As the percentage of U.S. adults who smoke cigarettes has reached a new low of 11% this year, much of the decline is tied to sharply lower smoking rates among young adults. From 2001 to 2003, an average of 35% of U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 29 […] Read more »
Americans overwhelmingly say marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use
With a growing number of states authorizing the use of marijuana, the public continues to broadly favor legalization of the drug for medical and recreational purposes. An overwhelming share of U.S. adults (88%) say either that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use by adults (59%) or that […] Read more »
Marijuana Views Linked to Ideology, Religiosity, Age
Americans’ support for marijuana legalization remains at the record-high 68% recorded each of the past two years. … Combining data for the past five years, from 2018 through 2022, allows for a more robust analysis of demographic differences in views about marijuana legalization than is possible from a single poll. […] Read more »
The skyrocketing support for legal marijuana
When same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide, political and social scientists noted the societal shift on the issue had been remarkable — even unparalleled. Before the Supreme Court enshrined the right into law in 2015, Americans had moved sharply in favor of it, and they have continued to do so since […] Read more »
As Biden’s New Drug Policy Shows, When It Comes to Legalization It’s the Political Leaders Who Are Being Led
… In 1990, only 16 percent of respondents to the University of Chicago’s General Social Survey favored the legalization of marijuana. By 2018, the most recent year with available data, the share of supporters had risen to 61 percent. The rate of increase was even higher among Democrats: from 17 […] Read more »
When marijuana is on the ballot, it wins
Marijuana, at times, seems to be a third rail in American politics. While most Democrats are ardent defenders of abortion rights and gay rights, many party lawmakers are less vocal about decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana. It was only Thursday when President Joe Biden decided to pardon all people convicted of […] Read more »