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Gallup poll reveals majority of U.S. finds smoking marijuana morally acceptable

Posted at 12:50 PM, Jun 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-06 14:50:30-04

A new Gallup poll reveals a large majority of Americans believe using substances such as marijuana and alcohol are morally acceptable. Specifically, the poll revealed that 78 percent say drinking alcohol is morally acceptable and 65 percent say the same for marijuana.

The poll, conducted May 1st – 10th, asked Americans to indicate whether they believed 22 different behaviors and practices were morally acceptable or morally wrong. 

Gallup reported that alcohol and marijuana ranked near the top of the list of morally acceptable, with only birth control ranking higher than alcohol at 91 percent. Smoking marijuana ranked behind birth control, drinking alcohol, and divorce (76 percent). According to Gallup, marijuana did however rank on par with activities such as gambling, sex out of wedlock, gay or lesbian relations, stem cell research, and having a baby outside of marriage.

Some of the activities that ranked lowest on the list of morally acceptable were, married men or women having affairs, cloning humans, polygamy, and suicide. The poll also found that Americans are almost split down the middle on the morality of abortions, with 43 percent finding it morally acceptable, and 48 percent finding it not.

The poll also found that key subgroups of Americans regard these activities far differently than the general populous. By surveying the frequency with which Americans attend church, the poll found that highly religious Americans regard these activities as morally acceptable at a much lower percentage. Where 75 percent of non-church attendees find smoking marijuana acceptable, only 41 percent of regular churchgoers agree.

What can be taken from this poll is that while marijuana remains illegal in much of the county, the majority of Americans do not object to it on moral grounds. However, between marijuana and alcohol, more Americans find the later to be morally acceptable.

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