Americans believe that cannabis is better than alcohol, according to recent research from the Gallup Poll, although respondents were divided on the question of whether cannabis is beneficial for society overall. In polling released earlier this month, 53% of Americans said marijuana positively affects the people who use it. In comparison, only 27% of those surveyed said that alcohol has a positive effect on drinkers.<\/p>\n
When asked their views on marijuana\u2019s effect on people, 9% said that weed has a very positive effect on people, while 44% said the effect was somewhat positive,\u00a0according to cannabis polling<\/a>\u00a0released by Gallup on August 16. The research also showed that 30% think cannabis has a somewhat negative effect on users, and 15% said the herb has a very negative effect on the people who use it.<\/p>\n By contrast,\u00a0polling on alcohol<\/a>\u00a0released on August 5 showed that 52% believe alcohol has a very negative effect on the people who use it, while 19% said drinking\u2019s effect is very negative. Only 3% said alcohol has a very positive effect on drinkers, and 24% said drinking has a somewhat positive effect on alcohol users. Those who use marijuana had more favorable opinions of weed\u2019s effect on users. Among those with experience with marijuana, 70% said that cannabis\u2019 impact on people is positive, while only 29% of cannabis users said that marijuana has a negative effect on the people who use it. Interestingly, only 32% of drinkers said the effect of alcohol is positive, while nearly two-thirds (65%) believe alcohol\u2019s impact on the people who use it is negative.<\/p>\n Americans\u2019 views on the impact cannabis has on society were almost evenly divided, with 49% saying the effect was positive and 50% saying marijuana has a negative effect on society. Among those with a favorable view, 12% said marijuana\u2019s effect on society is very positive, and 37% somewhat positive. Nearly a third (31%) said cannabis has a somewhat negative impact on society, while 19% said the effect is very negative.<\/p>\n Americans\u2019 views on the effect of alcohol on society were less favorable, with 75% saying the effect is negative, including 55% who said the effect is somewhat negative and 20% who believe it is very negative. Less than a quarter of U.S. adults said that alcohol positively impacts the country, with 21% saying the effect is somewhat positive and only 2% saying booze has a positive impact on society.<\/p>\n While Americans\u2019 views are that cannabis is better than alcohol, Gallup notes that marijuana continues to be illegal at the federal level. But with 38 states already enacting some sort of cannabis legalization and younger adults having a more favorable opinion of marijuana than their elders, continued reform seems inevitable.<\/p>\n \u201cThe future of marijuana legalization, at both the federal and state levels, may partly depend on what medical and other research studies show is the impact of the drug on users and society at large, particularly if its use continues to expand,\u201d Gallup wrote in a report on the marijuana poll. \u201cBut with young people being more familiar and comfortable with marijuana, their greater tolerance may be destined to prevail over time.\u201d<\/p>\n Americans\u2019 belief that marijuana is better than booze is supported by scientific research. Most importantly, cannabis has never killed anyone, while\u00a0data from the National Institutes of Health<\/a>\u00a0show that 95,000 deaths in the US each year can be attributed to the health effects of alcohol, making alcohol consumption the third-leading preventable cause of death in the country. More than 1,600 deaths are caused by alcohol poisoning, while no known lethal dose of cannabis exists. Alcohol also increases the risk of injury, while research shows the opposite may be true for marijuana.<\/p>\n A study published in the journal<\/a>\u00a0Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research<\/em>\u00a0in 2011 found that 36% of hospitalized assaults and 21% of all injuries are attributable to alcohol use by the injured person. By contrast, some research shows that using marijuana may actually\u00a0reduce the risk of injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n Evidence also supports the belief that alcohol negatively impacts society more than marijuana.\u00a0A 2003 study<\/a> on the relationship between drugs and violence published in the\u00a0Journal of Addictive Behaviors<\/em>\u00a0reported that \u201calcohol is clearly the drug with the most evidence to support a direct intoxication-violence relationship,\u201d whereas \u201ccannabis reduces the likelihood of violence during intoxication.\u201d And the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimates that\u00a025-30% of violent crimes<\/a>\u00a0in the US are linked directly to the use of alcohol, while the government doesn\u2019t track violence related to cannabis use.<\/p>\n The post Americans Think Cannabis Is Better Than Alcohol<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Americans believe that cannabis is better than alcohol, according to recent research from the Gallup Poll, although respondents were divided on the question of whether cannabis is beneficial for society overall. In polling released earlier this month, 53% of Americans said marijuana positively affects the people who use it. InContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1609,50,380,99,12720,417,4859],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56852"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56852"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56853,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56852\/revisions\/56853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Americans Split on Cannabis\u2019 Impact on Society<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Research Backs Americans\u2019 Views on Weed and Alcohol<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Americans Think Cannabis Is Better Than Alcohol<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"