A majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana, but what about other drugs?

Written By Emily Gray Brosious
 

 

(Photo credit: Zane Selvans via Compfight cc)

This is how Americans feel about legalizing drugs.

Support for marijuana legalization is growing substantially in the United States, nearing what some might call a critical mass of support. An influx of scientific research is now disproving years of reefer madness misinformation. And even those inclined to oppose recreational marijuana are coming around to the idea of marijuana as medicine.

According to the latest National Tracking Poll released by market research and public opinion polling firm Morning Consult, 52 percent of American voters support legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Support for medical marijuana legalization registered even higher at 68 percent.

That support for recreational and medical legalization does not extend to other drugs, even to drugs that are already medically legal in some form.

Morning Consult’s poll of 1994 registered voters, which was conducted between March 10-13, 2016, sheds light on national attitudes toward the recreational and medical use of psilocybin mushrooms, LSD (“acid”), MDMA (“ecstasy” or “molly”), ibogaine, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.

Of particular interest is the strong opposition to legalizing hallucinogenic drugs, even for medical use, despite many studies that show hallucinogens may hold significant promise in the mental health field.