56% Of Americans Say Marijuana Users Would Create Good Cannabis Policy As They Don't Trust Big Pharma, Tobacco And Alcohol

As cannabis laws loosen up and significant federal reforms such as marijuana rescheduling to Schedule III have been confirmed by the Biden Administration, it is important to know what Americans think about all this. 

While previous surveys and polls have confirmed the growing support for cannabis legalization, a new survey done by the nonprofit think tank Parabola Center for Law and Policy gathered data on people’s expectations and hopes for possible reform. 

The survey, "American Values and Beliefs About Marijuana Legalization" was undertaken in partnership with RTI International, a nonprofit research institute. Participants were asked who should benefit from legal cannabis and who they trust will create good marijuana policy. 

Survey Key Takeaways

• More than half of American adults trust people with lived experience (67%) or who use marijuana (56%) to create good cannabis policy, but less than a quarter trust tobacco industry executives (18%), pharmaceutical industry executives (24%), or alcohol industry executives (13%) to do so. 
• A majority of American adults believe that cannabis legalization should benefit medical patients (85%) and recreational users (63%), workers in the industry (73%), and people impacted by enforcement (61%), whereas only a minority thought benefits should accrue to pharmaceutical (40%), tobacco (28%) and alcohol (19%) companies, and large corporate actors (29%).
• A majority of American adults believe that locally-owned businesses (57%) and small businesses (56%) should benefit from legalization.

"Given their shameful history of putting profits above all else, Americans are right not to trust tobacco, alcohol, or pharmaceutical companies to shape marijuana policy. Policymakers should be wary of taking cannabis advice from their front groups," stated Shaleen Title, founder and director of the Parabola Center. "Americans believe that people with firsthand insight about marijuana should be driving reform and that it should benefit patients, workers, and impacted communities most." 

The survey also revealed that social equity is one of the most important considerations for American adults when it comes to cannabis policy. Defined as "the idea that we should try to repair some of the harm caused by past enforcement of marijuana laws," social equity ranked highest among the concerns of those surveyed (68%), along with ending arrests (68%).

See Also: Rescheduling Marijuana Is ‘Unjustifiable Abdication Of Responsibility’ Says Black Cannabis Lawyers Assn. Urges Full Decriminalization

Photo: Courtesy of BublikHaus via Shutterstock