Americans view marijuana as less harmful than alcohol, tobacco and nicotine vapes—and more adults now smoke cannabis than smoke cigarettes—according to a new Gallup poll.
While respondents were largely divided over whether cannabis generally has a positive or negative effect on society and consumers, marijuana ranked lowest in terms of perceived harmfulness out of a list of eight commonly used substances.
Sixty-six percent of Americans still cannabis use is either very or somewhat harmful to people who use it, while 32 percent said it was not too harmful or not at all harmful.
In contrast, 86 percent of respondents said alcohol was either very or somewhat harmful, while only 8 percent said it wasn’t too harmful or entirely benign.
Gallup noted that “majorities of Americans in several demographic groups believe marijuana has a positive effect on most who use it,” including “those who say they have tried marijuana, young adults 18-34 years old, Democrats, and those who attend religious services less than monthly or never.”
Via Gallup.
Vaping e-cigarettes is considered even more dangerous, with 91 percent agreeing its very or somewhat harmful. For traditional cigarettes, there’s a nearly unanimous consensus (97 percent) that such products are harmful. Just one percent of respondents said cigarettes weren’t at all harmful.
That helps explain the gradual decline in rates of cigarette use, which fell to an all-time low of 11 percent in 2022 and returned to that level again this year after a minor increase to 12 percent in 2023.
About 13 percent of Americans say they smoke marijuana, and 11 percent say they use edibles. Despite viewing alcohol as comparatively more harmful, however, 58 percent say they occasionally drink.
In general, the poll found that slim majorities of respondents believe marijuana has a negative effect on society (54 percent) and consumers (51 percent), which represents a slight uptick compared to 2022.
Via Gallup.
“Marijuana is legal for recreational use in 24 states, and the U.S. Justice Department has recently begun the process to reclassify marijuana as a less-dangerous drug,” Gallup said, referencing the Biden administration’s proposal to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
“Although U.S. adults are less likely to call marijuana ‘harmful’ than to say this about seven other substances, slim majorities now believe marijuana has a negative effect on its users and society as a whole,” it said.
The survey involved interviews with 1,010 adults from July 1-21, with a +/-4 percentage point margin of error.
The findings are consistent with prior research looking at perceptions of harmfulness of various drugs.
For example, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) had a study last year showing that people increasingly view smoking marijuana or being exposed to secondhand cannabis smoke as safer than smoking or being near tobacco smoke.
A separate survey released by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and Morning Consult last June also found that Americans consider marijuana to be significantly less dangerous than cigarettes, alcohol and opioids—and they say cannabis is less addictive than each of those substances, as well as technology.
Also, a study published last year found that state-level legalization is associated with a “small, occasionally significant longer-run declines in adult tobacco use.”
Additionally, a poll Gallup conducted in 2020 found that 70 percent of Americans view smoking cannabis to be a morally acceptable activity. That’s higher than their views on the morality of issues such as gay relationships, medical testing of animals, the death penalty and abortion.
Meanwhile, Gallup also released data in February finding that young people are more than five times more likely to consume cannabis than tobacco.
The polling firm also published a survey last year showing that a record 70 percent of Americans back marijuana legalization.
Another poll released last week found that marijuana use is one of the only crimes that a majority of Americans say is punished too harshly—and bipartisan majorities also back expunging prior cannabis convictions.
Also, another recent series of polls found widespread majority support for cannabis legalization, federal rescheduling and marijuana industry banking access among likely voters in three key presidential battleground states: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
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