April 10, 2024
This analysis was revealed over a month in the past – right here's a abstract from Pew's perspective
The use and possession of marijuana is prohibited underneath US federal legislation, however about three-quarters of states have legalized the drug for medical or leisure functions. The altering authorized panorama has coincided with a decades-long surge in public assist for legalization, which a majority of People now favor.
Listed below are 9 info about People' views and experiences with marijuana, based mostly on Pew Analysis Heart surveys and different sources.
About 9 in ten People say marijuana must be authorized for medical or leisure use, in response to a survey by the Pew Analysis Heart in January 2024. Nearly all of American adults (88%) say that marijuana must be authorized just for medical use (32%) or that it must be authorized for medical functions. and leisure use (57%). Solely 11% say the drug shouldn’t be authorized in any type. These views have remained comparatively secure over the previous 5 years.
Views on the legalization of marijuana fluctuate significantly by age, political celebration, race, and ethnicity. the January survey reveals.
Whereas small actions amongst demographic teams say that marijuana shouldn’t be authorized, these minimal prone to advocate for medical and leisure use embody:
- Older adults: 31% of adults 75 and older assist the legalization of marijuana for medical and leisure functions, in comparison with half of these 65 to 74, the following youngest age class. Against this, 71% of adults underneath 30 assist legalization for each makes use of.
- GOP Republicans and Independents: 42% of Republicans favor the legalization of marijuana for each makes use of, in comparison with 72% of Democrats and Democrats. Ideological variations additionally exist: In each events, those that are extra conservative are much less prone to assist legalization.
- Hispanic and Asian People: 45% in every group assist the legalization of the drug for medical and leisure use. The most important share of Black (65%) and White (59%) adults maintain this view.
Help for the legalization of marijuana has elevated dramatically over the previous twenty years. Along with asking particularly about medical and leisure use of the drug, the Heart and Gallup requested People in regards to the legalization of marijuana use usually. Gallup requested this query most not too long ago, in 2023. That yr, 70% of adults expressed assist for legalization, greater than double the share who mentioned they favored it in 2000.
Half of American adults (50.3%) say they’ve ever used marijuana, in response to the 2022 Nationwide Survey on Drug Use and Well being. It is a smaller share than the 84.1% who say they’ve ever consumed alcohol and the 64.8% who’ve ever used tobacco merchandise or vaporized nicotine.
Whereas many People say they’ve used marijuana of their lifetime, far fewer are present customers, in response to the identical survey. In 2022, 23.0% of adults mentioned that they had used the drug within the final yr, whereas 15.9% mentioned that they had used it prior to now month.
Whereas many People say legalizing leisure marijuana has financial and prison justice advantages, views on these and different impacts fluctuate, the Heart's January survey reveals.
- Financial advantages: About half of adults (52%) say legalizing leisure marijuana is nice for native economies, whereas 17% say it's dangerous. One other 29% say it has no impression.
- Equity of the prison justice system: 42% of People say legalizing marijuana for leisure use makes the prison justice system fairer, in comparison with 18% who say it makes the system much less honest. About 4 in ten (38%) say it has no impression.
- Using different medication: 27% say this coverage lower using different medication reminiscent of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine, and 29% say it will increase. However the largest half (42%) says that it has no impact on using different medication.
- Neighborhood Security: 21% say leisure legalization makes communities safer and 34% say it makes them much less protected. One other 44% say it has no impression on security.
Democrats and adults underneath 50 are extra doubtless than Republicans and people in older age teams to say that legalizing marijuana would have a constructive impression in every of those areas.
Most People assist aligning penalties for individuals with marijuana convictions, a survey of the Heart of October 2021 discovered. Two-thirds of adults say they favor releasing individuals from jail who’re held just for marijuana-related offenses, together with 41% who strongly favor it. And 61% assist eradicating or expunging marijuana-related offenses from individuals's prison information.
Youthful adults, Democrats, and Black People are particularly prone to assist these modifications. For instance, 74% of black adults favor releasing individuals from jail who’re incarcerated just for marijuana-related offenses, and simply as many favor eradicating or expunging marijuana-related offenses from their information penalties
Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have legalized small quantities of marijuana for medical and leisure use by March 2024. in response to the Nationwide Group for Reform of Marijuana Legal guidelines (NORML), an advocacy group that tracks state laws on the problem. One other 14 states have legalized the drug for medical use solely.
Of the remaining 12 states, all enable restricted entry to merchandise reminiscent of CBD oil that comprise little or no THC – the primary psychoactive substance in hashish. And 26 states general have at the least partially decriminalized the leisure use of marijuana, as has the District of Columbia.
Greater than 24 states and DC, the US Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands have legalized marijuana for medical and leisure use.
Greater than half of People (54%) reside in a state the place leisure and medical marijuana is authorized, and 74% reside in a state the place it’s authorized for each functions or just for medical use. in response to a February Heart evaluation of information from the Census Bureau and different exterior sources. This evaluation checked out state laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
In 2012, Colorado and Washington turned the primary states to cross laws legalizing leisure marijuana.
About eight in ten People (79%) reside in a county with at the least one hashish dispensary, in response to the February evaluation. There are practically 15,000 marijuana dispensaries nationwide, and 76% are in states (together with DC) the place leisure use is authorized. One other 23% are in medical marijuana-only states, and 1% are in states which have legalized low-percentage THC or CBD merchandise.
The states with the most important variety of dispensaries embody California, Oklahoma, Florida, Colorado and Michigan.
Word: That is an replace of a publish initially revealed on April 26, 2021 and up to date on April 13, 2023.
9 info about People and marijuana
