Risk From Regular Cannabis Use Perceived as Low in Women With Disabilities

TUESDAY, May 14, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Women with disabilities have a low likelihood of perceiving a risk for harm from weekly cannabis use, according to a study recently published online in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.

Panagiota Kitsantas, Ph.D., from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, and colleagues examined the perceived risk for harm from weekly cannabis use among reproductive-aged women with disabilities. The analysis included data from the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

The researchers found that a significantly higher percentage of women with any disability perceived no risk associated with weekly cannabis use (37.9 percent) versus those with no disabilities (26.1 percent). Six in 10 women with disabilities who used cannabis in the past 12 months perceived no risk for harm from weekly cannabis use. Women with disabilities and cannabis use in the past 12 months had more than doubled odds (adjusted odds ratio, 2.90) of perceiving no risk tied to weekly use of cannabis versus women without any disability and no cannabis use. Younger age, having higher income, being in good health, and using alcohol or tobacco were other significant factors associated with an increased likelihood of perceiving no risk for harm from weekly use of cannabis.

"Given current attitudes toward cannabis as a harmless drug, and the potential adverse health outcomes, it is imperative to monitor and understand women's perceptions of risk of harm from cannabis use for clinical guidance, provider and patient education, and public health programs to support evidence-based approaches in addressing its use among vulnerable populations such as those of reproductive age with disabilities," the authors write.

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