Cannabis users may not perceive tobacco use as dangerous
A growing number of U.S. adults who use cannabis daily may not perceive heavy tobacco use as harmful, researchers reported in Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
Renee D. Goodwin, PhD, MPH, BS, professor in epidemiology and biostatistics at the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, and colleagues reported that most Americans who use cigarettes have at least one mental health or substance use disorder.
An analysis of a 2020 nationally representative study showed that 51.7% of Americans aged 12 years and older who reported past cigarette use met the criteria for at one of the following: serious psychological distress, major depressive episode, heavy alcohol use or daily cannabis use. Each of these were linked with lower quit rates among cigarette users and increased smoking recurrence in those who have quit, as well as rises in smoking initiation.
Goodwin and colleagues used national data to examine whether the perceived risk associated with smoking a pack of cigarettes or more a day differs among adults who use cannabis daily.
“Our findings suggest that diminished risk perception of pack-a-day cigarette use might be one contributing factor,” Goodwin said in a press release from the university.
According to the authors, adults who use cannabis daily were significantly less likely to report that smoking a pack of cigarettes or more a day is a “great” health risk, compared with those who do not use cannabis.
“The data suggests that plain packaging is one measure that can maximize the safe and effective rollout of cannabis legalization that ensures and protects the health, safety and well-being of all members of our community,” Goodwin said in the release. “Prohibiting product packaging that mimics foods and candies that are traditionally marketed to children may reduce potential unintended harms to the most vulnerable members of our community via accidental ingestion/poisonings, which have exploded in number in recent years in the U.S., and child and adolescent intentional use of these products.”
Reference:
Cannabis users less likely to consider heavy tobacco use dangerous. https://sph.cuny.edu/life-at-sph/news/2022/08/10/cannabis-users-heavy-tobacco-use/. Published: Aug. 10, 2022; Accessed: Aug. 15, 2022.