Cannabis as Risky: A New Study On The Nature of the Risk Discourse

A group of researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University have recently completed a groundbreaking study based on a research that lasted 10 years. The results were published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence in February 2015.

The piece is titled Perceived risk of regular cannabis use in the United States from 2002 to 2012: Differences by sex, age, and race/ethnicity. Dr. Silvia Martins, the senior author, said that “the sex differences in perceived risk of regular cannabis use observed in our study are consistent with reports from others showing male-female differences in perceived risk of substance use in general”, adding that “interestingly, individuals with a high school education or greater were significantly less likely to perceive great risk of regular cannabis use than those with less than a high school education, findings partially corroborated by results from Gallup polls indicating that adults with a college education compared to those without are more likely to support legalization of cannabis”. In other words, the study suggests women are almost twice as likely to perceive risk with regular cannabis use compared with men, and that uneducated people also are more likely to think the plant is dangerous.

It really makes you wonder why, doesn’t it?

I look at these results and what I think is: why do poor, uneducated people would think cannabis is bad? And why do women do so?

A couple of possible explanations come to mind:

1 – Companies that sell tobacco and alcohol have always targeted poor neighborhoods, and it would be very interesting to see how the people who live there feel about these two substances. Could it be that one of the consequences of being flooded with cheap booze and cigarettes is precisely the idea that cannabis is bad, while alcohol and tobacco are just fine because they are legal and easily available?

2 – Could it simply be that people without education are far more likely to fall for the most basic discourses promoted by public and private institutions, which nowadays tend to portray cannabis as bad and dangerous?

3 – Also, could it be that women feel like they are “not supposed” to smoke because pot is dirty and masculine, according to a vast array of stereotypes, and therefore decide that cannabis is just too “risky”?

What do you think? Do you really think high quality cannabis – like the one you buy here Greenhouseseeds.nl – is that risky?