By Daniel Miller, Fox News
A majority of people say they smoke marijuana more than cigarettes, based on data from a new Gallup poll.
Sixteen percent of Americans say they currently smoke marijuana with 48% of respondents sharing that they have tried it at some point in their life — the highest rate ever recorded by Gallup. Last year, 12% of respondents said they used marijuana.
The poll released on Aug. 16 was part of a study that examined people’s attitudes regarding marijuana’s benefits to society.
Gallup’s poll finds that marijuana use was higher among adults between the ages of 18 and 34 with 30% responding that they smoke pot and 22% consume marijuana edibles. These numbers are significantly lower in both categories for adults 35 to 54 years old (16%) and Americans 55 and older (7%).
The analytics and research company conducted a related poll on Aug. 26 that collected responses for a survey discussing alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use among Americans.
A new record low of 11% of adults reported smoking cigarettes with approximately three in 10 nonsmokers stating they used to smoke, a steep drop in cigarette use compared to 45% in the 1950s.
In 2019, Gallup conducted a poll that found 83% of people believed smoking is “very harmful” compared to 14% who responded that it’s “somewhat harmful.” More than nine in 10 adults agreed smoking caused cancer. Approximately 91% of smokers interviewed by Gallup in 2015 said they wished they never started smoking.
With marijuana use higher among most Americans, the poll reveals that Americans are divided in their views on marijuana, but support for legalization is still large.
Gallup held phone interviews with 1,013 people 18 or older in all 50 states and Washington, DC. When asked what effect they thought marijuana had on society, 49% of respondents said it was positive, while 50% said cannabis has negatively impacted society.
However, 68% of adults think marijuana should be legal, Gallup shared. Most adults who have ever tried marijuana believe its effects on users and society as a whole are positive. The survey revealed that 72% of people who have never tried marijuana think it’s bad for society.
Senate bill would decriminalize marijuana
In July, three prominent Senate Democrats introduced legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, despite slim chances that the bill will pass.
The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, introduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Cory Booker and Ron Wyden, would remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, but it could still be outlawed at the state level.
Recreational marijuana is legal in 19 states, Washington, D.C, and Guam, while 37 states allow some form of medical marijuana. Six states could vote on ballot measures legalizing marijuana in the November midterm elections, and should they pass, will join those 19 states.
On April 1, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass legislation to legalize marijuana at the federal level, one step closer to decriminalizing cannabis in the United States.
Though 18 states have legalized recreational use and 37 allow for some sort of medical marijuana, the remaining federal prohibition has created headaches for the industry in states where it is legal — making it hard for businesses to get banking services and loans.
Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, is expected to face strong headwinds in the Senate — its debate and vote in April gave House lawmakers the chance to state their views on a decriminalization push.
The MORE Act would essentially remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act list and decriminalize it. The measure would require federal courts to expunge prior marijuana convictions and conduct resentencing hearings for those completing their sentences.
Source More Americans smoke marijuana than cigarettes, poll finds
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As long ago as the early 60s I decided that the goober mint had no business telling people what they could or could not put in their bodies in the privacy of their homes.
That said, I don’t want someone operating a motor vehicle on public highways under the influence of any substance. I don’t want the crew of any aircraft I am on to be drugged up.
I don’t want medical personnel providing service to be drugged up.
I don’t want an attorney nor a judge involved in a legal action to which I am a party to be drugged up.
I find humor in the fact that folks abhor smoking tobacco but think toking up is okay for their health. Hello folks, it’s not the nicotine that is rotting your lungs. It is the tar in the smoke from burning leaves that is doing the job.
It is probably not the tetrahydrocannabinol that will rot your lungs, it’s the tar in the burning leaves that will do the job, just like tobacco. But, hey, if you want to die gasping for air, that’s your choice. Metastasized lung cancer is not a fun way to go. Plus who really knows what other fun things the tar in plant smoke does to us? I don’t care that we have been around smoke for eons. It was infections and injuries that did away with most of our ancestors. They just generally didn’t live long enough to develop cancers.
And in case anyone wonders, no, unlike some recent presidents, I never just tried it and didn’t inhale. I am in that small percentage of folks who have never consumed an illegal substance — well, not counting wine and beer before I was 21, although being overseas at age 18 during that time period if you had the money for the booze you were legal and even the government furnished booze at unit special service parties no one checked IDs to see if everyone was 21. The dictum was if you were old enough to wear a uniform and chance getting pieces ripped off or killed, you were old enough to have a few or more beers. Which is a topic for another letter. If you are old enough to get assigned to a combat zone why aren’t you a full fledged citizen. How come you can be in charge of a 120 mm canon which will knock down a building but you can’t own a .22 pistol? How come you can risk your life and the lives of men under you and you can’t have a beer on your front porch with your old man when you get back from 1 year of intense combat? How come you can kill dozens of so-called enemies with a 30mm chain gun but can’t own a magazine fed semi-automatic shoulder weapon not one tenth as deadly as a the 30mm chain gun. Don’t tell me the troop is supervised. Supervision in a firefight is something much sought after but all too often nowhere in sight. It may be the 20 year old sergeant is the supervisor. He is mature enough to direct the killing of dozens of people but he isn’t mature enough to own the rifle I described.
Don’t tell me there are no 20 year old sergeants. I was a sergeant in the Marine Corps before I was 20.
Beautiful Houwelings facility sold to cannabis company so obviously pot more profitable than food…many layoffs…
https://www.sfvbj.com/news/weekly-news/cannabis-company-pays-93-million-camarillo-product/#:~:text=Glass%20House%20Brands%20has%20purchased,House%20said%20in%20a%20release.
We are drugged up society. Watch TV and big pharma is most of the ads. In addition it is reported that 25% of adult females in America take anti-depressants. It is fairly simple to stay healthy though. Eat right, limit sugar intake, exercise and concentrate on being happy and being nice to people.