Marijuana: Views on Its Medical Use Recorded at the Slovak Social Network

J Drug Educ. 2016 Jun 1;46(1-2):3-14. doi: 10.1177/0047237916646442. Epub 2016 Jun 9.

Abstract

We describe opinions on medical use of Cannabis sativa L under conditions of Slovakia (n = 717). Personal experience with marijuana was detected in 77.42% (n = 553) in age categories younger than 20 years (n = 96) and in 77.06% (n = 457) of adults. Almost 86% of respondents (n = 618) agreed with legal use of marijuana for medical purposes. Furthermore, respondents' views on legal usage of marijuana for medical purposes could be affected by availability of information (r = .12) and personal experience (r = .23). Negative impact of substance abuse in younger age-groups was recognized as threat (r = .47), but knowledge about harmful effect of marijuana use did not affect personal opinion for decriminalization (r = .38).

Keywords: Cannabis sativa L; Slovakia; education; medical use; survey.