as LiveWire Ergogenics Inc. (OTC: LVVV) and VIVO Cannabis Inc. (TSX.V: VIVO) (OTCQX: VVCIF), to wonder why the federal government is so out of touch with the sentiments of the citizens.
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