1Molly3028
https://www.npr.org/2022/08/30/1120024399/marijuana-cigarette-use-gallup-poll
Marijuana use is outpacing cigarette use for the first time on record
More people in the U.S. are now smoking marijuana than cigarettes, according to a Gallup poll.
Cigarette use has been trending downward during the past decades, with only 11% of Americans saying they smoke them in a poll conducted July 5 to 26, compared to 45% in the mid-1950s.
Sixteen percent of Americans say they smoke marijuana, with 48% saying they have tried it at some point in their lives. In 1969, only 4% of Americans said they smoked marijuana.
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Is this a good thing going forward? Are mental health issues going to become a major problem in this already unsettling era?
Marijuana use is outpacing cigarette use for the first time on record
More people in the U.S. are now smoking marijuana than cigarettes, according to a Gallup poll.
Cigarette use has been trending downward during the past decades, with only 11% of Americans saying they smoke them in a poll conducted July 5 to 26, compared to 45% in the mid-1950s.
Sixteen percent of Americans say they smoke marijuana, with 48% saying they have tried it at some point in their lives. In 1969, only 4% of Americans said they smoked marijuana.
***
Is this a good thing going forward? Are mental health issues going to become a major problem in this already unsettling era?
2aspirit
From what I've heard of my parents' and grandparents' childhoods, the poor quality of mental health in the USA has been an unsettling issue for a long time.
If healthcare in general was better supported, I doubt we would have many smokers of any of this stuff.
If healthcare in general was better supported, I doubt we would have many smokers of any of this stuff.
3lriley
Dependent on ailment there can be some significant medicinal benefit from marijuana for certain kinds of cancer, chronic pain, glaucoma and a bunch of other things from Crohn’s to Alzheimer’s to PTSD to sleep disorders and the list goes on. Medical marijuana is not just a feel goody new age idea unless maybe you’ve been living in the Deep South all your life. The body naturally produces cannabinoids as pain inhibitors as it is. People can take recreational usage way too far where it becomes a negative to their health though.
4aspirit
Most of the medicinal benefits of marijuana can be delivered through other methods than smoking. Tinctures, pills, and edibles are commonly explored with medical marijuana that's not also used for recreation (the same way coffee is used for both).
Meanwhile, smoking has negative health effects not only for a medical patient but everyone in contact with the smoke.
My point in >2 aspirit: is that preventative healthcare accessible to everyone would in the longterm reduce the cases of cancer, mental illness, and other disorders that currently leave Americans self-treating for pain or responding to harmful marketing. The interest in smoking would be less.
Meanwhile, smoking has negative health effects not only for a medical patient but everyone in contact with the smoke.
My point in >2 aspirit: is that preventative healthcare accessible to everyone would in the longterm reduce the cases of cancer, mental illness, and other disorders that currently leave Americans self-treating for pain or responding to harmful marketing. The interest in smoking would be less.
