A study found that people in America are more likely to have problems because someone else drinks too much alcohol, compared to having problems because someone else uses cannabis. The researchers talked to many grown-ups and asked them if they had any bad things happen to them because of others using these substances. More than six times more people said they had problems from alcohol, while fewer people said they had problems from cannabis. This is interesting because some states in America are allowing people to use cannabis for fun, but it is still not allowed everywhere. The study shows that alcohol causes more trouble for people than cannabis does. Read from source...

- The study is based on a self-reported survey, which may be subject to recall bias and social desirability bias. This means that participants may not accurately remember or report their experiences of secondhand harms, or they may exaggerate or downplay them depending on their attitudes towards the substances involved.
- The study does not account for dose differences among the substances. For example, alcohol is typically consumed in larger amounts and more frequently than cannabis, which could increase the likelihood of experiencing secondhand harms from alcohol compared to cannabis. Additionally, the study does not specify what constitutes a "use" of each substance, which could vary widely among individuals and affect the interpretation of the results.
- The study includes opioids and other drugs in its analysis, but does not compare the secondhand harms from alcohol and cannabis separately. This makes it difficult to draw conclusions about how these two substances specifically impact others around them. A more meaningful comparison would be to examine the relative risks of secondhand harm from alcohol versus other substances, such as nicotine or caffeine.
- The study relies on a nationally representative sample of adults aged 18 and older, which may not accurately reflect the experiences of younger individuals who are more likely to be exposed to secondhand harms from both alcohol and cannabis. Additionally, the study does not account for variations in legalization status or cultural norms regarding substance use across different regions of the country, which could affect the prevalence and perception of secondhand harms.
- The study's authors acknowledge that their estimates for secondhand drug harms were lower than anticipated, and they attribute this to the trend toward recreational cannabis legalization. However, this explanation may be too simplistic, as there are likely many factors influencing the public's perception of the harms associated with different substances, such as media coverage, political debates, and personal experiences. A more comprehensive analysis would consider these factors in addition to legalization status.