wernermuende t1_iu3m6bw wrote on October 28, 2022 at 9:02 AM

For once, I will read the article before posting ... [please hold the line]... I even went to the abstract. Hit paywall.

It is unclear to me what "perceived risk" entails. If it just the health risks or also inlcudes other kinds of risks like legal risk

csanner t1_iu41516 wrote on October 28, 2022 at 12:03 PM

I managed to read it

"Perceived risk", in the article and study, refers to the risk of harm children perceive in the use of marijuana. They're studying whether legalizing it makes kids assume it's safer than they would if it remained illegal, and apparently there's no effect.

wernermuende t1_iu42cm6 wrote on October 28, 2022 at 12:15 PM

Yeah, but what is "risk".

That's my question. They mention a questionnaire, so they asked actual children actual questions, so I would like to know how exactly they defined and measured this "perceived risk"

Risk of what? Risk of munchies? Yeah, that doesn't change.

Risk of lung cancer? Not really

Risk of going to prison over a blunt? That definetly changes, so the percieved risk should change too if legal risks are included in risk.

csanner t1_iu42zxx wrote on October 28, 2022 at 12:21 PM

They were specifically checking what kids think the health risks are. Is it impacted by the legality.

"We have this substance and it's illegal because it's dangerous" - okay, must be dangerous, right? To an 8yo that makes sense

It's legal now - does that suddenly mean those same kids are going to go "oh! It's safe now!"

I'm not going to have a discussion over the safety of marijuana because it's not relevant to this study. This study is only about how kids see it, and whether it being legal or illegal changes that

I will say, though, that the fact they found no change does take a bit of momentum away from people screaming "think of the children"

wernermuende t1_iu4a95f wrote on October 28, 2022 at 1:22 PM

The thing is they didn't write anywhere that they only mean health risks. And I would love to see how those questions are actually worded

csanner t1_iu4azk8 wrote on October 28, 2022 at 1:27 PM

"Methods: We analyzed data from the multisite multistate Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study to determine how the perception of cannabis harm among children (age at baseline: 9–10; N=10,395) changes over time in states with and without RCLs. 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."

wernermuende t1_iu4bc1q wrote on October 28, 2022 at 1:30 PM

Yes I can read. Maybe it’s some sort of translation or intercultural thing but I can’t extrapolate from this statement if harm only refers to health risks

PuttingInTheEffort t1_iu4uz92 wrote on October 28, 2022 at 3:47 PM

Seems to me they just asked kids "hey if this becomes legal, do you think it's any less dangerous than before?"

So whatever a 9 year old would perceive as dangerous. Which honestly doesnt seem like a solid study, I feel like you could phrase anything just right and get the answer you want from a child.