Majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana: Pew poll
- A majority of Americans believe weed should be legal, Pew poll finds
- Health and Human Services suggested loosening federal restrictions
- Marijuana has been shown to help ease a variety of illnesses
FILE – A cannabis plant close to harvest grows in a grow room at the Greenleaf Medical Cannabis facility, June 17, 2021, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
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(NewsNation) — A majority of Americans polled by Pew Research say marijuana should be legalized if used for medical or recreational purposes.
Around 57% said that it should be legal for both uses, while 32% said that should only be the case for medical use.
Only 11% of Americans who took the Pew Research Center survey, conducted from Jan. 16-21, thought marijuana should be completely illegal.
Half of people surveyed, 52%, thought legalizing recreational marijuana would be good for local economies, while 42% said it would make the criminal justice system “more fair.”
While an overwhelming share of people did favor marijuana legalization, there were some disparities around age and party lines.
Older adults are less likely than their younger counterparts to be in favor of making cannabis legal.
Of those ages 75 and up, 31% said marijuana should be legal recreationally and medically.
“By comparison, half of adults between the ages of 65 and 74 say marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use, and larger shares in younger age groups say the same,” Pew wrote.
Meanwhile, Republicans also continue to be less supportive than Democrats of both recreational and medical legalization: 42% of GOP voters said they back it, compared to 72% of Democrats.
Still, Pew noted that wide majorities of Republicans still favor legalization at least for medical use.
As public sentiment towards marijuana becomes more accepting, there has been a push to loosen federal restrictions on it.
In January, the Department of Health and Human Services released an extensive scientific review recommending this.
“There exists some credible scientific support for the medical use of marijuana in at least one of the indications for which there is widespread current experience in the United States,” the review said.
Marijuana, for over six decades, has been considered a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule I drugs, such as heroin and MDMA, are considered to have high abuse potential and no accepted medical use.
However, cannabis, one of the most commonly used drugs in the United States, has been used for a variety of health conditions, including nausea; glaucoma; PTSD; Crohn’s disease; Parkinson’s disease; fibromyalgia; and irritable bowel syndrome. It has even been reported to help patients suffering from pain associated with HIV.
So, federal officials say it should be classified instead as a Schedule III drug, like ketamine or testosterone. Schedule III drugs can be obtained with a prescription.