In adjusted analyses, past year cannabis users were less likely to perceive great risk associated with regular cannabis use. A dose response relationship between frequency of use and perceived risk was observed: non-daily users were 89% less likely than past year non-users and daily users were 96% less likely than non-users to perceive great risk associated with regular cannabis use. Additionally, participants surveyed in the years 2008 through 2012, compared to those surveyed in the year 2002, were significantly less likely to perceive great risk associated with regular cannabis use after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and past year cannabis use frequency. This finding further highlights the overall changes in perception even after accounting for cannabis use, as might be expected given the observed trend toward decreasing great perceived risk in the substrata assessed. This observation may at least partially be explained by the increasing number of states that legalized medical marijuana during 2008 and after: prior to 2008, 11 states had legalized medical marijuana, while starting in 2008, an additional 12 states and Washington D.C. passed legislation regarding medical marijuana (ProCon.org, 2014).
