Marijuana Legalization: Americans\u27 Attitudes Over Four Decades

Americans have long held a variety of opinions when it comes to the legalization of marijuana. While previous research has mostly focused on use rates and behavior, the purpose of this examination is to specifically analyze people\u27s attitudes towards marijuana legalization. Of particular importance was (1) the extent to which attitudes towards marijuana legalization have changed over the past four decades and (2) how the social factors often associated with marijuana legalization attitudes have changed over the same period. Results indicate that over one-third of Americans now believe marijuana should be made legal. These pro-legalization attitudes are at their highest levels in four decades. Being younger, more educated, and liberal have been associated with these positive attitudes towards marijuana legalization. Yet age and education has become slightly less significant. Greater church attendance has remained associated with negative attitudes. While being white once correlated with anti-legalization attitudes, it is now positively associated with marijuana legalization attitudes. Finally, this study describes the remaining findings and thoughts