Feelings Toward Smoke
How much does cannabis/marijuana smoke bother you?
Sixty-six percent of participants were bothered by cannabis/marijuana smoke exposure in public places (Figure 1). Approximately 38% of participants were “very much” bothered by cannabis/marijuana smoke.
Percentage of participants who said they were not at all bothered by cannabis/marijuana smoke was highest among transgender participants (55%). However, due to small number of participants, limited conclusions can be drawn.
Percentage of participants who said they were not at all bothered by cannabis/marijuana smoke was highest among the 18-25 age group (47%).
Percentage of participants who said they were not at all bothered by cannabis/marijuana smoke was highest among Black participants (48%).
Figure 5 shows the average that participants are bothered by cannabis/marijuana smoke at survey location zip codes. For outreach locations, the participants’ residence zip code is used. Responses ranging from “not at all” to “extremely” are assigned numeric values (i.e. 0-4) that are then averaged for each zip code. A higher average means that participants are bothered by cannabis/marijuana smoke closer to “extremely.” A lower average frequency means that participants notice cannabis/marijuana smoke closer to “not at all.”
Figure 5. Participants Bothered by Cannabis/Marijuana Smoke in Public Places by Zip Code
How does cannabis/marijuana smoke bother you?
Participants reported that they were most bothered by the smell. There were about 4,000 comments about smell (e.g., hate the smell, the smell is bad it makes me sick, the smell itself can make others sick).
Participants also expressed a great concern for children (e.g., bad example for children, bothers that kids breathing it, affects my kids, my kids inhale the smoke when we are waiting for the bus and they get sick).
Others were bothered by the smoke (e.g., secondhand smoke, annoyed because people blow smoke in face, throw smoke near us, smoke bothers and a lot of it is not good for our health), when family members were around (e.g., it can be disrespectful, especially smoking it around families and older people), and because they would get headaches (e.g., severe headache and watery eyes, I get a headache and I get upset) (see the Word Cloud to the right based on the text analysis of all comments).
Figure 6. Text Analysis: The Most Common Word/Phrases in the Comments.
Note: The size of words or phrases indicate the frequency of the words or phrases used in the comments participants provided.
How harmful do you think second-hand cannabis/marijuana smoke is?
Overall, the majority (83%) of participants thought that exposure to secondhand cannabis/marijuana smoke was harmful, with 48% indicating that it was very harmful and 35% indicating that it was moderately harmful (Figure 7).
Percentage of participants who thought that secondhand cannabis/marijuana smoke exposure was not at all harmful was highest among transgender participants (27%). However, due to the small number of participants, limited conclusions can be drawn.
Percentage of participants who thought that secondhand cannabis/marijuana smoke exposure was not at all harmful was highest among the 18-25 age group (20%).
Percentage of participants who thought that secondhand cannabis/marijuana smoke exposure was not at all harmful was highest among Black participants (28%).
Figure 11 shows the average perceived harm of cannabis/marijuana smoke at survey location zip codes. For outreach locations, the participants’ residence zip code is used. Responses ranging from “not at all” to “extremely” are assigned numeric values (i.e. 0-4) that are then averaged for each zipcode. A higher average means that participants perceive cannabis/marijuana smoke closer to “extremely harmful.” A lower average frequency means that participants perceive cannabis/marijuana smoke closer to “not at all harmful.”
Figure 11. Perceived Harm for Secondhand Cannabis/Marijuana Smoke by Zip Code
