Most Individuals don’t assume marijuana is harmful regardless of efforts by legalization opponents to solid the plant in a destructive mild, in response to a brand new ballot.
Rasmussen Experiences surveyed 1,000 Individuals to study their views about drug misuse within the U.S., the perceived dangerousness of hashish and the concept that marijuana is a gateway to “extra harmful medicine.”
Whereas 59 p.c of respondents mentioned that drug misuse normally is getting “worse” within the nation— in comparison with simply 9 p.c who mentioned the well being difficulty is enhancing—a majority of Individuals additionally mentioned that marijuana is both “not very harmful” (28 p.c) or “under no circumstances harmful” (29 p.c).
Marijuana: Most Don’t Assume It’s Harmfulhttps://t.co/2Uv4zbHh2s pic.twitter.com/b34KeA39oC
— Rasmussen Experiences (@Rasmussen_Poll) September 30, 2022
In distinction, 23 p.c mentioned that hashish is “considerably harmful” and 12 p.c mentioned it’s “very harmful.”
A majority of Democrats (60 p.c) don’t take into account marijuana harmful, whereas Republicans are divided, with 48 p.c saying it’s no less than considerably harmful and 45 p.c saying it isn’t.
Even amongst those that mentioned that drug misuse is getting worse within the nation, 56 p.c instructed that they don’t take into account hashish to be a part of the issue, as additionally they don’t consider the plant as harmful.
Apparently, nonetheless, Individuals are evenly break up on the notion that marijuana is a gateway drug. Forty-six p.c of respondents mentioned it’s both “very probably” or “considerably probably” that hashish consumption “results in the usage of extra harmful medicine,” in comparison with 46 p.c who mentioned it’s “not very probably” or “under no circumstances probably.”
Whereas a majority of Individuals assume the nation’s drug abuse drawback is getting worse, most don’t consider marijuana is harmful.https://t.co/2Uv4zbYRU0 pic.twitter.com/KY8GP7x9hC
— Rasmussen Experiences (@Rasmussen_Poll) October 1, 2022
The poll concerned interviews with 1,000 American adults from September 14-15, with a margin of error of +/-3 proportion factors.
Public perceptions in regards to the dangerousness of marijuana have been steadily declining, particularly amid the state-level legalization motion. A mixture of things might assist clarify that, together with the truth that about half of American adults have no less than tried hashish and broader media protection of the therapeutic advantages of marijuana.
Extra Individuals now overtly admit that they smoke marijuana or eat cannabis-infused edibles than say they’ve smoked cigarettes previously week, in response to not too long ago launched information from Gallup.
And greater than twice as many Individuals assume that marijuana has a constructive influence on its customers and society at giant than say the identical about alcohol, the agency discovered.
That’s typically in step with the outcomes of a separate ballot launched in March that discovered extra Individuals assume it’d be good if individuals switched to hashish and drank much less alcohol in comparison with those that assume the substance substitution can be dangerous.
In the meantime, though perceptions of the dangerousness of marijuana have been declining, fears about that translating into elevated underage use haven’t come to fruition, regardless of the anti-legalization arguments from prohibitionists.
Whilst extra states transfer to legalize hashish, youth marijuana utilization charges have both remained secure or declined, a number of research and surveys have discovered.
One of the vital latest federally funded surveys on the subject burdened that youth marijuana use “decreased considerably” in 2021, as did teen consumption of illicit substances general.
The 2020 federally funded Monitoring the Future survey additional discovered that hashish consumption amongst adolescents “didn’t considerably change in any of the three grades for lifetime use, previous 12-month use, previous 30-day use, and day by day use from 2019-2020.”
Photograph courtesy of Chris Wallis // Aspect Pocket Photographs.