Gallup Poll Shows More than Half of Americans Now View Marijuana Negatively
(WASHINGTON, DC) – Today, Gallup released the results of their annual Consumption Habits poll, which showed American’s views on marijuana have significantly shifted over the past two years. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they now believe marijuana negatively impacts society. This represents a 10-point drop in two years among Americans who think marijuana has a positive effect on people who use it. The drop was consistent among every demographic reported by Gallup. Notably, the poll found negative shifts in attitudes toward marijuana use by individuals aged 18-34 (7% drop), Democrats (9% drop), and people who never or seldom attended religious services (13% drop).
Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former three-time White House drug policy advisor and President and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), issued the following statement in response:
“State-level commercialization and normalization of marijuana has shown Americans the serious consequences of these dangerous drugs, and Americans of all stripes are souring on marijuana. While pro-drug DC lobbyists and pandering politicians continue to praise marijuana use and ignore the data on its harms, this new poll shows that Americans are following the science on today’s high-potency THC drugs.
“It has now been over a decade since the first state legalized marijuana, and families and communities are feeling the impact. Legal states are seeing rapid rises in THC-related driving crashes, poison control calls, hospitalizations, and addiction. While pandering politicians might be quick to say marijuana is harmless or a cash-cow for state budgets, public opinion is clearly shifting as more families have seen firsthand the results of marijuana use.”