Legalize It,Criticize It,or Something Else? Americans’ Attitudes Toward Federal Recreational Marijuana Legislation (RML)

Abstract

Recreational marijuana legislation (RML) has been enacted at the state-level but not federally. Given the link between public opinion and RML, we examine 2021 national poll (N = 995) data that assessed views about different types of proposed federal actions concerning cannabis. Less than half of Americans preferred full legalization, 21% approved of medical legalization only, 23% believed in states’ rights, and 11% supported the current prohibition. Using multinomial logistic regression modeling, respondents who associated legalized recreational marijuana with adverse/negative effects were less likely to favor full legalization. In contrast, respondents who associated legalized recreational marijuana with beneficial effects were most supportive of full legalization. Uncertainty surrounding cannabis shaped preferences but not as dramatically as having a clear opinion.

Keywords

drugs public opinion public policy

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). (2020). A tale of two countries: Racially targeted arrests in the era of marijuana. Author. https://www.aclu.org/report/tale-two-countries-racially-targeted-arrests-era-marijuana-reform

Austermuhle

(2021, April 21). Virginia’s legal marijuana won’t include the gifts’ you can get in D.C. NPR. https://www.npr.org/local/305/2021/04/12/986428633/virginia-s-legal-marijuana-won-t-include-the-gifts-you-can-get-in-d-c

Black

(2003). The rise of southern republicans. Harvard University Press.

Brenan

(2020, November 9). Support for legal marijuana inches up to new high of 68%. Gallup. https://news.gallup.com/poll/323582/support-legal-marijuana-inches-new-high.aspx

Brinkman

Mok-Lamme

(2019). Not in my backyard? Not so fast. The effect of marijuana legalization on neighborhood crime. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 78(5), 103460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2019.103460

Burstein

(2010). Public opinion, public policy, and democracy. In Leicht

Jenkins

J. C.

(Eds.), Handbook of politics: State and society in global perspective (pp. 63–79). Springer.

Burton

A. L.

Cullen

F. T.

Burton

V. S.

Jr. Graham

Butler

L. C.

Thielo

A. J.

(2020). Belief in redeemability and punitive public opinion: “Once a criminal, always a criminal” revisited. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 47(6), 712–732. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854820913585

Cohn

A. M.

Johnson

A. L.

Rose

S. W.

Rath

J. M.

Villanti

A. C.

(2017). Support for marijuana legalization and predictors of intentions to use marijuana more often in response to legalization among U.S. young adults. Substance Use & Misuse, 52(2), 203–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2016.1223688

Collingwood

O’Brien

B. G.

Dreier

(2018). Evaluating ballot initiative support for legalized marijuana: The case of Washington. International Journal of Drug Policy, 56(1), 6–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2018.02.010

10.

Connealy

Piza

Hatten

(2020). The criminogenic effect of marijuana dispensaries in Denver, Colorado: A microsynthetic control quasi-experiment and cost-benefit analysis. Justice Evaluation Journal, 3(1), 69–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/24751979.2019.1691934

11.

Cox

(2022, April 2). “A matter of justice”: Congress moves closer to decriminalizing marijuana with House passage of MORE Act. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/04/01/congress-decriminalize-marijuana-more-act/7206098001/?gnt-cfr=1

12.

Denham

B. E.

(2019). Attitudes toward legalization of marijuana in the United States, 1986–2016: Changes in determinants of public opinion. International Journal of Drug Policy, 71(1), 78–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.06.007

13.

Dills

Goffard

Miron

Partin

(2021, February 2). The effect of state marijuana legalizations: 2021 update. Cato Institute.

14.

Dragone

Prarolo

Vanin

Zanella

(2019). Crime and the legalization of recreational marijuana. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 159(C), 488–501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2018.02.005

15.

Ellis

J. D.

Resko

S. M.

Szechy

Smith

Early

T. J.

(2019). Characteristics associated with attitudes toward marijuana legalization in Michigan. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 51(4), 335–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2019.1610199

16.

Felson

Adamczyk

Thomas

(2019). How and why have attitudes about cannabis legalization changed so much? Social Science Research, 78(1), 12–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2018.12.011

17.

Firth

Carlini

B. H.

(2019). Cannabis legalization and racial disparities in Washington state. Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, University of Washington. https://adai.uw.edu/pubs/pdf/2019racialdisparities.pdf

18.

Freisthler

Gaidus

Tam

Ponicki

W. R.

Gruenewald

P. J.

(2017). From medical to recreational marijuana sales: Marijuana outlets and crime in an era of changing marijuana legislation. Journal of Primary Prevention, 38(3), 249–263. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-017-0472-9

19.

Gallup Poll. (2021, November 4). Support for legal marijuana holds at record high of 68%. Gallup. https://news.gallup.com/poll/356939/support-legal-marijuana-holds-record-high.aspx

20.

Galston

W.A.

Dionne

E. J.

(2013). The new politics of marijuana legalization: Why opinion is changing. Governance Studies at Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Dionne-Galston_NewPoliticsofMJLeg_Final.pdf

21.

Garland

(2001). The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society. University of Chicago Press.

22.

Geissler

K. H.

Kaizer

Johnson

J. K.

Doonan

S. M.

Whitehill

J. M.

(2020). Evaluation of availability of survey data about cannabis use. JAMA Network Open, 3(6), e206039. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.6039

23.

Hammond

C. J.

Chaney

Hendrickson

Sharma

(2020). Cannabis use among U.S. adolescents in the era of marijuana legalization: A review of changing use patterns, comorbidity, and health correlates. International Review of Psychiatry, 32(3), 221–234. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2020.1713056

24.

Hansen

Alas

Davis

(2022, January 6). Where is marijuana legal? A guide to marijuana legalization. U.S. News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/where-is-marijuana-legal-a-guide-to-marijuana-legalization

25.

Hartman

(2021, July 6). Cannabis overview. National Conference of State Legislatures. https://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/marijuana-overview.aspx

26.

Hughes

L. A.

Schaible

L. M.

Jimmerson

(2020). Marijuana dispensaries and neighborhood crime and disorder in Denver, Colorado. Justice Quarterly, 37(3), 461–485. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2019.1567807

27.

Hunt

Pacula

R. L.

Weinberger

(2018). High on crime? Exploring the effects of marijuana dispensary laws on crime in California counties. SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3193321

28.

Hupka

(2021, August 26). Senate moves to legalize pot at the federal level. What are the chances? Press Herald. https://www.pressherald.com/2021/08/02/senate-moves-to-legalize-pot-at-federal-level-what-are-the-chances/

29.

Ipsos. (2021). Ipsos understanding society: Wave 2 April 2021 (Version 2) [Dataset]. Cornell University, Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. https://doi.org/10.25940/ROPER-31118528

30.

Jaeger

(2020, December 9). Majority of republican voters support house-passed marijuana legalization bill, poll finds. Marijuana Moment. https://www.marijuanamoment.net/majority-of-republican-voters-support-house-passed-marijuana-legalization-bill-poll-finds/

31.

Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. (2021). Comparison of marijuana legalization legislation to JLARC report. Author. http://jlarc.virginia.gov/pdfs/presentations/2021_marijuana_legalization_compared_JLARCReport.pdf

32.

Jorgensen

Wells

(2021). Is marijuana really a gateway drug? A nationally representative test of the marijuana gateway hypothesis using a propensity score matching design. Journal of Experimental Criminology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-021-09464-z

33.

Kandel

(1975). Stages in adolescent involvement in drug use. Science, 190(4217), 912–914. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1188374

34.

Kary

(2021, September 21). U.S. House to consider bill to ease cannabis banking. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-22/u-s-house-approves-bill-to-ease-banking-for-cannabis-companies

35.

King

Maruna

(2009). Is a conservative just a liberal who has been mugged? Exploring the origins of punitive views. Punishment & Society, 11(2), 147–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474508101490

36.

Kosterman

Bailey

J. A.

Guttmannova

Jones

T. M.

Eisenberg

Hill

K. G.

Hawkins

J. D.

(2016). Marijuana legalization and parents’ attitudes, use, and parenting in Washington State. Journal of Adolescent Health, 59(4), 450–456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.07.004

37.

Krosnick

J.A.

(2018). Improving question design to maximize reliability and validity. In: Vannette

Krosnick

(Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of survey research (pp. 95–101). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54395-6_13

38.

Krystosek

D. J.

(2016). Thou shalt not: Religiosity and attitudes toward marijuana legalization. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 47(1), 58–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2016.08.001

39.

Long

S. J.

Freese

(2006). Regression models for categorical dependent variables using STATA (2nd ed.). Stata Press.

40.

Willits

Stohr

M. K.

Makin

Snyder

Lovrich

Meize

Stanton

Hemmens

(2021). The cannabis effect on crime: Time-series analysis of crime in Colorado and Washington State. Justice Quarterly, 38(4), 565–595. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2019.1666903

41.

Mallinson

D. J.

Hannah

A. L.

Cunningham

(2020). The consequences of fickle federal policy: Administrative hurdles for state cannabis policies. State and Local Government Review, 52(4), 241–254. https://doi.org/10.1177/0160323X20984540

42.

Martins

S. S.

Segura

L. E.

Levy

N. S.

Mauro

P. M.

Mauro

C. M.

Philbin

M. M.

Hasin

D. S.

(2021). Racial and ethnic differences in cannabis use following legalization in US states with medical cannabis laws. JAMA Network Open, 4(9), e2127002. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.27002

43.

McGinty

E. E.

Niederdeppe

Heley

Barry

C. L.

(2017). Public perceptions of arguments supporting and opposing recreational marijuana legalization. Preventive Medicine, 99, 80–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.01.024

44.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). (2017). The health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids: The current state of evidence and recommendations for research. National Academies Press. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK423845/pdf/Bookshelf_NBK423845.pdf

45.

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). (n.d.). Legalization. https://norml.org/laws/legalization/

46.

Nkansah-Amankra

(2020). Revisiting the association between “gateway hypothesis” of early drug use and drug use progression: A cohort analysis of peer influences on drug use progression among a population cohort. Substance Use & Misuse, 55(6), 998–1007. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2020.1720245

47.

Pampel

F. C.

(2000). Logistic regression: A primer. SAGE.

48.

Partnership to End Addiction. (2013). A marijuana attitudes survey—Report summary. https://www.drugfree.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Marijuana-Attitudes-Survey-Summary-Report.pdf

49.

Pearlman

(2012, November 7). Marijuana legalization: Economics and civil liberties. GlobalPost. https://www.pri.org/stories/2012-11-07/marijuana-legalization-economics-and-civil-liberties

50.

Pew Research Center (2013). Majority of Americans now supports legalizing marijuana. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2013/04/04/majority-now-supports-legalizing-marijuana/

51.

Pickett

J. T.

(2019). Public opinion and criminal justice policy: Theory and research. Annual Review of Criminology, 2, 405–428. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-011518-024826

52.

Pickett

J. T.

Baker

(2014). The pragmatic American: Empirical reality or methodological artifact? Criminology, 52(2), 195–222. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12035

53.

PollingReport.com. (2021). Illegal drugs and marijuana. Author. https://www.pollingreport.com/drugs.htm

54.

Rahwanji

(2019). Hashing out inequality in the legal recreational cannabis industry. Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business, 39(3–4), 333–358. https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njilb/vol39/iss3/4

55.

Rasmussen Reports. (2021, November 4). Support grows for legalizing marijuana. https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/october_2021/support_grows_for_legalizing_marijuana

56.

Reddon

DeBeck

Socias

M. E.

Dong

Wood

Montaner

Kerr

Milloy

M. J.

(2018). Cannabis use is associated with lower rates of initiation of injection drug use among street-involved youth: A longitudinal analysis. Drug & Alcohol Review, 37(3), 421–428. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.12667

57.

Resko

Ellis

Early

T. J.

Szechy

K. A.

Rodriguez

Agius

(2019). Understanding public attitudes toward cannabis legalization: Qualitative findings from a statewide survey. Substance Use & Misuse, 54(8), 1247–1259. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2018.1543327

58.

Steinman

K. J.

Ferketich

A. K.

Sahr

(2008). The dose-response relationship of adolescent religious activity and substance use: Variation across demographic groups. Health Education & Behavior, 35(1), 22–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198105284839

59.

Stith

S. S.

Vigil

J. M.

Brockelman

Keeling

Hall

(2019). The association between cannabis product characteristics and symptom relief. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-39462-1

60.

Thielo

A. J.

Cullen

F. T.

Cohen

D. M.

Chouhy

(2016). Rehabilitation in a red state: Public support for correctional reform in Texas. Criminology & Public Policy, 15(1), 137–170. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12182

61.

Toma

(2021, September 29). Forty-percent of Americans have purchased a cannabis product: Survey. Retail Brew. https://www.morningbrew.com/retail/stories/2021/09/29/40-of-americans-have-ever-purchased-a-cannabis-product-survey

62.

Tyler

T. R.

Boeckmann

R. J.

(1997). Three strikes and you are out, but why? The psychology of public support for punishing rule breakers. Law and Society Review, 31(2), 237–265. https://doi.org/10.2307/3053926

63.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2021). 2020 American community survey 1-year experimental estimates, 2021. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/data/experimental-data/1-year.html

64.

U.S. Department of Drug Enforcement and Administration. (n.d.). Drug scheduling. https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/drug-scheduling

65.

Van Green

(2021, April 16). Americans overwhelmingly say marijuana should be legal for recreational or medical use. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/16/americans-overwhelmingly-say-marijuana-should-be-legal-for-recreational-or-medical-use/

66.

Van Gundy

Rebellon

C. J.

(2010). A life-course perspective on the “gateway hypothesis.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51(3), 244–259. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146510378238

67.

Williams

A. R.

(2020). Cannabis as a gateway drug for opioid use disorder. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 48(2), 268–274. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073110520935338

68.

Wilson

Mills

Freeman

T. P.

Sunderland

Visontay

Marel

(2022). Weeding out the truth: A systematic review and meta-analysis on the transition from cannabis use to opioid use and opioid use disorders, abuse or dependence. Addiction, 117(2), 284–298. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15581

69.

Boateng

F. D.

Lang

(2020). The spillover effect of recreational marijuana legalization on Crime: Evidence from neighboring states of Colorado and Washington State. Journal of Drug Issues, 50(4), 392–409. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022042620921359

70.

Willits

D. W.

(2022). The impact of recreational marijuana legalization on simple assault in Oregon. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605221076169

71.

Zhang

(2021, April 7). Where weed is legal. Politico. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/07/lawmakers-weed-legalization-478983