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AN INCREASING NUMBER of US adults are using marijuana, as fewer people perceive the drug as harmful, according to a survey of over 500,000 people.
The study analysed data from 596,500 adults who took part in the annual US National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2002 to 2014.
Marijuana use (defined as having used marijuana in the previous year) increased from 10.4% in 2002 to 13.3% in 2014. The proportion of adults who first started using marijuana in the previous year increased from 0.7% in 2002 to 1.1% in 2014.
The prevalence of daily or near daily use (defined as people who use marijuana, on average, five days or more per week) increased from 1.9% to 3.5% over the same period.
Extrapolating the findings in line with the US population, the authors estimate that the number of adults who first used marijuana increased from 823,000 in 2002 to 1.4 million in 2014, and that the overall number of marijuana users increased from 21.9 million to 31.9 million.
They estimate that the number of daily or near daily users was 8.4 million in 2014, up from 3.9 million in 2002.
Perceived risk
This increase is associated with a decrease in the proportion of people perceiving great risk of harm from smoking marijuana once or twice a week from 50.4% to 33.3%.
The research, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, notes that changes in marijuana use and perception of harm generally began in 2007.
The prevalence of marijuana use disorders – abuse or dependence – among adults in the general population remained stable at about 1.5% between 2002 and 2014, and the prevalence of marijuana use disorders among users declined (from 14.8% to 11%).
The authors suggest this may be because the large number of people who have started using marijuana in the past year might be using the drug less frequently.
While the study did not find an increase in the overall prevalence of marijuana use disorders among adults, it was not able to fully assess the impact of recent changes to state-level cannabis laws on widening use, and the authors say that continued monitoring of marijuana use and disorders at national and state-level is needed.
Dr Wilson M Compton, one of the authors and a member of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said: “Understanding patterns of marijuana use and dependence, and how these have changed over time, is essential for policy makers who continue to consider whether and how to modify laws related to marijuana and for health care practitioners who care for patients using marijuana.
Perceived risk of marijuana use is associated with high frequency of use suggesting the potential value for modifying risk perceptions of marijuana use in adults through effective education and prevention messages.
Compton noted that state laws related to marijuana use in the US have “changed considerably over the past 20 years”, with medical marijuana now legalised in 25 states and the District of Columbia. Several jurisdictions have also legalised non-medical marijuana use.
The research notes that people who used marijuana were more likely to develop dependence if they were male, younger, had low education, were not in full time employment, had depression and used tobacco or other substances.
The study did not include homeless people or prisoners, meaning that rates of drug use and drug use disorders could be even higher. The authors noted that the research did not look at other psychiatric disorders, such as psychosis or schizophrenia, so cannot provide information on the link between more severe psychiatric disorders and marijuana use.
Ireland
There have been a number of calls for cannabis to be legalised in Ireland for medical reasons, with researching showing it could help alleviate certain symptoms suffered by people with illnesses such as Multiple Sclerosis and cancer.
Last month, a Bill on the issue was tabled in the Dáil by People Before Profit/Anti-Austerity Alliance.
In November 2015, the Oireachtas Justice Committee recommended that the possession of a small amount of illegal drugs be decriminalised – following months of research and public submissions.
The main findings of the committee’s report were:
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“more US adults are using Marijuana because they don’t think it’s harmful”….maybe because it’s produced legally and well regulated in more states in the US and not harmful if used responsibly. Irish adults are using alcohol because and don’t think it harmful when used responsibly.
Weed can be harmful if used as a teenager when the brain is developing. After that, when used moderately its far less harmful than alcohol. And getting drunk vs getting stoned… there is no contest. It can and will be legalised once the government get there balls out of the churches purse and tax it!
Keep fooling yourself there , good man..
I know 3 young fellas with paranoia problems from smoking that crap
I know 3 older fellas that get massive relief from several ailments from smoking that plant.
I’d say they just don’t like you Paddy.
With your drinking and nagging..
It’s everywhere. Not hard to get. It should be legal. Ridiculous that’s it’s not.
Yes, like guns.
The intent of guns are to kill. The intent of cannabis is to relax, to heal and to pleasure. You are more or less comparing a plant to a weapon pal
I know many people that relax and take pleasure in going to a gun range and firing off some shots at a target. I can argue that it’s a sporting ability that builds physical and mental focus, hand-eye control, visual acuity and accuracy of perception.
You’re more or less attempting to argue that you should have the freedom to sit at home enjoying your herb given you’re harming no one but yourself while judging someone else’s interests on the grounds it has potential for abuse… A truth that applies to both scenarios.
Sure I can take my weed and throw it at people, some plant matter might get it someone’s eye and cause some harm. Although if I had a gun I could just shoot them all dead. Hence why guns can be fatal but cannabis cannot. Maybe try comparing cannabis with another recreational drugs rather than a tool of destruction. It’s like asking should we legalise condoms and then some Eijit come along comparing condoms to horse riding.
What about people that smoke some shit and then go out to the range to fire off a few rounds?
Guns are illegal. Regulated shooting ranges are not. Big difference
Leo if you think guns are more readily available in this country than weed than I’m worried about your social circles.
The cannabis is “dangerous” when it is illegal. That’s why it should be legalized, and controlled and explained. A fair use of cannabis is not as dangerous as alcohol for example.
The most dangerous thing about weed is getting caught with it!!!
Makes sense to legalise it and control the quality and hit the criminals in the pocket where it hurts plus boost the taxtake.You can also explain the dangers of cannabis use better if people openly discuss the dangers of the drug.Makes sense so that means it will never happen here unfortunately.
Your post makes no sense whatsoever.
Makes full sense. Regulation always gives better results than prohibition of a substance. Alcohol is a great example, when regulated America made money and people supported the economy whilst drinking. During prohibition people supported Al capone whilst drinking & the money went towards crime and death
America will make money from legal cannabis no matter where in the world it’s sold. Aren’t they holding a global patent or something? I’m pretty sure they are. So they’d benefit if they’re saying it should be legalised.
It can’t be safe but I don’t see why it should be legalised if compared to inhaling tar or whatever cigarteetes are made from.
How much does it cost and what would it cost if legalised? Did it get cheaper in the American states it has been legalised in perhaps compared to the ones it’s still illegal in?
*cigarettes, obviously!
Right Peter many things false with what you said. Firstly America only gets revenue from cannabis they have taxed or money seized from gangs dealing in the substance. A joint sold in Spain doesn’t give a cent to America. They don’t hold a patent on cannabis and nobody ever can given its global natural state. Cannabis contains no tar even when combusted. Even vaping cannabis holds none of the chemicals used to vape tobacco. Cannabis is far safer than tobacco and far more useful. The UCD School of economics estimated the net benefit of cannabis legalisation would be 572 million euro a year (to ireland not america)
Makes sense to me… oh wait, im stoned… yep perfect sense.
If you wish to discuss the topic or regulating cannabis then by all means let’s do it. I don’t partake in trolling
Leo takes it up the back passage
Says the moron who compared guns to cannabis lol
Oh, that’s good. Though I did read that America does.
I’d have thought there were safer ways to use it other than smoking it.
I’d imagine sometime in the future, maybe the not so near future, that it will be legal in Ireland.
In the same way The Netherlands have it.
I don’t know of anyone who wants to take a drug and isn’t able to acquire it. I do know of people who got into taking harder drugs simply because the same person they bought weed or hash off sold pills and powder too. On a purely financial point we waste a lot of cash on this issue with no positive returns. Legalise regulate and most of all educate.
What would be a good cannabis seed to use to grow your own?
A female cannabis seed. Preferably suited and bred to northern hemisphere climates. Indica performs well in Ireland
just type in irish seed bank into google, 5 feminised seeds for €40.00, choice of what you want, indoor/outdoor high in Sativa/Thc – last time i checked they had 87 different varieties on there including some cracking hybrids :), you can either get them posted or pop in and pick them up .
* Sativa/Indica * typo – they also have indoor or outdoor plants.
Thanks a million guys
White widow is easy to grow and is very forgiving if it’s your first crop eg soil ph etc.. stay away from hazes as they can be temperamental ;-)
@Robin,try Northern Lights or Big Bang autoflower,easy to grow and top notch.
Feminist durban poison.
If you were to do a study on alcohol just only on the alcoholics and homeless. The narrative would show a much more harmful picture than any weed boogie man can manifest. The fear is always “will somebody please think of the children”, but the truth is, it’s your job to protect your children! All kids should be protected from substances that hinder their development, but fact is they are not! The people the distribute drugs of any sort target the youth. These are highly intelligent individuals that market their products not unlike the CEOs of CocaCola or McDonald’s. Get em young!
Let’s change the way we envisage the human race and educate first.
And last but not least, governments have gone to war to protect the drug trade. Militarised protection on the poppy fields in Afghanistan. Why?
You are not protected… You are controlled!
Interestingly the Canadian president stated they are legalising (and regulating) weed next year because dealers have no issue selling to young kids. Hence legalisation makes it more difficult for kids to obtain.
If it’s legal or not in the United States your employer still reserves the right ask you to pee in a cup as a condition of your continued employment and fire you if they don’t like the results…
….same if they thought you had dependency on alcohol. They could choose not to hire you
Yes but even a heavy does of alcohol metabolises completely within approx 6hrs. Unlike THC which remains in the body and detectable for up to 1 month.
True doing a saliva drug test for cannabis will only ever prove if it’s in your system & not if you are currently stoned. A blood test is needed for potency.
Yea but much would a 50 bag be if taxed probably 100
James ireland has the most expensive cannabis in Europe. The price would drop from 25 euro a gram to 10 euro a gram and that’s with a high tax rate. The point of legalisation is to undercut the dealers.
The only reason that cannabis prohibition is continuing to this day is MONEY. You have big pharmacy, the drinks companies, timber indus try etc pouring millions of dollars to the American government in lobbying and backhanders so as to keep cannabis as schedule 1
Definitely wouldn’t be a bad thing if they were replacing their alcohol with it. Let’s see if the huge uptake of hard drugs comes about as the hardliners keep spouting.
Check Colorado, no uptake in hard drugs since legalisation become a reality in 2014. In fact decreases have been shown
Everybody must be stonnnedddd!!!!
Excellent contribution James you are an asset to humanity !
The progression to harder drugs is typically left to the town idiots & those with a pre disposition to addiction, but hey lets base our future progress around the 1% or weakest links in the chain.
Health concerns regarding cannabis/marijuana tend to come from a self-fueling group of discredited scientists funded by the pharmaceutical, prison, tobacco, and alcohol industries. They push non-peer-reviewed papers, fraught with conjecture and confounding variables, while relying upon reports issued by others in their own group to further support their own grossly misleading research and clearly biased agendas.
Here’s the real science:
Study: Cannabis/Marijuana Use Not Predictive Of Lower IQ, Poorer Educational Performance
“… to test the relationships between cumulative cannabis use and IQ at the age of 15 and educational performance at the age of 16. After full adjustment, those who had used cannabis more than 50 times did not differ from never-users on either IQ or educational performance. Adjusting for group differences in cigarette smoking dramatically attenuated the associations between cannabis use and both outcomes, and further analyses demonstrated robust associations between cigarette use and educational outcomes, even with cannabis users excluded. These findings suggest that adolescent cannabis use is not associated with IQ or educational performance once adjustment is made for potential confounds, in particular adolescent cigarette use.”
Source: C Mokrysz, et al. Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London. Published January 6, 2016 in Journal of Psychopharmacology.
http://intl-jop.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/01/06/0269881115622241.full
Daily Cannabis/Marijuana Use Is Not Associated with Brain Morphometric Measures in Adolescents or Adults
“No statistically significant differences were found between daily users and nonusers on volume or shape in the regions of interest. Effect sizes suggest that the failure to find differences was not due to a lack of statistical power, but rather was due to the lack of even a modest effect. In sum, the results indicate that, when carefully controlling for alcohol use, gender, age, and other variables, there is no association between marijuana use and standard volumetric or shape measurements of subcortical structures.”
The Journal of Neuroscience, 28 January 2015, 35(4): 1505-1512; doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2946-14.2015
“Health concerns regarding cannabis/marijuana tend to come from a self-fueling group of discredited scientists funded by the pharmaceutical, prison, tobacco, and alcohol industries.”
This is simply untrue. Scientists are very interested as to the health effects of a widely used drug, because we actually don’t know that much about the long term impact of the drug (or at least of smoking it).
Not everybody who expresses doubt about how healthy it is to inhale burning plant matter into your lungs is a shill for big pharma (or whatever). We know that this causes lots of damage with tobacco and it doesn’t seem unreasonable at all to decide we shouldn’t research the health impact of doing it with a different plant.
That said, legalisation would make it a lot easier for proper studies to be done to determine the health changes caused (positive and negative) by using cannabis.
They’re less dangerous when they’re stoned
In other news water is wet.
Maybe if we package weed as a way of getting people into pubs the government will legalize it, useless shower.
moby dick is lovely too
Drugs are bad. Mk
Current drug laws are bad Mkay
Let’s legalize weed and pay government tax and duty on it’
**STONERLOGIC**
critical kush is lovely
Ah Orla, come on you can do better than this.
She is doing far better than you by the looks of things
A lot of scientists are worried because average IQs are falling. I wonder why pot heads think they are so trendy taking a chemical that alters the chemical balance of their brain. All of the terrorist murderers in France, Belgium and the ones that have beheaded innocent people in front of cameras in Syria are ex pot heads.
T- I just laughed out loud. Silly comment.
For outside the Serious 6 is the earliest and most mould resistent seed (sativa with great taste & effect) available. Good 2nd is Biddy Early if you prefer indica. Both require very little attention. Sunshine and water is all they need. I loved them
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