420 with CNW — Most Americans Don’t Believe Pr
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For the millions of Americans who grew up under the prohibitionist era, cannabis was presented as a dangerous gateway drug that significantly contributed to drug abuse and criminal activity. Anti-cannabis propaganda was rife during this period, with prohibitionists assigning a wide range of negative effects to cannabis use despite the fact that there was barely any scientific research into the matter.
Decades later, tens of millions of Americans now have access to the drug through state-legal markets. Attitudes toward the drug have changed over the past two decades, especially among younger generations, and more people believe that cannabis has more positive effects than negative. According to a recent poll that adds to the growing body of research on cannabis, it seems that most Americans no longer believe prohibitionist claims about the purported dangers of using cannabis.
Rasmussen Reports polled 1,000 Americans to find out their views on drug misuse in America and whether or not cannabis was a gateway drug that opened the door to more dangerous drugs. An estimated 59% said that they believed drug misuse in America was getting worse while 9% said the health issue is showing improvements. Additionally, 29% of the respondents said that cannabis was “not at all dangerous” and 28% said that cannabis is “not very dangerous.”
Conversely, 12% of the Americans who were surveyed said that cannabis is “very dangerous,” and 23% said that the controversial plant is “somewhat dangerous.” Unsurprisingly, 60% of Democrats thought that cannabis wasn’t dangerous, while 48% of Republicans said the drug is “somewhat dangerous” while 45% said that it wasn’t dangerous. Furthermore, of the respondents who believed that drug misuse was getting worse in America, 56% said that they didn’t think marijuana was part of the overarching drug problem.
Opinion on whether cannabis serves as a gateway drug was divided, with 46% saying it was “somewhat likely” or “very likely” that cannabis use preceded the use of more dangerous drugs. On the other hand, 46% of the respondents said that it is “not very likely” or “not at all likely” that cannabis was a gateway to harder drugs.
Although some of the opinions were mixed, the poll generally showed that Americans are less likely to believe claims that cannabis is a dangerous drug. It echoes sentiments that have been recorded by previous surveys: public sentiments about cannabis are steadily improving. This improvement is creating an ever-growing market for sector players such as Flora Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FLGC).
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