One out of six primary care patients said they used marijuana in a survey of cannabis use, with many saying their use was primarily for medical reasons. The study by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles also found that a third of cannabis consumers reported weed at levels that put them at moderate or high risk of cannabis use disorder.

The research, which was published by JAMA Open Network on Wednesday, suggests that many cannabis consumers use the drug for medicinal purposes, despite characterizing their use as recreational. The researchers behind the study say the findings indicate a need for routine cannabis screenings of primary care patients. Currently, few healthcare systems offer screenings for cannabis use in the primary care setting.

“Patients may not tell their primary care providers about their cannabis use, and their doctors may not ask about it,” lead author Dr. Lillian Gelberg, professor of family medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and of health policy and management at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, said in a statement to UCLA Health.  “Not asking patients about their cannabis use results in a missed opportunity for opening up doctor-patient communication regarding use of cannabis generally and for management of their symptoms.”

In 2020, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that primary care physicians screen their adult patients for the use of cannabis and other substances. The following year, the researchers who conducted the study launched a self-administered survey on cannabis use and medical cannabis use as part of the UCLA Health medical system’s universal electronic health record. Patients complete the survey via the system’s online portal as part of the pre-visit screening before visits for primary care.

UCLA Health is one of only a few healthcare systems that ask patients to complete a voluntary cannabis use assessment as part of the pre-visit process for primary care patients. UCLA Health uses the WHO Alcohol Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) to assess cannabis use.

The researchers used anonymized health record data collected by UCLA Health between January 2021 and May 2023 to determine the prevalence of cannabis use and the reasons patients are using the drug and to identify other factors that correlate with cannabis use. Approximately 176,000 patients completed the survey, including almost 30,000 (17%) who said they were cannabis users. Among those who self-reported cannabis use, 35% had results that suggested a moderate or high risk of cannabis use disorder.

Among cannabis users, 40% had consumed weed once or twice during the previous three months, 17% used marijuana monthly, a quarter (25%) used cannabis every week and nearly a fifth (19%) used weed on a daily or near-daily basis.

Nearly half (47%) of respondents said that they used cannabis medicinally. However, 76% used weed to manage symptoms such as mental health symptoms or stress (56%), sleep (56%) and pain (37%). Additionally, most patients who said they used marijuana recreationally had also used it to manage a symptom at some point in their lives.

The researchers note that the study had limitations, including a reliance on self-reported data. Additionally, while cannabis is legal in California, the stigma attached to the plant may mean that some patients did not fully disclose their cannabis use. The survey data was collected during the Covid-19 pandemic when the use of cannabis may have been higher than it would have been otherwise.

However, “given the high rates of cannabis use and medical cannabis use that we found in this large urban healthcare system, it is essential that healthcare systems implement routine screening of all primary care patients,” the researchers wrote.  “Integrating screening efforts to include information regarding cannabis use for symptom management could help enhance the identification and documentation of medical cannabis usage, particularly in the healthcare context.”

Dr. Benjamin Caplan, M.D., the author of The Doctor-Approved Cannabis Handbook, cited other shortcomings of the study, including its focus on cannabis use disorder. He says that the test used by the researchers is designed to assess multiple substance use disorders and lacks a detailed focus on cannabis users’ specific characteristics. 

Despite these and other study limitations, Caplan commended the researchers for “acknowledging important opportunities, like the need for informed conversations.” 

“Healthcare providers must integrate discussions about cannabis use into routine care, allowing patients to communicate their experiences openly,” he wrote in an email to High Time. “Doctors need to understand why patients choose cannabis over conventional treatments and be informed about both the risks and benefits of cannabis. This will lead to better management strategies and support systems for cannabis users, whether their use is medical or non-medical.”

Caplan added that the study “reveals a key takeaway: even patients within primary care are heavily reliant on cannabis for symptom relief. This underscores a critical issue that is seen throughout our medical system, which is that doctors are not adequately meeting patients’ needs for managing anxiety, sleeplessness, pain, and other symptoms. That is important news that isn’t discussed loudly enough.”

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As cannabis and psychedelics continue to experience a modern-day renaissance, with increased education and access to information surrounding their use and benefits, we’re collectively crafting new narratives after decades of inflammatory propaganda surrounding these substances.

Tired messaging of the past has suggested that cannabis and psychedelic use were one-way tickets to unpleasant and traumatic experiences, though we’re gradually moving away from these assertions, as research is finding these drugs can work to ease physical and mental trauma and stress, alongside many other potential benefits.

A new YouGov poll sheds even more light on the experiences of individuals with cannabis, psilocybin and other psychedelics like LSD and MDMA, finding that the majority of those who have tried the substances described their experiences as positive. 

As the government works to reschedule cannabis to the less restrictive Schedule III category and psychedelic research and reform continues to escalate across the country, the results offer further insight on today’s shifting attitudes surrounding plant medicine and psychedelic drugs.

U.S. Adults Report Positive Cannabis, Psychedelic Experiences Most

YouGov conducted the online poll April 25-28, 2024, comprised of 1,134 U.S. adult citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification and current voter registration status.

Most participants had used cannabis (57%, including 42% who used it more than once). Psilocybin was the next most popular substance, with 20% reporting previous use, while 16% had tried LSD and 11% had tried MDMA. About half of people who had used each of those drugs said they had tried it more than once.

For each of the drugs, the majority of users said their experiences were “mostly positive” — specifically 57% of cannabis users, 65% of psilocybin users, 55% of LSD users and 56% of MDMA users. 

The next most popular response for all drugs was “equally positive and negative,” while those reporting “mostly negative” experiences for all drugs was lowest (20% for cannabis, LSD and MDMA and 8% for psilocybin).

Support for Cannabis, Psychedelic Legalization

The survey also asked respondents about their attitudes surrounding the legislative reform measures surrounding the drugs and whether they believed that they should be legalized.

The majority of respondents showed their support for cannabis legalization, with 60% in favor and 30% opposed, though far fewer said the same for the other drugs in the survey. Just 27% said they support legalizing psilocybin, 16% MDMA and 15% LSD.

Still, those who had tried each drug were more likely to support legalization than those who had not. 

Specifically, 78% of cannabis users support its legalization, 63% of psilocybin users support legal psilocybin and 55% of MDMA users support legal MDMA. LSD stood out in this respect, as 38% of LSD users said they supported legalization while 43% would oppose it.

The survey echoes the sentiments of other recent polls investigating the shifting modern-day attitudes surrounding cannabis and psychedelic drugs.

Monitoring Evolving Perceptions on Cannabis and Psychedelics

A number of recent polls reveal the progression surrounding consumer attitudes around cannabis and harm perception, with many revealing that Americans view cannabis as safer than using alcohol or tobacco.

Myriad polls have also shown strong support for cannabis legalization among American adults, with one recent Pew survey finding that 88% believe cannabis should be legal for medical or recreational use — 57% said it should be legal for both medical and recreational use. Most respondents also said that recreational cannabis reform was positive for the economy and makes criminal justice more fair.

Similarly, another recent poll found that 28% of Americans have used at least one of seven psychedelic drugs included in the questionnaire, with LSD, psilocybin and MDMA as the most popular (at 14%, 13% and 9% reporting use, respectively). The poll, also conducted by YouGov, nods to the changing trends surrounding psychedelic acceptance, saying that “recent shifts, both in policy and public opinion, suggest the tide in the United States may be turning toward increasingly favoring psychedelic drugs.”

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Findings published in the journal Pharmacopsychiatry, based on an online survey conducted in Germany between June 2020 and August 2020 with more than 1,000 patients, debunked the claim that high-THC cannabis poses unique health risks.

“Patients were allowed to participate only if they received a cannabis-based treatment from pharmacies in the form of cannabis flowers prescribed by a physician,” the researchers explained. 

“Overall, the mean patient-reported effectiveness was 80.1% (range, 0–100%). A regression model revealed no association between the patient-reported effectiveness and the variety. Furthermore, no influence of the disease on the choice of the [medical cannabis] strain was detected. On average, 2.1 side effects were reported (most commonly dry mouth (19.5%), increased appetite (17.1%), and tiredness (13.0%)). However, 29% of participants did not report any side effects. Only 398 participants (38.7%) indicated that costs for [medical cannabis] were covered by their health insurance,” they continued. 

The researchers said that patients “self-reported very good efficacy and tolerability” of medical cannabis, and that there “was no evidence suggesting that specific [medical cannabis] strains are superior depending on the disease to be treated.”

The findings are notable given that in Europe “pharmaceutical-grade cannabis flower…contain THC levels of 20 percent or greater,” according to NORML.

NORML said that the survey’s findings “push back against claims that cannabis strains higher in THC pose unique risks to health or that there is an absence of research supporting the efficacy of medical cannabis chemovars above 10 percent THC.”

The researchers behind the survey said that they were driven to examine the matter due to the lack of research containing high-potency medical cannabis. Their findings, they said, represent “the first large study exploring the effectiveness and tolerability of different cannabis strains prescribed by physicians in Germany.”

“There is increasing evidence that cannabis-based medicine (CBM) is efficacious in many different indications, mainly chronic pain, spasticity in multiple sclerosis, and palliative care. After reintroduction in medicine, the number and type of available CBM constantly increased, ranging from pure tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to pure cannabidiol (CBD), as well as cannabis extracts and flowers with very different THC:CBD ratios. In Germany, cannabis flowers and extracts were legalized for medical purposes in 2017. In limited exceptional cases and after approval (according to the Social Insurance Code), costs are covered by health insurance. Today (as of 2023), in Germany, more than 150 different cannabis flowers can be prescribed. However, it is largely unknown, whether particular strains and/or different concentrations of THC, CBD, other cannabinoids, and further ingredients, including terpenes and flavonoids, result in different effectiveness in different conditions,” they said.

“So far, only a limited number of studies directly compared the effects of different cannabis strains in different indications. According to data collected between 2009 and 2010 from 600 patients registered with the Vancouver Island Compassion Society and treated with medicinal cannabis (MC), the ‘more popular’ Cannabis indica strains more effectively relieved pain compared to C. sativa strains. Several characteristics were found to be similar for both species, e. g., trust in purity, route of administration, and reason for use (recreational vs. medicinal).”

Still, the researchers also noted limits to their findings, and cautioned against drawing too many sweeping conclusions.

“We failed to confirm our main hypothesis that specific cannabis strains are more efficacious in specific indications. There was also no influence of the respective indication on the choice of the MC strain,” they said. “Besides one strain, all strains preferred by participants were THC dominant with high THC concentrations. Self-reported effectiveness and tolerability of MC for the treatment of a variety of medical conditions were rated as excellent, with no relevant differences between C. sativa, indica, or hybrid. The majority of patients had used cannabis as a self-medication as well as MC prescribed by physicians for years. The overall profile of smell and taste was rated as very good. On the other hand, average cost-effectiveness was rated as poor, which is probably because the majority of patients did not get cost coverage from their health insurance.”

Other limitations include of the study include “(i) only German-speaking patients could be included, (ii) most participants came from Germany, and thus data represent only a small geographical region, (iii) only data for MC strains available in German pharmacies in 2020 could be collected; (iv) data were collected online based on self-reported diagnoses and treatment effects, (v) it cannot entirely be excluded that participants provided untruthful information.” 

But the study also “has several strengths,” they said, noting its “large sample size…relatively short recruitment time…inclusion of only patients that used MC from pharmacies prescribed by physicians…patients with a wide spectrum of different indications…relatively long time use of MC…and use of 5.9 different MC strains on average allowing comparison with respect to clinical effectiveness.” 

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Thinking back just 10 years ago, the previous U.S. cannabis landscape stood in stark contrast to the one we enjoy today. The United States currently has 38 states with legal medical or recreational cannabis, with 74% of Americans living in a legal cannabis state and 79% living in a county with at least one cannabis dispensary. 

With nearly 15,000 dispensaries throughout the nation, retail cannabis stores now outnumber the roughly 13,500 McDonald’s locations in the country.

Given the prevalence of legal cannabis throughout the nation, and as reform becomes a prominent political talking point among state lawmakers and even in the executive branch, it’s perhaps unsurprising that American attitudes surrounding cannabis legalization have become overwhelmingly supportive over the years.

Most Americans Continue to Support Cannabis Legalization

Pew Research Center has consistently monitored this progression, with its most recent report affirming that U.S. citizens are indeed incredibly supportive of legal cannabis. The survey was conducted Jan. 16-21, 2024 among 5,140 adult participants.

Nearly nine in 10 U.S. Americans (88%) said that cannabis should be legal for medical or recreational use, and a majority (57%) said that they believe cannabis should be legal for both medical and recreational purposes. About a third (32%) said that cannabis should only be legal for medical use, while just 11% of respondents said that cannabis should not be legal whatsoever.

The survey also took a closer look at American attitudes surrounding the impacts of legalization, with 52% saying it’s good for local economies (17% said it is bad while 29% said it has no impact). Respondents were also asked about reform’s impact on the criminal justice system, with 42% saying that legalizing recreational cannabis results in more fairness (18% said recreational legalization makes criminal justice less fair and 38% said it has no impact).

Negative Impacts of Cannabis Reform and Party Divisions

American views were more mixed when it came to recreational cannabis legalization and some of the more negative potential implications.

Around the same amount of respondents said that adult-use cannabis legalization increases (29%) or decreases (27%) the use of other drugs (42% said it has no impact), and more Americans viewed recreational cannabis legalization as creating less safety (34%) for communities over more (21%), with the majority (44%) saying that it does not have an impact on community safety.

While cannabis reform has steadily gained more bipartisan support over time, the survey shows that Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents still tend to show more support than their Republican counterparts. Democrats largely believe that recreational cannabis is good for local economies (64%) and makes the criminal justice system more fair (58%), while fewer Republicans said the same (41% and 27%, respectively).

Consequently, Republican respondents tended to cite the negative potential impacts of cannabis reform more than Democrats, with 42% saying it increases the use of other drugs (compared to 17% of Democrats) and 48% saying it makes communities less safe (compared to 21% of Democrats who said the same).

While the long-term impacts of cannabis reform are still being studied, it should be noted that numerous studies have debunked the assertion that cannabis reform encourages the use of other drugs. Similarly, studies have shown cannabis legalization is not associated with an uptick in car crashes, a rise in use among youth or youth perceptions of cannabis.

American Attitudes ‘Largely Unchanged’ in Recent Years

Looking closer at other demographics, Pew echoes myriad other studies and surveys finding that older adults are far less likely than younger adults to support cannabis legalization. Pew reported similar trends when it came to attitudes around the impacts of cannabis legalization, with younger respondents far more likely to report that cannabis is good for local economies and makes the criminal justice system more fair.

The polling is largely consistent with Pew’s previous reports. The 2022 survey also reported that 88% of American adults supported legal medical or recreational cannabis, with 10% stating cannabis use should not be legal at all.

Speaking to the survey results, Paul Armentano, deputy director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) advocacy group, said that the increasing support can be linked to a lack of “buyer’s remorse” surrounding cannabis legalization among voters.

“As more states have adopted legalization, public support for this policy has risen dramatically,” Armentano said. “That’s because these policies are largely working as intended and because voters prefer legalization and regulation over the failed policy of cannabis prohibition. Elected officials who refuse to take action to end cannabis criminalization do so at their own political peril.”

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Using cannabis for pain relief is nothing new. Across the U.S., most states include chronic pain as a qualifying condition for medical cannabis.

Looking broader, individuals around the globe are already embracing cannabis for these pain-relieving qualities alongside the additional benefits it may offer. While we’re still learning exactly how cannabis can work to treat symptoms and provide relief for specific conditions, many are taking matters into their own hands with promising results — and these trends could very well help to shape further research and policy.

A recent survey published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology took a closer look at symptom management pertaining to cannabis and endometriosis, finding that patients often turn to cannabis to alleviate their symptoms despite ongoing barriers to access.

Cannabis Use Among Endometriosis Patients

Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus, generally resulting in severe pelvic pain and inflammation. The tissue acts in the same way as the lining inside the uterus, thickening, breaking down and bleeding with each menstrual cycle. Endometriosis involving the ovaries can also result in cysts, causing surrounding tissue irritation and formation of scar tissue.

Endometriosis can start at the time of a person’s first menstrual period and last until menopause. We still don’t know what causes endometriosis, there is no way to prevent it and there is no cure. However, there are a number of treatments to help ease the related symptoms. Some opt for surgery to remove lesions, while many embrace hormonal intrauterine devices, birth control methods, opioid-based pain medications and more for ongoing relief.

That said, we can safely add cannabis to the list of modern-day treatments given its prevalence of use.

In the survey, Australian researchers examined the perspectives of 192 people with a history of cannabis use and endometriosis. Noting it as a “very expensive disease, with substantive out of pocket costs for pain and symptom management,” researchers reference cost and accessibility to cannabis-based medicinal products (CMBPs) as a primary focus of the survey. They also cite the lack of information surrounding ideal products, modes of administration and efficacy in current research.

Researchers gathered data through an online survey of Australian and New Zealand residents, via social media and community-based advocacy platform Cannareviews.co. Respondents included those using either illicit cannabis or legal CMBPs prescribed by a doctor to manage endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain-related symptoms. However, the published report only includes data from Australian respondents. 

Endometriosis, Cannabis Use Trends and Symptom Relief

The survey found that THC-dominant CBMPs are most commonly prescribed to Australians with endometriosis, noting multi-product use as a common trend with most people reporting the use of at least two products. For those with only one prescription (23%), it was almost always a THC-dominant product. 

Most respondents (59.4%) said they used cannabis recreationally and for endometriosis symptom management, though many exclusively used cannabis to manage symptoms (40.1%).

Patients reported improvements in common endometriosis symptoms through the use of legal CBMPs, specifically sleep (68.9%), chronic pelvic pain (44.5%), nausea (47.9%), anxiety/depression (45.4%) and menstrual pain (38.7%). 

They also reported a reduction in the use of opioids, hormonal treatments, non-steroidal inflammatory drugs, neuroleptics and illicit cannabis. 

Oils and flower were the most common product types, illicit or legal.

Examining Cost and Access to Cannabis Medicines

The results also pointed to legal, THC-dominant cannabis medications being more expensive than illicit “equivalents” and that the extra cost for legal access often led to people underdosing (76.1%) or resorting to illicit cannabis to “bridge the gap” and easen cost burdens (42.9%).

Researchers note that relying upon illicit cannabis products can lead to inadequate symptom management, using products that have not been tested for safety and quality and of course associated legal ramifications.

Nearly all (96.3%) respondents said that their cost burden would be substantially reduced if CBMPs were a Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) listed and subsidized product. 

The bulk of respondents said they would consider moving insurers if they found out their private health insurance would not reimburse the cost of cannabis medicine as well — 60.9% said maybe, depending on other factors; 20.3% said yes, so long as the premium was the same price or less; 11.7% said yes, even if the premium was higher; only 7% said no.

Researchers said that patients’ willingness to switch insurers based on this variable “speaks to the pivotal nature of cost concerns (and perceived effectiveness) relating to affordable access to cannabinoids.” Additionally, they state that the results suggest a need for a greater response from insurers in the country.

“Given the lack of well-tolerated alternatives for medical management of endometriosis, this is an equity issue that urgently needs addressing,” they add.

Limitations and Looking Ahead

Researchers note that self-reported nature of cost, diagnosis and product consumption as a limitation. They also cited the potential for their recruitment methods — through social media and Cannareviews’ patient base — to produce recall and selection bias, as participants may have either had more severe impacts to quality of life or a more positive experience with illicit or medicinal cannabis than the broader population.

Still, the data affirms that many are already finding relief and relying on cannabis treatments for endometriosis, highlighting the need for better access.

“Given major issues with symptom management and the self-reported reductions in pain and other symptoms, improving access to medicinal cannabis for this population is important and timely,” authors conclude. “Reductions in cost of both product and consultations, as well as coverage by insurance are areas which need addressing.”

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California was the first state to legalize medical cannabis back in 1996, 20 years later ushering in adult-use legislation. Now, the Golden State has the single largest cannabis market in the world. 

As cannabis has gradually become more ingrained into the fabric of the state, and the country as a whole, it appears that California residents are increasingly more supportive of the market.

The California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) recently released survey data exploring the modern-day stances of Californians regarding the state’s cannabis market. The survey was conducted by FM3 Research as part of the DCC’s Real California Cannabis Campaign, which aims to help consumers easily find and verify licensed dispensaries in the state.

FM3 Research interviewed more than 1,000 California adults to compile the data.

Growing Support and the Responsibility to Uplift the Legal Market

One of the most prominent discoveries from the survey shows that 62% of Californians believe that Proposition 64, the voter initiative that legalized recreational cannabis, has had a positive impact on the state. The initiative was originally passed with 57% voter support, so the figure implies that cannabis reform in California has garnered more support over time.

The poll also found that 86% of Californian adults believe that it is important to purchase cannabis from the legal market, while similarly 72% said they believe consumers have a responsibility to verify they are purchasing cannabis from licensed retailers.

Even though California boasts the largest cannabis global cannabis economy, illicit sales are still highly prominent. A 2022 Reason Foundation report said that roughly two-thirds of total cannabis sales in the state still come from the illegal market. 

The California Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce (UCETF) also recently released its first annual report detailing the money, illegal cannabis plants/products and firearms obtained in its seizure operations from last year. In 2023, the task force said it seized more than $312 million in illegal cannabis, 189,854.02 pounds of cannabis, eradicated 317,834 cannabis plants, served 188 search warrants, seized 119 firearms and seized $223,809 of money on-site.

Though, according to DCC Director Nicole Elliot, the UCETF has made serious progress in eliminating illegal operations, leveraging the resources of more than 20 state agencies and departments alongside the taskforce’s local and federal partners. 

“The UCETF’s progress in 2023 reflects California’s ongoing commitment to disrupting and dismantling illegal cannabis activity,” Elliott said. “I look forward to working with all our partners in 2024 to build on this progress.”

Education Gaps in the California Cannabis Industry

While it appears to be a widely shared belief that residents must take it upon themselves to seek out legal cannabis retailers, the survey also sheds light on some education gaps surrounding the legal cannabis market among Californians. 

The survey found that 85% of respondents living in areas where retail cannabis is not allowed either incorrectly believed that cannabis was allowed in their region or simply didn’t know what the local laws were at all.

Elliott highlighted this piece, saying that education and enforcement are two crucial pillars that help to support a well-regulated cannabis market.

“The Real California Cannabis campaign will provide cannabis consumers with information that empowers them to make informed decisions regarding their cannabis purchases,” Elliott said. “These smart choices support safer communities, local businesses, and our continuous efforts to disrupt the illegal market.”

Though, when it comes to actually identifying a licensed or unlicensed cannabis business, respondents also appeared to be split: 44% said that it was easy to identify if a retailer was licensed, while 42% said it was difficult to recognize the distinction.

Additionally, the polling results showed that 88% of respondents who have consumed cannabis said they would purchase it from a licensed retailer and more than half (56%) said they have used cannabis.

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If the Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) recommendation to reschedule cannabis on the federal Controlled Substances Act becomes a reality, it could make an impact on President Joe Biden’s favorability ahead of the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

A new survey, conducted by Lake Research Partners, revealed a number of key findings surrounding registered voters and attitudes surrounding cannabis, namely that Biden could boost his favorability by 11% among younger voters should cannabis move from Schedule I to Schedule III.

To gather the data, researchers engaged 900 likely voters through phone calls and text-to-online outreach. The survey includes oversamples of younger voters and voters in presidential battleground states (100 voters aged 18-25 and 200 voters in battleground states, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin).

A Look at Voter Opinions on Cannabis Rescheduling

The survey looked more generally at the support behind rescheduling cannabis, with 58% of participants showing support and 19% opposed. Researchers said that support also crossed most demographic lines, and no more than one-third of voters in any major subgroup was opposed to rescheduling. Young voters, those aged 18-25, showed the strongest levels of support for rescheduling at 65%, with nearly half indicating they felt strongly about the issue. Support was strong across age demographics, with seniors showing support by a double-digit margin.

Democrats and independents also showed strong support (74% to 7% and 55% to 15%, respectively), while Republicans were more divided (41% to 31%) despite showing more support overall. The survey also found that younger Republicans and Republican women were disproportionately more supportive.

Two-thirds (66%) of voters also said that Biden should accept the recommendation, with young voters 18-25 showing overwhelming support (84% with 77% indicating they felt strongly about their answer). 

Researchers also found that attacking rescheduling didn’t sway voters, despite the fact that “no punches were pulled” in articulating the opposing viewpoints. These include the rescheduling proposal being a “half measure,” comparing cannabis regulation unfavorably to regulating alcohol, the argument that it will provide “massive profits to pharmaceutical companies” while resulting in “hundreds of thousands of Americans behind bars for marijuana-related offenses).

After reviewing opposing arguments for rescheduling cannabis, 58% voters continued to support rescheduling while 18% opposed. Support among young voters remained strong, with 66% behind rescheduling including 50% with strong support.

A Potential Boost for Biden?

“By the end of the poll, impressions of Biden improve by a net double-digits — an 11-point swing overall, including a double-digit (+11-point) swing among younger voters,” the survey notes. 

“In conclusion, rescheduling cannabis is not only the right move from a policy perspective, it is also politically helpful,” the survey concludes. “Nowhere is this more true than for younger voters—one of the most cross-pressured groups of voters, and also the most sanguine about rescheduling.”

Concrete talks of rescheduling cannabis first began in Oct. 2022, when Biden made a statement asking the secretary of HHS and the attorney general to review the scheduling of cannabis under federal law. In Aug. 2023, the HHS submitted its recommendation to the DEA to reschedule cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also recently said they support reclassifying cannabis as a Schedule III substance, which would make medical cannabis and the research supporting it federally legal but still heavily regulated.

The DEA has final authority to schedule, reschedule or deschedule a drug under the DEA and is currently conducting its review. However, there is currently no specific timeframe on when the DEA will make its decision.

Researchers also note that the findings of the survey align with a recent Gallup poll, which found that support for legal cannabis hit a record high of 70% among all adults in the U.S. Namely, they highlight that the poll found the highest levels of support in the youngest age cohort, with 78% of the 18-34 age group supporting legalization.

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Minnesota legalized adult-use cannabis in 2023 and medical cannabis back in 2014, and with the emergence of the pending market comes a new report documenting the cannabis habits among consumers in the state.

While the report primarily looks at consumption and buying habits of Minnesotans, it also notably suggested that the state will need a minimum of 381 cannabis dispensaries across the state. This is because of state law, which requires one dispensary for every 12,500 Minnesotans.

The report details the findings of a project commissioned by the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management looking to better understand current attitudes of cannabis consumers and demand in the state. Specifically, it pulls from data collected from the June 2023 and Sept. 2023 Regulatory Determinants of Cannabis Outcomes Survey (RDCOS), which is used to gather state-specific data on cannabis-related outcomes and administered on a quarterly basis.

Data collected from 494 participants residing in Minnesota who completed the full survey were included in the sample, and all were past-year cannabis consumers. The percentage of participants residing in each county is “almost perfectly correlated with the percentage of actual Minnesota residents in each county,” so authors suggest that the data is consistent with actual county populations in the state.

Minnesotan Cannabis Usage Habits Examined

The report first looks at consumption frequency among respondents, noting that 83% of qualified participants consumed cannabis at least monthly, with 40% consuming cannabis daily or almost daily. It also notes that 40% of the total sample said they are medical cannabis patients. 

Authors clarify that these figures are “likely no representative of the absolute prevalence of past-month cannabis consumption among past-year consumers in the state, not of medical cannabis participants in the broader cannabis consuming population,” stating that the RDCOS successfully oversampled frequent consumers to provide greater confidence in quantifying total demand.

The report notes that these patterns are consistent with other U.S. states, with individuals in the sample consuming flower and concentrates slightly less (11 days out of the month versus 12 days in the national sample for flower and five days versus six days in the national sample for concentrates). Edibles and vapes were consistent between Minnesota and national data, at seven and eight days out of the month, respectively.

The report also looked at alternative cannabinoid consumption, with more than 50% of the sample reporting the use of at least one alternative cannabinoid over the past month and 68% indicating use of alternative cannabinoids in the past. 

Delta-8 THC was the most popular for past-month use at 32% followed by CBD at 31%. More participants said they used CBD “before, but not in the past month” at 40%, though numbers still remained strong in this category for delta-8 at 33%.

A Closer Look at Obtaining Cannabis in Minnesota

Participants reportedly obtained 24.77 grams of cannabis within the past month across the entire sample, a slightly higher figure than the national average “suggesting a robust market for cannabis-related businesses,” the report says.

Most participants said they obtained cannabis from friends and family (67.6%), followed by adult-use dispensaries (61.3% — though the report notes this likely means lower-potency hemp-based edible retailers given that recreational cannabis dispensaries are not yet up and running). Dealers were the next largest source (53.4%) followed by medical dispensaries (42.7%).

Participants were most likely to report sourcing cannabis from a dealer more than once over the past month compared to the reported frequency of sourcing from other options, with 41% of those purchasing from a dealer reporting going two or more times in the past month. In contrast, 35% of those sourcing from adult-use dispensaries went two or more times, along with 26% of those utilizing medical dispensaries.

“Importantly, these data suggest an overall high prevalence of obtaining cannabis from a dealer, an illicit source, among Minnesota residents, which stands to reason as legal adult-use sources are not fully available,” the report notes.

About 25% of the sample also reported cultivating cannabis at home, with two cannabis plants on average per participant.

Looking Big Picture

Finally, the report looked at broader practices around cannabis consumption, finding that respondents on average traveled 18 minutes each way to purchase cannabis, similar to the national sample. 

Participants in the sample spent a median of $40 on cannabis within the past month, a slightly lower figure than respondents in states with similar adult-use cannabis laws from the national sample (a $75.50 median).

While the report notes that there will be “no less than 381 retail registrations” given the state’s population size, authors state that many local governments may look to have more retail registrations than the minimum so that number may very well be higher when the market finally finds its footing.

“It is impossible at this time to understand the necessary supply of cannabis vs. hemp needed to accommodate total demand without further research,” authors wrote. “Until the adult-use market is launched and sales for both types of outlets can be thoroughly assessed, estimates of adequate product supply and outlets for the adult-use program will likely be inaccurate.”

The full report is available here via KSTP-TV.

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For the past few years, artificial intelligence, usually referred to as AI, has been making major waves across the globe. Some love it, claiming it will open up new frontiers for business and automation, leaving the menial jobs to the robots. Others fear and hate it, claiming it is going to take over jobs and calling it out for replacing artist’s work. 

And now, there’s a new concern floating around. Terrifyingly, some experts think that there is a small but significant chance that AI could actually make humanity go extinct. But is that mere speculation, or an actual concern we need to be worried about? 

The findings in questions come from a 2023 survey of 2700 AI researchers who have published work at top conferences, and it is the largest compilation of such information. The survey asked participants about technological milestones, and the impact it will have on society, either good or bad. Nearly 58% of researchers said they consider there to be a 5% chance that AI could either cause human extinction or other catastrophic consequences for humanity. 

“It’s an important signal that most AI researchers don’t find it strongly implausible that advanced AI destroys humanity,” says Katja Grace of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute in California, who authored this study. “I think this general belief in a non-miniscule risk is much more telling than the exact percentage risk.”

Yep, this sounds very concerning to us, but not all experts are worried. Émile Torres of Case Western Reserve University in Ohio claims that many AI experts, in their words, “don’t have a good track record” when it comes to making AI predictions.They also said that AI researchers are by no means experts in forecasting the future of AI, and points to this 2016 survey that she says did a “fairly good job of forecasting” what things could look like for AI in the future. 

Compared with the same survey when completed in 2022, many AI researchers made wrong predictions. They predicted AI would hit certain milestones earlier than previously predicted. This was likely spurred on by the release of ChatGPT in 2022 and the rush to make programs like that available once there was high demand. 

The researchers from the survey predicted that within the next decade, there is a 50% or greater chance that AI will be able to tackle most of the 39 sample tasks that have been laid before them, including perfectly copying a pop song and coding a payment processing site. These are very different and complex tasks, but the researchers claimed that other things, like solving math problems that have plagued mathematicians for years or installing electricity in a home, could take longer. 

The 2016 survey further predicted that there was a 50% chance AI would be able to outperform humans on every task by 2047, and that there was a 50% chance that human jobs could become fully automated by 2116. This was 13 and 48 years, respectively, earlier than the 2023 survey predicted. 

This, of course, speaks to the overall fear that AI will take our jobs and make humans obsolete, which seems to be the biggest concern folk have right now. But again, Torres claims that a lot of these predictions should be taken with a grain of salt. 

“A lot of these breakthroughs are pretty unpredictable, and it’s entirely possible that the field of AI goes through another winter,” they say, referencing what happened in the 1970s and ‘80s. During this time, funding and corporate interest dried up, as the technology was seemingly stalled. If advances don’t happen fast enough, either in line with predictions or what people think AI should be, that could happen again. 

Researchers also warn that, while the far-off threat of human annihilation may seem like the scariest thing to consider, there are more immediate worries to keep in mind. Over 70% of AI researchers said that more immediate threats are deepfakes, manipulation of public opinion, engineered weapons, authoritarian control of populations, and worsening economic inequality. 

The weapons and control sound terrifying, but we’re already starting to see issues with deepfakes and public opinion, so those threats seem very spot-on. Torres especially points out that AI can contribute to misinformation around issues like politics or climate change, which also seems like a more immediate thing to be concerned with. 

“We already have the technology, here and now, that could seriously undermine [the US] democracy,” Torres adds. “We’ll see what happens in the 2024 election.” 

In this sense, Torres seems spot-on. We are already seeing concern over the 2024 elections and what they will bring out in our society, so the added fuel of AI misinformation definitely does not seem positive. 

So, the consensus seems to be that the future could be scary, but the AI threats are likely more immediate and mundane, rather than some far-off dystopian future scenario. 

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The number of legal cannabis retailers has exploded in North America the last decade, but that hasn’t resulted in easier access for kids. 

That is the takeaway from newly published survey data that examined perceptions of cannabis among youth in Canada.

“Very little research has examined how perceptions of cannabis access among underage youth in Canada have changed since cannabis was legalized and since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, this paper examines the effect of the early and ongoing stages of the COVID-19 pandemic period on youth perceptions of cannabis access over time since the onset of the Cannabis Act in 2018 in a large sample of Canadian youth,” the researchers wrote in the introduction of the study, which was published this month in Archives of Public Health.

The authors of the study said that they “used both repeat cross-sectional data [T1 (n = 38,890), T2 (n = 24,109), and T3 (n = 22,795)] to examine overall trends in perceptions of cannabis access, and sequential cohort longitudinal data [n = 4,677 students linked from T1 to T3] to examine the differential changes in perceptions of cannabis access among students over time.”

“In the cross-sectional sample, the frequency of students reporting that cannabis was easy to access decreased by 26.7% from T1 (51.0%) to T3 (37.4%), although respondents who have used cannabis were more likely to report access was easy. In the longitudinal sample, perceptions of cannabis access being easy increased over time, especially among cannabis users. Perceived ease of access appears to have been slightly impeded during the initial pandemic period but rebounded during the ongoing pandemic period,” they wrote in their summary of the results.

In conclusion, the researchers said that although “the prevalence of youth reporting that cannabis is easy to access has declined since legalization and throughout the early and ongoing pandemic periods, a substantial number of underage youth continue to report that cannabis is easy to access,” which they said suggests “that there is an ongoing need for continued cannabis control efforts to address this issue.”

“While there has been a growing number of studies focused on examining changes in cannabis use among Canadian youth since the onset of the Cannabis Act, and more recently since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there appears to be a paucity of research dedicated to examining changes in youth perceptions of cannabis availability over the same period of time. In response, this study provides unique and novel evidence of how youth perceptions of cannabis access have changed since the onset of the Cannabis Act,” they said in their conclusion, as quoted by NORML, “Our data suggest that in our large samples of youth, perceptions of cannabis access as being easy has declined in prevalence since legalization and through the early and ongoing pandemic response period.”

The Cannabis Act in 2018 made Canada just the second country to legalize marijuana, following Uruguay, which legalized pot in 2013.

In the United States, legalization is a phenomenon that exists on the state and local level, as cannabis remains prohibited under federal law. 

But in states where adult-use cannabis has been made legal, there has been a similar trend as the one identified in the Canadian study.

A study last year found that recreational cannabis laws were not associated with a change in perception among marijuana among youth.

In the study, which was published in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, the researchers “aimed to discover whether children in states with [recreational cannabis laws] had decreased perception of risk from cannabis compared with children in states with illicit cannabis,” noting that as “more states pass recreational cannabis laws (RCLs) for adults, there is concern that increasing (and state-sanctioned) cannabis acceptance will result in a reduced perception of risk of harm from cannabis among children.”

The researchers said they “analyzed data from the multisite multistate Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study to determine how the perception of cannabis harm among children changes over time in states with and without [recreational cannabis laws].” 

“Using multilevel modeling, we assessed survey responses from children longitudinally across 3 years, adjusting for state-, family-, and participant-level clustering and child-level factors, including demographics (sex, race, and socioeconomic status), religiosity, and trait impulsivity,” they said in their explanation of the methodology. 

The researchers said that there “was no significant main effect of state [recreational cannabis laws] on perceived risk of cannabis use, and no differences in change over time by state [recreational cannabis laws], even after controlling for demographic factors and other risk (e.g., impulsivity) and protective (e.g., religiosity) factors.” 

“This analysis indicates that state-level [recreational cannabis laws] are not associated with differential perception of cannabis risk among children, even after controlling for demographics, trait impulsivity, and religiosity,” they said. “Future studies could assess how perception of risk from cannabis changes as children and adolescents continue to mature in states with and without [recreational cannabis laws].”

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