Faculty and staff attitudes toward marijuana use and policy: perceptions of dangerousness and legalization

Studies have indicated that attitudes toward marijuana use and policy have become less punitive throughout recent years, and the support for marijuana legalization has increased significantly (Green, Doherty, & Ensminger, 2017; Resko et al., 2019). As attitudinal research has been found to affect policy, the current study focused on perceptions toward marijuana use and policy among university faculty and staff to determine whether demographic, experiential, and behavioral variables were significant in their association with marijuana attitudes (Lane, 1997). Findings indicate that age, attendance of religious services, frequency of alcohol consumption, and prior drug use had statistically significant relationships with the two attitudinal scales: alternative marijuana attitudes toward policy and attitudes concerning the dangerousness of marijuana. Further research is recommended to expand on studies focusing on attitudes of faculty and staff, as well as to account for possible differences in attitudes due to varying legalization laws among states