Public perception of ‘cannabis’ as food, drug and medicine in Malta

Abstract

Cannabis is not a novel feature in human life, but its perception by the public is currently in flux. The Cannabis plant is a subject which divides humanity into two seemingly opposing camps; some agreeing with legalisation and others upholding prohibition. This research delved into the literature revolving around Cannabis and employed a mixed-methods, quantitative-based research project to understand how the average Maltese citizen understands Cannabis as food, drug and medicine in the current legislative background. A thorough literature review portrayed the plant botanically in the eyes of modern science and legislative approaches to regulate its use and make sense of its uncertainties. Then public perception was defined and influences upon it conceptualised to calculate and quantify the mechanics of public perception particularly in the spectrum of food and medicine. An online survey was utilised to gather data from the public from March to May of the year 2023. Maltese residents were asked a total of twenty-eight questions regarding their perception of Cannabis, their opinion about its recently enshrined legality and their experience with the substance. The sample of this study was one hundred (n = 100), which may distort findings in representation of the general population and confers an error quantified at 10%. The mode age of study participants was between 26 and 35 years comprising 44% of the respondents. It resulted that 68% perceive Cannabis as posing low to very low risk to human health, 87% agree with legalisation for medical use and 66% agree with legalisation for recreational use. The average age of first use was 17.9 years, the mode 15 and the median 16 and, amongst other findings, it resulted that 22.6% of respondents make use of Cannabis on a daily basis. It transpired that 80% of respondents had consumed Cannabis at least once and it was found that the expected outcome of legalisation is positive at a mean of 3.23 over 5 and a median of 4 out of 5. It was concluded that evidently the public perception of Cannabis is changing and this transitional process is critical to oversee the movement away from the association of drugs with criminality or lucrative enterprise profiting from users, towards discussions on drugs, health and healing which locally is typically addressed with synthetic medicine. A form of medication or a form of meditation, Cannabis has its own benefits and risks and it is the State’s duty to promote responsibility by setting high standards of safety and quality, unbiased research into efficacy and innovation in health and recreation. This enables the community to move on from the stigma associated with this matter of health and leisure and leaves it up to the rightly informed individual to best maintain their own health, well-being and independence, with knowledge well established on the basis of trustworthy expert recommendations integrated in a holistic framework.