Legalization of marijuana or not? Opinions from over 38,000 residents in Taiwan

BMC Public Health

Research

Kuo-Yu Chao¹  Chih-Chiang Chou²  Ching-I Chen³  Shu-Hsiang Liu⁴  Wei Cheng⁵ 

[1] Department of Nursing, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan, Taiwan;Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan;Department of Psychiatry, Centro Hospitalar Conde de São Januário, Macau SAR, China;Department of Psychiatry, Kee-Lung Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, KeeLung, Taiwan;School of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan;School of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan;Department of Pathology, Kee-Lung Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, 268, Xin 2nd Road, Xinyi District, 201203, KeeLung, Taiwan;Department of Nursing, Deh Yu College of Nursing and Health, Kee-Lung, Taiwan;

关键词: Marijuana;    Cannabis;    Medical marijuana;    Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC);    Cannabidiol (CBD);    Legalization;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-023-16834-x

 received in 2023-07-27, accepted in 2023-09-25,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMarijuana is legal in many Western countries and Thailand. In Taiwan, Marijuana remains a category-2 narcotic; however, some legislative candidates recently advocated legalization of medical marijuana. This study surveyed a large sample of Taiwanese to gain a better understanding of the public’s knowledge and attitudes towards legalizing marijuana.MethodsThis cross-sectional mixed-methods study included demographic data and responses to a survey questionnaire, “Knowledge and Attitudes of Legalizing Marijuana” (KALM). The survey included 15 statements about four categories: public health, social impact, medical applications of THC (Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol), and legal and tax consequences; and two yes/no questions about medical use and legalization of marijuana. Knowledge was scored as disagree = 0, no knowledge = 2, or agree = 4; attitude was scored from 0 = very unimportant to 4 = very important. Responses to an open-ended question asking for additional comments/concerns were analysed with content analysis. The survey was conducted from February 15 to March 1, 2023.ResultsData were analysed from 38,502 respondents, aged 15 to > 56 years. Most were female (67.1%) and parents (76.4%). Scores were higher for respondents who were parents, religious, ≥ 36 years of age, had a high-income status, no history of substance abuse, knowledge of medical marijuana, and did not support legalization of marijuana. Medical personnel had greater knowledge of marijuana, but their attitude indicated they viewed legalization as less important. In the open-ended question, many respondents requested more information about marijuana be provided to the public before considering legalization.ConclusionsTaiwanese respondents considered legalization of marijuana a significant concern, especially as it relates to impacts on public health.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

【 图 表 】

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