According to a new survey, the majority of Americans do not consider marijuana harmful. However, they believe that cannabis consumption increases their likelihood of using other dangerous drugs.
Rasmussen Reports’ survey, which is widely seen as conservative, included several questions on cannabis and related topics, at a time when President Donald Trump was considering a proposal to reschedule marijuana.
The top finding was that, while 52 percent of the respondents stated that marijuana use “was not at all dangerous”, or “not extremely dangerous”, 53 percent indicated that it is “somewhat harmful” or very dangerous.
Republicans are more likely than Democrats to believe marijuana is dangerous.
The survey—which involved interviews with 1,305 American adults from September 21-23—also inquired about public opinion on the gateway drug theory, asking: “How likely is it that marijuana use leads to the use of more dangerous drugs?”
Despite the majority perception that marijuana isn’t dangerous—and the fact that polls consistently show majority (and increasingly bipartisan) support for legalizing cannabis, 51 percent of respondents said it was “very likely” or “somewhat likely” that marijuana could lead to more dangerous drug use. Other 42 percent also said it wasn’t “very likely” or even “not at any likely”.
Rasmussen surveyed opinions on the broader issue of “drug abuse” within the U.S. and asked respondents to give their assessment of its current state.
Only 5 percent of respondents said that the situation was “better”; 36 percent stated it is “worse”, and 39 percent indicated it was “about the Same.”
This poll has a margin error of +/-3 points. It is the most recent temperature check on American attitudes toward drug policies as Trump considers a plan to shift marijuana from Schedule I into Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
While a major prohibitionist group called Smart Approaches to Marijuana, (SAM) recently claimed that a survey they conducted showed majority opposition to the rescheduling of marijuana, a change in policy that Trump supported on the campaign trails, this result is at odds with multiple national surveys that show support for reforms that go beyond the rescheduling.
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Another recent survey from the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR), which was conducted by the firm Forbes Tate Partners, showed that seven in 10 American voters want to see the end of federal marijuana prohibition—and nearly half say they’d view the Trump administration more favorably if it took action on the issue.
A poll released in June that MEDCAN24 partnered on with the cannabis telehealth platform NuggMD showed that a majority of marijuana consumers disapprove of the Trump administration’s actions on cannabis policy to date, but there’s also a significant willingness among users to shift their position if the federal government opts to reschedule or legalize marijuana.
Earlier this year, meanwhile, a firm associated with Trump—Fabrizio, Lee & Associates—also polled Americans on a series of broader marijuana policy issues. Notably, it found that a majority of Republicans back cannabis rescheduling—and, notably, they’re even more supportive of allowing states to legalize marijuana without federal interference compared to the average voter.
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