New survey reports Americans view tobacco as more harmful than cannabis
Most Americans agree that cigarettes and other tobacco products are very unhealthy. Most respondents believe cannabis is much less harmful than tobacco, according to a new Gallup poll.
Positive trends for cannabis
The survey represents the first time that Gallup has sought Americans' views on a wide range of tobacco products, including cannabis.
96% of respondents have made it clear that cigarettes are harmful. Among these, 82% reported that cigarettes are "very harmful". 14% stated that cigarettes are "somewhat harmful".
However, 63% of respondents think marijuana is harmful. In addition, 27% said it was "very harmful". And, 29% said it was "quite harmful". While 24% said marijuana was "not too bad". And only 18% said they thought marijuana was not harmful… Among those interviewed, 5% reported using cannabis regularly 8% said they only use it once in a while.
Tobacco products
The survey participants were also asked about their perception of the harmfulness of four other tobacco products: cigars, chewing tobacco and pipe tobacco. Everyone called them " very harmful" page (in French).
Chewing tobacco 71% was considered the most harmful after smoking. Cigars followed at 56% . While 52% believe that smoking a pipe is "very harmful". E-cigarettes are considered relatively safer, with 38% saying they are "very harmful".
Cigarettes in free fall
The survey also looked at the use of tobacco products by respondents. So, 16% said they smoked a cigarette last week. This figure is about a third of the figure recorded in the 1950s and about half of the rate in the 1980s.
Young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 experienced the largest decline in the rate of cigarette smokers. Since 2001, the smoking rate for this age group has fallen by more than half. Over the past three years, 15% of young adults reported having smoked in the previous week. It's down from 34% 2000 early years.
Meanwhile, the rate of smokers aged 30 to 49 only fell by eight percentage points over the same period, from 28% to 20%. Adults from 50 to 64 years reported a smoking rate during the 2016-2018 period, virtually unchanged from 2001-2005.
Gallup's analyzes
These numbers show a long-standing trend reversal. Smoking being more popular with young people than middle-aged and older Americans. Gallup offered an analysis that could explain the change in the incidence of smoking among young people.
“While public anti-smoking campaigns were well established by the time this age cohort arrived, many of these young people came of age when public smoking bans became more common across the country. According to Andrew Dugan of Gallup
“These bans may have made smoking appear to be more stigmatizing behavior. While older adults remembered a time when indoor smoking was more common. For example, a 2015 Gallup poll found that 18 to 29 year olds are the most likely of any age group to say they have an “unfriendly” view of smokers. »Dugan adds.
Gallup conducted the survey through telephone interviews with adults aged 18 and older, held July 1-11. Respondents included residents of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus four percentage points.
