Pot gaining acceptance with Americans

Nearly two-thirds of Americans say smoking marijuana is “morally acceptable,” while 31 per cent disapprove of pot on moral grounds, according to a survey by Gallup.

That’s a sharp jump from 2013, when a similarly worded question in a Public Religion Research Institute survey found that slightly fewer than half of Americans said it was morally acceptable to smoke marijuana.

The shift in moral acceptance of marijuana mirrors the shift in support for legalization over that time period, which rose from 48 per cent at the end of 2012 to 64 per cent last fall, according to Gallup.

Americans now rate marijuana use similarly to gay and lesbian relations, stem cell research or having a baby outside marriage, according to Gallup. It’s seen as significantly more acceptable than medical testing on animals, abortion or pornography. But it’s viewed as less acceptable than alcohol use, which 78 per cent of respondents say is morally acceptable. The gap in the acceptance of marijuana and alcohol is driven almost entirely by conservatives, the Gallup data shows. Marijuana and alcohol use are viewed as acceptable by large majorities of self-described liberals and moderates — who together comprise about 61 per cent of the adult population. Among conservatives, 75 per cent say drinking is acceptable, while 47 per cent say the same of marijuana use.

While marijuana legalization has enjoyed majority support from Democratic voters since at least 2010, many leading Democratic politicians have been slow to embrace the issue. But there are signs that’s starting to change: Earlier this year Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, a Democrat from New York, introduced a bill in the Senate that would decriminalize marijuana use at the federal level.

The next big tests of voters’ willingness to change marijuana laws will come in November, when Michigan voters will decide whether to legalize the drug and voters in Utah and Missouri will consider medical marijuana measures.