Is Marijuana really as accepted in the U.S. as reddit makes it out to be?

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Free_Solid9833]

Where I am it is more acceptable than tobacco.

[u/MyMonte87 → u/Free_Solid9833]

Same, here in SoCal, having a cig on street is way more frowned upon than smoking a joint.

[u/VegaReddit5 → u/MyMonte87]

In Boulder, CO smoking a cigarette on the sidewalk is a $100 fine and smoking a joint on the sidewalk is a $50 fine.

[u/Helzod → u/VegaReddit5]

This just sounds like a way to recoup lost revenue from before it was legalized

[u/malevolentslime → u/Helzod]

They make a TON of money from legalizing weed, what are you talking about? Colorado had a kicker on their taxes that's how much they made from weed sales

[u/alczek → u/malevolentslime]

This is what I was going to say: the state makes a lot of money off legal weed through taxes. The fines imposed on offenders when it was illegal probably didn't cover the costs of the police work involved

[u/Jabuwow → u/alczek]

Or the cost of incarceration

It probably COST the state money to criminalize weed let's be honest

[u/stevem1015 → u/Jabuwow]

It DEFINITELY did.

[u/Ok-Simple5493 → u/Jabuwow]

I'm in Minnesota. We just legalized in August, we only have a handful of operating dispensaries because of the licensing process. I've noticed that more and more people, of any gender, are being jailed for domestic violence than ever before. I think that legalizing was worth it just for that. I'm perfectly fine with law enforcement being more concerned about violence.

[u/Hello_Hangnail → u/Ok-Simple5493]

Are you saying that because weed became legal to use that the police have more time/space to arrest domestic abusers? Because that would be awesome

[u/RoxieRoxie0 → u/Hello_Hangnail]

I think what they are saying is that police resources are being used for things that causes more harm than marijuana. Legalizing allowed police to focus more on bigger problems.

[u/Ponklemoose → u/malevolentslime]

I can't speak to CO, but in WA the pot shops were considered essential during the lockdown. It has been suggested that this is because they were each paying six figures in taxes every month.

It could also be that the state realized sitting around the house doing nothing much all day is a lot easier if you're high AF.

[u/tiberiumx → u/MyMonte87]

Weed should be legal everywhere tobacco is, but I still don't want to smell it while walking down the street.

[u/My_Booty_Itches → u/tiberiumx]

I don't like smelling ciggys... But they are legal so I don't really have an option.

[u/Modsrcucks100 → u/My_Booty_Itches]

Lol! It's true. I smoked cigs and after I quit I couldn't handle the stink of them. I smoke weed too and I only like the smell of weed when I smoke it, not other people's weed stink! LOL! I'm a smell snob I think.

[u/BankofAmericas → u/Modsrcucks100]

Oh man, I am the exact opposite. I quit smoking cigarettes years ago but, to this day, I still like the smell of second hand smoke for some fucked up reason.

[u/shannon_agins → u/BankofAmericas]

I hate the smell cigarettes leave after they're done, but I still like the smell of tobacco as it's burning. I was the same way before I smoked, when I smoked and after quitting.

[u/skateboardjim → u/shannon_agins]

Did your parents/family smoke when you were a kid? I never smoked tobacco, but I kind of like the smell, and I think it’s because I was around it as a kid.

[u/xomns13 → u/Modsrcucks100]

Yea, I quit cigarettes too, and now I don't like the smell. Weed from other people don't bother me.

[u/homogenousmoss → u/xomns13]

I like most weed smell but some weed just stinks. Do you have the term in english skunk weed? Before it was legalized here, 50% of weed was skunk weed it felt like.

[u/no-onwerty → u/tiberiumx]

For me this is my biggest annoyance. I keep wondering how so many skunks have died in the city - then I realize people are just smoking weed in the cars next to me.

Honestly - I’m not ok with people smoking (weed) while driving around me.

[u/100cpm → u/no-onwerty]

Me too.

Though personally the reality of weed's effect on motor skills does mitigate the concern, especially when compared to alcohol (and the reality that damn near every establishment serving alcohol has a parking lot full of cars).

Take someone who knows how to juggle. Assuming they have even a little experience with smoking pot, it is literally impossible for them to smoke so much they cannot juggle anymore.

But of course it does fuck with attention, focus, etc... All things that drivers need. So driving high should not be normalized IMO.

[u/MurphyCoDinoWrangler → u/100cpm]

^{I've heard it put this way: A drunk driver will blow through a four way stop at 80 mph. A stoner will sit at the intersection waiting for the stop sign to turn green.}

Not to say that a joke is in any way a good way to determine how we treat impaired drivers, I just always thought it was funny.

Disclaimer edit: to reiterate, "not to say that a JOKE is in any way a good way to determine how we treat impaired drivers, I just always thought it was funny." Don't drive impaired. Alcohol, weed, even being tired is impaired. This is Kirk Cameron telling you that only dopes use dope. 🌠

[u/ballofsnowyoperas → u/MurphyCoDinoWrangler]

I don’t drive after I smoke anymore, but I have genuinely waited for a stop sign to turn green before.

[u/TheNorthNova01 → u/ballofsnowyoperas]

Me too, my buddy and I were deep in conversation and all of a sudden he’s like man, how long have we been sitting here? Lol

[u/TacosForThought → u/TheNorthNova01]

I've done the opposite, once, when deep in conversation. Stopped, looked both ways, and went through the intersection. Realizing half-way through that it was a red light, not a stop sign.

[u/Mlkchocfreak → u/TacosForThought]

I did this on a major 6 lane boulevard type street ever so casually and after that I stopped smoking and driving. Didn’t realize it until cars were rushing at me at 50 mph from both perpendicular directions. Had to floor it to get out of the intersection in time. Smh

[u/Box_O_Donguses → u/100cpm]

On the one hand, I agree people shouldn't be driving high just as a gut reaction. On the other hand, multiple peer reviewed studies have found that marijuana use doesn't seem to impair driving like that.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/

This study found that people who drive high should be very dangerous drivers in cognitive tests, but that in experimental tests they don't seem meaningfully more dangerous than a sober driver.

[u/Iohet → u/Box_O_Donguses]

This study seems to be a bit more detailed. It finds that road tracking, reaction time, and car following are impacted, though overall impairment is generally less than alcohol near the legal limit alone or prescription pills known to impair alone (from separate studies). Notably, combining alcohol and marijuana acted as an amplifying effect that caused more severe impairment, even when under legal limits.

[u/heretic27 → u/Free_Solid9833]

As an Asian who immigrated to America a few years ago, I used to be scared of people finding out I smoked weed in my home country when I was a college undergrad, it was literally grounds for arrest and expulsion from any academic institution.

Now I’m in Michigan and live the dream, everyone is super chill about weed here and the openness of a state towards weed is a definite factor in me choosing to live somewhere in the U.S. (prolly why I’ll never live in red conservative states)

Freedom baby!

[u/RunninOnMT → u/heretic27]

lol, this reminds me so much of college like 20 years ago. I was good friends with a bunch of Japanese exchange students who were all very happy to deal with the more lax attitudes around weed where we were (it was illegal at the time, but it was also Oregon where everyone smoked weed anyway.)

[u/Ok_Philosopher_1313 → u/heretic27]

I am in Michigan, I smell it all the time at the store, while driving, on people at work it's everywhere. Dispensaries on every block like they are Starbucks.

[u/Music_withRocks_In → u/Ok_Philosopher_1313]

I would seriously say that about 1/4 of all billboards near Detroit are for weed dispensers.

[u/tehehetehehe → u/Music_withRocks_In]

Weed and personal injury lawyers.

[u/mothernaturesghost → u/Free_Solid9833]

I’m in DC and the whole place smells of weed. The mall, the wharf, the offices, the airport, the Oval Office, the Costco. It’s everywhere.

[u/InstrumentRated → u/mothernaturesghost]

You left out the metro

[u/mothernaturesghost → u/InstrumentRated]

I buy my weed on the metro.

[u/The_Ghost_Dragon → u/mothernaturesghost]

Sign me up

[u/LadyAzure17 → u/mothernaturesghost]

Lol yeah I come home from work and the apartments are all toking up. Always gets a chuckle from me. We're all just trying to survive the exhausting day-to-day.

[u/sjh521 → u/LadyAzure17]

This. I feel like it people are seeing more because we doing have to hide it now. And life is freaking hard. We’re looking for something to take the edge off. I think alcohol is far more harmful than weed.

[u/robotnique → u/sjh521]

You mean you're no longer exhaling into a toilet paper tube with dryer sheets on the end held via rubber band?

[u/ElvenNeko → u/Free_Solid9833]

Amazig how different is life in developed countries... i was dreaming to try it at least once since it could potentially help me deal with depression and chronic pain, but could not find a way. It's just so unaccepted that you can get some only in very specific circles of people. Meanwhile the amount of raging alcoholics i met everywhere around...

[u/ppbuttfart- → u/ElvenNeko]

The prevalence of alcoholism across the world is quite depressing

[u/ElvenNeko → u/ppbuttfart-]

Here isn't not even considered as a bad thing. People are often proud of being drunkards. They say it's slavic tradition or some other stupid bs. I know two families where man do all kind of rage shit drunk and their children are afraid of them and want them to be gone the most.

But smoking some weed? Straight to jail.

[u/mamba0714 → u/ElvenNeko]

As a bartender, and someone who smokes weed literally every day, I feel like I can pretty objectively say that alcohol is, without question, the far more destructive of the two.

But, even more notable, I've tried (and tried and tried again) way more drugs than I'd like to admit, and yet, I'll still say that alcohol is, not only worse than weed, it's the worst of 'em all. That weight has a lot to do with the fact that it's just so socially acceptable, to the point where people are often more embarrassed to abstain than they are to indulge, but, even without that, it'd definitely still be a top contender.

Aside from it being a literal poison, and all the horrifying health consequences that entails, it's literally the only drug where I've done things, said things, gone places, and had absolutely no recollection of it the next day. It's the only one where I've lost total control of myself. And, I'm sorry, but that's terrifying. Looking back on my college days, it's literally a miracle I'm still alive. And yet most people (at least those immersed in drinking-culture) consider blacking-out, if not an outright goal, a merely laughable feature of an average night out.

[u/Leucadie → u/mamba0714]

Having hit my mid-40s, when my body's tolerance of irresponsible bullshit is rapidly decreasing, I don't understand how I used to drink like 7 beers at a party and not wake up dead. Alcohol feels SO much more obviously toxic to me now.

Weed, on the other hand, is the perfect companion to a middle aged lady, whose main problems are aches and crankiness.

[u/Kilroy_The_Builder → u/ElvenNeko]

I’ve never been angry or violent while high on weed. Alcohol? Much worse.

[u/False-Impression8102 → u/Free_Solid9833]

It’s a plant people have been using for 10,000 years.

The Chinese were writing about it in 2727BC.

It’s ridiculous that puritanical thought and the war on drugs made such a demon of it.

I live in the Midwest and it’s far more accepted than even 15 years ago. My friends even smoke with their parents.

Edit: my point isn’t that everything from nature if healthy, or that you should eat every mushroom you come across on a walk. I just don’t think government should have the authority to intercede between an individual and their relationship with the natural world. Prohibition doesn’t really work. There are often financial reasons for abolishing one thing and legalizing another; regulations are prone to corruption.

[u/ranciddreamz → u/False-Impression8102]

Ohio just legalized lol

[u/Advanced_Addendum116 → u/ranciddreamz]

Nice try Ohio, but you don't get what you voted for. Back to work.

[u/BxAnnie → u/False-Impression8102]

That was in more modern times. It didn’t used to be illegal until the lumber industry started a campaign against hemp because it was a good alternative to cutting down trees. You can use hemp for virtually all the same things as lumber and it also grows much faster.

[u/[deleted] → u/BxAnnie]

They also used racism to get those laws pushed. Saying things such as it's causing illegal Mexicans to smuggle drugs into the US and "marijuana makes white women have sex with negroes".

[u/BenjaminGeiger → u/[deleted]]

“You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities,” Ehrlichman said. “We could arrest their leaders. raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

Source

[u/Xciv → u/BenjaminGeiger]

The Nixon administration is probably one of the worst in US history from a moral standpoint. Any good they did is completely washed away by a tidal wave of scum and villainy.

[u/McNultysHangover → u/BenjaminGeiger]

They also brought in the drugs to fund their coups and such in Central America.

[u/Goodgamings → u/[deleted]]

"Marihuana" the road to prohibition was certainly paved with lies and racism.

[u/bunnymen69 → u/[deleted]]

Cue the ZOOT SUIT RIOT

[u/Pure_Literature2028 → u/BxAnnie]

Cotton, plastics and big pharma jumped on that bandwagon too. If we had stayed the course we wouldn’t have nearly as much pollution, dependency and health issues as we do.

[u/[deleted] → u/Free_Solid9833]

Same , I would say that is huge parts of the US

[u/ignatius_reilly0 → u/Free_Solid9833]

Must be San Francisco. Buddy of mine visited and wanted a smoke so he crossed the street to get away from people and he still got dirty looks and people coughing at him. Meanwhile, those same people were smoking weed in a park next to kids.

[u/ghostchurches → u/ignatius_reilly0]

I’m on the other coast in DC and it’s similar here. Depends a bit on different parts of the city—I think lighting ANYTHING up in the more touristy areas will annoy people—but weed is definitely more accepted now.

[u/Free_Solid9833 → u/ignatius_reilly0]

Portland, actually. Smoking here is still pretty normal, but weed has taken over.

[u/Ev_a_h → u/[deleted]]

I wouldn’t casually mention in my workplace that I’ve smoked marijuana but it’s very acceptable to talk about alcohol or tobacco. But it’s pretty close.

[u/xoxobright → u/Ev_a_h]

I would guess that all depends on the area. Talking about drinking is a given and my company still allows smoking on site (though they did take out the actual smoke shacks).

If it was legal in my state (and my company didn't drug test) then I'm fairly sure the conversations would be pretty open.

[u/Khankili → u/Ev_a_h]

I told my boss (trades) that I can now legit pass a drug test and he got worried asking if I was looking for another job hahaha

[u/Crizznik → u/Ev_a_h]

You don't want to mention it if you work a federal job either, or a job that works closely with the feds. It's still illegal by their standards and they do drug test.

[u/IceTech59 → u/Crizznik]

Don't get caught in any job that the DOT (Dept of Transportation) has oversight/regulation of either. That's a wide net too, including IT work that touches pipeline control systems, for example.

[u/mr_wrestling → u/IceTech59]

I see bus drivers in NYC smoking joints on their break or whatever all the time. The other day I literally spotted a cop near a courthouse smoking a joint. It's fuckin wild. I don't know how they're getting around the random testing. Maybe because of it being legal recreationally 🤷

[u/NotEnoughIT → u/Crizznik]

Yep, legal state here, it's still very much not acceptable at work (DoD contractor) and we drug test before employment. We have a random drug testing program where a handful are chosen and tested every month by a 3rd party company. We have a huge "problem" of people smoking at the job site the past couple years since it became legal. They do sweeps with dogs now regularly - if a dog goes nuts on your car, they find you and tell you to submit to a drug test or leave. It's fucking dystopian. Nobody, not even the owner, wants to do all this, we just have to show we're doing our due diligence for our contracts or we won't get any.

[u/across7777 → u/[deleted]]

Your last sentence isn’t accurate for places where it is still illegal. Here in TX, I’d say it is significantly less accepted than alcohol or tobacco.

Im a 48 year old dad. I have plenty of friends who smoke pot. But if we had a party and someone went outside and lit up, many people would be really surprised and it would be controversial.

If a teenager in my neighborhood was known to smoke pot it would be frowned upon much, much more than drinking.

Same with your average professional workplace. Alcohol use…fine unless it is extreme. Any mention of pot smoking….probably not a good idea.

[u/BombOnABus → u/across7777]

Also from TX, and I think that varies by where you live. Don't be fooled by public attitudes though - plenty of people who frown and whisper and gossip, even to each other, privately might not care but want to keep up appearances (or they just might not defend the smoker in question and keep quiet).

There are whole whisper networks everywhere of people quietly consuming their product and resupplying each other who, although they're not out protesting or the like would vote to legalize it in a heartbeat if there was a popular referendum on the issue. ESPECIALLY given how many seniors in this state know damn well how effective cannabis is for pain relief and nausea compared to prescription drugs and opiates. I think marijuana is one thing that literally would bring both sides of the aisle together if our politicians would stop being timid about it. One far-right Republican a couple sessions back even proposed a bill to legalize marijuana, full stop - no limits, no restrictions, no regulations, the plant would have been as legal as basil or peaches (he argued that God made marijuana, and man had no right to declare God's creation illegal). I really think you'd be shocked how fast weed would be as accepted as a sixer of Shiner in the alley if they legalized it.

[u/kiwifrujt → u/[deleted]]

It's not legal in my state (not even for medical reasons).

I don't see that changing any time soon (unless there's a federal law forcing the change).

[u/Unusual_Delivery6810 → u/kiwifrujt]

It’s not legal in my state either… which is Georgia… but it’s decriminalized in Atlanta metro area. I smell weed all the time. I smell it at the park, in traffic, at the mall, in line to drop the kids off at school, hell I even smelled it at church once. I should probably stop smoking weed everywhere I go.

[u/ScoopThaPoot → u/Unusual_Delivery6810]

My sweet, naive mother in law now thinks downtown Atlanta is overrun with skunks. We were going to the botanical gardens and she said it smelled like skunks everywhere, and I said yeah we call those city skunks. She just said "I didn't think there would be that many here".

[u/EIephants → u/kiwifrujt]

Im from Colorado and recreational weed has been legal since I was in high school (2012 I think) so it’s extremely normal to me. I don’t even think twice about it.

[u/StatisticianTop8813 → u/kiwifrujt]

Indiana?

[u/The_Geese_ → u/StatisticianTop8813]

Lmao I thought the same thing fellow Hoosier

[u/StatisticianTop8813 → u/The_Geese_]

What's odd is I grew up in a town on the illnois border and just recently moved to Illinois now I cam sit on my front porch and smoke

[u/ericdraven26 → u/StatisticianTop8813]

Indiana is so dumb. 3/4 of surrounding states have recreational, and the other has medical. Indiana certainly needs the revenue, plus whatever it saves in time and money of judicial resources.
But then again you couldn’t buy alcohol on Sunday until a couple years ago- still can’t buy a car on Sunday!

The law has since changed but when I first moved to Indiana you could purchase fireworks in Indiana but had to promise the store you wouldn’t set them off in Indiana.

[u/TUPAC_SHAPURRRRR → u/The_Geese_]

Pork tenderloin has entered the chat

[u/DerpsAndRags → u/StatisticianTop8813]

Indiana is like the super-religious Karen of the Midwest, complete with a rifle below the incredibly whitewashed picture of Jesus on the wall, and estranged children.

[u/deathgrowlingsheep → u/[deleted]]

This is the only real answer. Where you are and who you talk to is key. I'm in the South which is very conservative about many things, to some extent including this.

[u/JCMiller23 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, and who you ask too

[u/SheinSter721 → u/[deleted]]

idk, it's still pretty accepted in states where it's illegal.

[u/LoganLikesYourMom]

It depends on where in the United States you are. In Boston, you could openly smoke a joint on the sidewalk. I think that’s technically illegal to do it out in the open, but I’m not even sure about that. No one will bother you or even look at you differently.

If you’re in a rural church town, some folks might take issue with you doing it in the open, but if someone finds out you do in your own home, they might decide to get in your business if it offends their sensibilities.

Something citizens of homogeneous countries don’t really grasp is the sheer diversity of living conditions and culture across the country. How someone lives their lives in rural Idaho will be very different from San Francisco

[u/OldManTrumpet → u/[deleted]]

Same in my State, which is one of the few States whe cannibas is 100% illegal, even for medical purposes. My (former) place of employment drug tested, and if you you were positive for weed, you're gone. A few months ago they offered a job to a software developer from Oregon (where of course it's fully legal) and then when weed showed up in the screening they recinded the offer. It is most asurradly NOT accpted here.

[u/blue_sunwalk → u/OldManTrumpet]

Good luck finding any software engineers that are worth anything when they have to take a drug test first! I'm surprised the guy even applied.

[u/OldManTrumpet → u/blue_sunwalk]

Really. He was going to work remotely from Oregon. Maybe he assumed that since it was legal there that weed wouldn’t disqualify him. Who knows?

[u/Pangolin_Tamer → u/OldManTrumpet]

Honestly. I failed my drug test on weed and was still hired. It really depends on the company, I guess. AZ for bioharazard cleaning. Good luck finding someone who doesn't smoke or drink with this job, though.

[u/chickenwithclothes → u/blue_sunwalk]

This is a huge and acknowledged problem in federal civil service. Shitloads of overqualified and super smart people can’t work for the feds. Seems to be working GREAT

[u/AttemptingToGeek → u/[deleted]]

The most profitable dispensaries in Oregon are in Ontario and Baker City. The closest ones to Idaho.

[u/sergei650 → u/[deleted]]

I’m from liberty lake. When I visit my parents I go to the state line dispensers. It’s almost all Idaho license plates in the parking lot. It’s so illegal in Idaho that CBD is banned

[u/InkBlotSam → u/[deleted]]

I live in the most rural county in Idaho state and the bulk of our population is elderly and religious. It is WILDLY unacceptable and very illegal here.

My favorite part of this rural, religious, quasi-Libertarian crowd, and I know them well, is that they're the first ones to be like, "Keep the damn government out of our lives!" They homeschool their kids because they don't want the government involved in their education (read: they want to be able to indoctrinate their kids in peace). They don't want the government to regulate their guns, or their use of the environment, or to force them to pay taxes to contribute to society, or anything, really ... ...

... except what substances you're allowed to put in your body. And a women's right to choose what happens to their body. And what gender you fuck in your home. They want the government all up in your shit if it supports their religious zealot, judgemental bullshit, but act like it's a sin against humanity for the government to get involved to protect people from their backwards, hateful bullshit.

[u/philosofova → u/LoganLikesYourMom]

Exactly. I live in Chicago where it's legal and you can smell it pretty much all over the city in the summer time. It's illegal once you cross to the Indiana border about 45 mins away and you'd definitely get cited or worse if pulled over. Keep driving onto Michigan and you're in legal cannabis area once again. Indiana is sandwiched by two states that are pro-cannabis, although I'd say Michigan is better in terms of taxation, pricing and availability.

[u/DenizenPrime → u/LoganLikesYourMom]

Scrolled down pretty far to find the "it depends" answer.

I understand a large portion of reddit come from blue states, so the opinions here a skewed. Here even in the less-crimson North Carolina, you will still see people, usually older, complain about "drug use" and look down on MJ users as criminals.

[u/Charles520 → u/DenizenPrime]

Yeah, I’ve been noticing that most of American redditors live in blue states and/or very urban areas. It really depends where you are at.

[u/AbysmalKaiju → u/Charles520]

I'm in red state with a redneck family and half the people at our 40 person Thanksgiving will be high, i guarantee it lmao

[u/TheRealBananaWolf → u/AbysmalKaiju]

LMAO I wanted to say this too.

Shiiit people keep talking about "in conservative areas".

Even in a lot of conservative areas, marijuana is still pretty damn common.

Like, conservative Americans vs. conservative Asians on marijuana are vastly different. There's been a huge paradigm shift in this country since the "reefer madness" era. America's stance on Marijuana has seen a huge shift in all types of generations as it's become more socially acceptable.

[u/gawkersgone → u/DenizenPrime]

even in conservative states and areas, it's still pretty common. It's also common because it's easier to get in highschool than alcohol so kids grow up with it, and in general, aside from being looked down upon by conservative people, no one cares anymore.

[u/CNDRock16 → u/LoganLikesYourMom]

Also in Massachusetts! People can be annoyed by a joint or blunt being smoked in public because of the smell.

A vape though, nobody cares at all.

[u/barkbarkkrabkrab → u/CNDRock16]

Yeah by far the biggest stigma is that smoking, no matter what you're smoking, can be smelly and gross. Hate being downwind when my neighbors are doing it. Also while weed is 'not a big deal' here you may tell your coworkers you went out drinking but it's still kinda socially weird to talk about smoking weed.

[u/JacksFlehmenResponse → u/LoganLikesYourMom]

That's why top answers shouldn't be location-based and anecdotal responses to this broad question. Every redditor not from the US should know by now that the US is big and not homogeneous, and that is the go-to answer to every question about "why do Americans...[fill in the blank]?"

The best answer to a broad question like this is to look at public polling and then assess the reliability of such pollsters' methods.

Pew Research 2022

Americans overwhelmingly say marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use

An overwhelming share of U.S. adults (88%) say either that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use by adults (59%) or that it should be legal for medical use only (30%). Just one-in-ten (10%) say marijuana use should not be legal, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Oct. 10-16, 2022. These views are virtually unchanged since April 2021.

[u/MantaRayDonovan1 → u/JacksFlehmenResponse]

How the fuck do 88% of people agree on something and that shit's still illegal? 88% is so far beyond a critical mass.

[u/jarlscrotus → u/MantaRayDonovan1]

Short answer? Core civic

Longer answer, the prison industrial complex. Even state run prisons have profit motives, including that some prisons are literally cash cows for their county or state, who sell the beds to other states with a surplus of prisoners, combined with lobbiests, there is literally no incentive to remove criminal offenses or even shorten sentences

Concisely, because it makes people money for it to be illegal

[u/please_help_me01 → u/MantaRayDonovan1]

I see marijuana as being a fantastic example of the government overstepping its boundaries and enacting its own personal opinion on the peoples vote.

America wants marijuana. The feds and their friends dont. This is a serious problem being downplayed by the fact that it is a "recreational drug."

[u/Karkahoolio]

Canadian here, weed has been legalized because the majority has considered it acceptable for many years prior. Now it's up to the individual to decide how to feel about it instead of the legal system dictating. I would imagine it's the same in the USA, but along with individuals having an opinion in areas where it's legal, individual states can still dictate policy. At the end of the day, prohibition is a tough sell, especially when it's a plant you can grow in your garden.

[u/h20h20everywhere → u/Karkahoolio]

I was in Vancouver for work the day it was legalized across Canada. I was watching CBC while getting ready that morning and it was hilarious watching the live updates as weed went on sale in new places.

"OK Jim, we're outside this dispensary in Nova Scotia, the crowd is really happy and excited...." "Sorry, Jen, it's 9:00 now, so dispensaries in Quebec are opening. Let's cut to Veronique in Montreal to hear more about what's happening there."

Good vibes all around that day.

[u/Top-DrawerMore → u/h20h20everywhere]

As a Canadian I still find there's some social hesitancy though. Whipping out an edible at certain parties or social contexts still raises more eyebrows than offering people booze. Still a lot of taboo hanging over it.

[u/SovietCanuckistan420 → u/Top-DrawerMore]

As always, its context dependent. I was shocked that my grandparents seemed to change their minds about weed after it was legalized. Meanwhile, one of my Chinese buddies would probably be disowned by his parents if they knew he occasionally sparked up, even though its legal.

[u/MantaRayDonovan1 → u/SovietCanuckistan420]

My mom cried when my older brother got busted by a random drug test in high school and prayed that I'd never try pot (about 4 solid years too late). A few years ago, probably just over a decade later, she followed me into a Vegas dispensary and surprised me by walking out with half a cookie in her mouth.

[u/imdirtydan1997 → u/SovietCanuckistan420]

I have a family member who up until a year or two ago would get pissed if someone used marijuana unless they were terminally ill. Now they’re mad at the federal government for not legalizing it so they can use it without risking their job. It’s quickly becoming accepted by most people, but I personally fear the medical side has made some too lax about it. I know countless people who think driving high is ok. Like alcohol there’s probably a limit, but I’m talking really high and well past what you would likely consider medical use.

[u/georgepauljohnringo → u/Top-DrawerMore]

This is where I want to get to. I really hate being drunk the way they they get (mostly the hangover), but I want to be intoxicated with them, why can’t I just whip out a gummy and chill with you guys? Still feels weird to try it.

[u/PukefrothTheUnholy → u/georgepauljohnringo]

I do this during family functions now, too. I have IBD/IBS and alcohol just doesn't treat me well. I still like to get a little loosened up and enjoy the fun, but with way less alcohol in my system. Having an edible gives me that liberty and I don't wake up feeling like dog shit.

I still feel like I need to hide it - I don't want to be labeled a stoner and I worry that I'll be looked down on for it. It's funny how drinking alcohol is considered totally fine in comparison.

[u/Key-Pickle5609 → u/h20h20everywhere]

And dispensaries went up fucking EVERYWHERE

[u/CleverNameTheSecond → u/Key-Pickle5609]

There's like 4 liquor stores in my city, and 4 dispensaries in every district in my city.

[u/JumpTheChark → u/Karkahoolio]

Ironically, we found out that you can walk down the street and smoke a joint, but cannot walk down the street with an alcoholic beverage. We visited Ottawa on Canada Day (from the US), and found it odd that I can't have a beer (which keeps the smell and intoxicants pretty much confined to my space), but I can smoke a joint and share the smell and contact high with people around me.

[u/Karkahoolio → u/JumpTheChark]

but cannot walk down the street with an alcoholic beverage

Think it might have to do with the nature of the buzz you get from each. Someone who has smoked too much pot isn't likely to start a fight, but we've all seen what happens when a drunk starts feeling feisty. Stoner gets the munchies, drunk smashes windows.

[u/ChickerWings → u/Karkahoolio]

plus the litter. Smashed bottles and discarded cans are a bigger problem than a few roaches in the gutter or some ash.

[u/PieEatingJabroni1 → u/Karkahoolio]

Stoners are too paranoid to even consider starting a confrontation. Would rather be in a room with a bunch of stoned people then a bunch of drunk people.

[u/PresidentFork → u/PieEatingJabroni1]

I found the paranoia was fueled purely by the thought of being arrested for smoking. Once my area made it legal i found myself not experiencing paranoia anymore. It wont be the same for everyone obviously, but i am curious how many people have paranoia simply because they are afraid of the law.

Regardless, a stoner isn't going to feel like fighting lol

[u/BartleBossy → u/Karkahoolio]

Someone who has smoked too much pot isn't likely to start a fight, but we've all seen what happens when a drunk starts feeling feisty. Stoner gets the munchies, drunk smashes windows.

Perfect time to break out this classic. At this point its older than most on reddit lol

[u/Maleficent-Touch-67]

I mean I live in Humboldt county in California weed is legal here but even before that it was commonly accepted here, people would just smoke it out in the open around town, now the only difference is you can walk into a dispensary and buy it

[u/objstandpt → u/Maleficent-Touch-67]

My dad bartended out there in the mid 70s and said that people would roll their joints at the bar side even back then lol.

[u/whistlerite → u/objstandpt]

Ironically this is how things become legal. I’m not condoning breaking the law but realistically the only way laws change is when everyone stops caring about it for some reason.

[u/Kotios → u/whistlerite]

not everyone gets to not care. see: Boulder cops enforcing open smoking fines particularly on the homeless

[u/whistlerite → u/Kotios]

Of course, doing anything illegal is illegal, but paradoxically it’s also the only way illegal things become legal. Once the majority accepts something illegal it can become legal, it’s weird but it happens.

[u/Kotios → u/whistlerite]

sure, I'm just positing that not "everyone" can act on that the same; it seems that those with more privilege (not* necessarily tied to race) hold a more significant portion of the power to turn illegal things legal by ignoring laws amidst "everyone".

[u/whistlerite → u/Kotios]

For sure, laws are just constructs made by certain people anyway. Strange to think about.

[u/Doesntcheckinbox → u/whistlerite]

Civil Disobedience ✊

[u/Justame13 → u/Maleficent-Touch-67]

That’s how Boulder CO was before CO legalized.

People would actually get mad if you pointed out it wasn’t legal

[u/holyhackzak → u/Maleficent-Touch-67]

Arcata is the only place I’ve ever seen someone walking down the street taking bong rips

[u/Motor_Bother_23]

I live in NYC, and it is legal. I am 71 and have been smoking on and off since high school. Worked as a college professor and had no problems. It's all your culture and where you live and your mindset. 😏😏

[u/bluuxiii → u/Motor_Bother_23]

When you say on and off. Are these year gaps, month gaps, week gaps? And also, any health-related effects from long-term use?

Edit: Just curious. As I'd love to be like you at 71 🍁

[u/WhuddaWhat → u/[deleted]]

Lol. Smoked like a chimney in hs and college. Got a degree in chemical engineering and EVERY job tested.

Gave it up before graduating college.

[u/OminousNamazu → u/WhuddaWhat]

Test routinely or only at job acceptance or injury? Wild if they test routinely. As a chemist even working with controlled substances I never got tested more than at the start. Now that I have an office pharma job it's never.

[u/camerasoncops → u/OminousNamazu]

Once about 10 states made it legal, my company moved to only testing at hire in.

[u/Squathos → u/OminousNamazu]

Another chemical engineer here. It depends on the company. All companies are going to test at acceptance and after an incident/injury. But many also test regularly and randomly. Your name shows up on a list and you have to go for testing within 48 hours. I've been randomly tested about every 6 months on average, but I know some people who have gone years without being selected and others have been tested 5 times in the same year. It really is random which makes it very effective because you can't anticipate when you'll be called.

[u/tried2dohandstands4u → u/Squathos]

My uncle worked as an engineer for a large agrichem production facility and found the "random" drug tests really amped up when he became a state-licensed grower ("compassionate caregiver") for a friend with a medical card. He was just a few years shy of retirement and wasn't using at all, but the arcana of growing was a fun hobby for him and very in keeping with a lifelong delight in malicious compliance.

He never dropped dirty, but is now happily retired and resumed his marijuana use after three decades without.

[u/Federal-Subject-3541 → u/bluuxiii]

69 here. 50-year smoker. No health issues from smoking. Lung function is excellent and oxygen saturation is 99 to 100%.

[u/bluuxiii → u/Federal-Subject-3541]

Thanks! It's settled then: SMOKE WEED EVERY DAY 🙌

[u/techno_agent → u/bluuxiii]

I know you meant it as a joke, but there’s a lot of people that would actually react like this and it’s what is the classic case of “survivorship bias”. You need to be considering all the data that conveniently never gets reported - i.e. the ones actually suffering from long term effects of smoking.

Marijuana may not be as addictive or harmful as nicotine and tobacco but you’re still burning paper and something organic generating carbon byproducts such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and several of the carcinogens and toxic components in burning a cigarette.

Also every individual reacts differently - just because one person didn’t die after 50 years of smoking, doesn’t mean everyone will be treated to that same level of luck.

[u/whatdoblindpeoplesee → u/techno_agent]

I would say there's an issue of scale when comparing cigarettes to joints. If you smoke a pack a day, that's 20 cigarettes, and there are many smokers who smoke multiple packs a day for decades. I don't know if I could smoke 20 joints in a day if I wanted to and it would take several lifetimes to smoke the same number of joints as a lifelong cigarette smoker smokes cigs. You're doing damage but you're doing less damage fewer times.

[u/dao_ofdraw → u/whatdoblindpeoplesee]

This. Most daily weed smokers hit maybe a bowl. I'm a daily smoker and it's maybe one or two hits at night and I'm good. Even when I've been an all day wake-and-baker I might make it through two bowls.

The quantities aren't comparable at all. For chain smokers they might as well be inhaling the stuff with every other breath throughout the day, it's environmental at that point.

[u/Trevski → u/dao_ofdraw]

This guy corners his bowls

[u/Stu_Prek]

Yes.

Think about it: alcohol is literally a drug. But unless you're in certain parts of the Middle East, I'm guessing it's widely accepted where you live. So why would marijuana be any different?

[u/Warthog32332 → u/Stu_Prek]

Heard it said before the invasion, you could walk into an Afghani police station and find bales of weed, guarded by two guys sharing an Opium pipe. So. Everything's relative to concentration and cultural exposure

[u/john_wingerr → u/Warthog32332]

I was in Afghanistan in 2010 on some tiny base in the mountains. Afghan national police came to our base to dispose of “all” the weed they found at a farm or something. Talked to the American military police escort who said “yeahhhh all they’re burning? They already took 100 lbs back to their station”

[u/bees-everywhere → u/Warthog32332]

Also after the invasion. Maybe not bales of weed but I routinely witnessed ANP officers smoking hashish, sometimes while on guard duty at the station. It would have been funny except for how dangerous it was; ANP checkpoints were like low hanging fruit for the Taliban and the statistics were very grim. They always offered to share but I politely declined.

[u/Unbannablemanimal → u/bees-everywhere]

I was often offered hash and opium by ANA soldier. Even as a life long pothead, I had no interest in being roasted in a war zone.

[u/NovaPokeDad → u/Stu_Prek]

So is caffeine.

[u/The_Werefrog → u/NovaPokeDad]

Difference between caffeine and alcohol/marijuana is that caffeine doesn't lower your response time or coordination. That's why caffeine is widely accepted and there are those who oppose alcohol or marijuana.

[u/ItsactuallyEminem → u/The_Werefrog]

The only reason caffeine didn't get the same treatment as weed is because it increased workers' productivity. Cocaine didn't make the cut because it caused addiction and obvious health problems. If smoking weed made people focused and hard working it would have been approved years ago.

[u/Party_Director_1925 → u/ItsactuallyEminem]

You haven’t met zooted me. I can hyper focus on command on weed and it makes me so useful. Unless something ruins my mood, I have no control of my emotions and thoughts after that

[u/SparksAndSpyro → u/Party_Director_1925]

Weird. Weed turns me into a zombie with zero ambitions and an absurd appetite. I hate it, actually.

[u/Vithrilis42 → u/SparksAndSpyro]

Drugs everybody differently. My mom uses TCH gummies for her insomnia but doesn't get high at all. She's tried it a few times when she was younger but never experienced the high everybody talks about. It's all about body chemistry.

[u/Incredibad0129 → u/Stu_Prek]

It also helps that it is legal for recreational use in certain US states. Culturally it helps get rid of the stigma that comes from people confusing illegal things with immoral things, which is why alcohol and coffee are generally socially acceptable despite "being drugs". Normally when people say "drugs" like that they mean "illegal drugs". It's a huge hassle to break the law, and normally it's immoral to do that, but when the next state over allows smoking weed legally it doesn't seem like a big deal.

[u/FatBoyStew → u/Stu_Prek]

Depends on where you're at... Here in the ole Bible Belt marijuana obviously means you worship satan and eat babies. In all seriousness though here in Eastern KY especially its very stigmatized still. I mean hell, a 1/3 of our counties are still completely 100% dry, about 1/3rd are just moist (meaning uber strict sale limitations on Sundays and sells ONLY inside the town limits, not the county itself).

So how do you think those places feel about marijuana?

[u/Unlikely_Rope_81 → u/FatBoyStew]

And yet the leading cause of death is probably opioid abuse….

[u/sterlingphoenix]

It's been ubiquitous for decades, and the government's misinformation campaign against it backfired in the worst way.

While it's status is still... a bit complicated, it is legal to use in one way or another in most US states, and legal to use recreationally in almost half (and growing).

So yeah, it's pretty much accepted in large swaths of the US.

[u/iwrestledarockonce → u/sterlingphoenix]

And if you go by population... It's legal for more than half of Americans by a good percentage.

[u/Tzahi12345 → u/iwrestledarockonce]

It's legal for like 95%+ of Americans.

First there's the percent limit which the workaround they figured is just to increase weight. That's how you can buy edibles online.

Second, for most people delta 8 and the other variants are practically identical to regular weed. There's only a couple states where that's illegal, and they're small.

[u/lshiyou → u/Tzahi12345]

The THC-A that you can buy online now, is literally just regular weed. There is basically a loophole in the way it's tested, and since it's a precursor, by the time that it ships to you all of that THC-A will have converted to THC.

[u/YouArePostSucks → u/lshiyou]

by the time that it ships to you all of that THC-A will have converted to THC

Not exactly. The THC-A in the flower will not change significantly in transit. THC-A is converted to Delta-9-THC when exposed to high heat, Either by lighting it on fire to smoke it, or by infusing it into a fat by slow cooking it in Butter or Oil for edibles.

The reason its legal is because The government accidentally legalized it in the 2018 farm bill because they did not understand the subtlety between industrial hemp and marijuana, which has always been an arbitrary distinction because the government always wanted an excuse to arrest and harass Mexicans but did not want to hurt the Business interests of American hemp Farmers. This was in 1930 but it did establish this distinction.

Then in 2018 whoever updated the farm bill did not realize it was the amount of THC-A in the flower that gets you stoned and high, while the amount of Delta-9 TCH found naturally in the plant is generally arbitrary , but is usually above 0.3 percent, while the plant we call "hemp" usually has less then 0.3 percent Delta-9 TCH

I live in a legal state and sometimes the "real" cannabis I purchase from medical dispensaries technically qualify as Industrial hemp as the THC-A is 25% but the Delt-9TCH-a comes under 0.3%

The war on drugs is profoundly dumb, as are bureaucrats from time to time, so occasionally we get lucky with there dumbness

[u/thecourttt]

American in Asia… yes weed is super chill in the states now, and the attitude in Asia seems a bit conservative, true. I think alcohol is far more dangerous than weed and here (Korea) with the way people drink and how it’s so loosely regulated, I’d be scared to see other substances become more common. I never stayed out drinking all night in the states bc bars and clubs closed around 2, unlike Seoul which never stops. I’ve also never seen bartenders cut people off when they’re wasted in Korea. I know people don’t typically drive here but you’d be arrested for being publically intoxicated or passed out on the streets in the states, but it’s all to frequent here. There’s also more social stigma surrounding sobriety, especially for men IMO.

Weed, however, is pretty harmless. The current administration in Korea is on about their war ok drugs, but I don’t think drugs are a problem here at all, unless you consider alcohol, which they don’t lol.

[u/bs178638 → u/thecourttt]

Alcohol has had a larger negative impact on my family and extended circle than any drug. I’ve had one cousin overdose from heroin but I’ve also known a few people commit suicide while drunk.

Many more people have been treated for drug abuse than alcoholism in my family but I still stand by it being worse. Fights, injuries, deeply hurtful things said, sexual abuse. Most revolving around “normal” alcohol consumption.

Weed has only caused some aunts to complain about lazy sons. I can’t think of anything else in dozens of people close to me.

Weeds legal in Minnesota now and my center right family talks about it openly. Edibles are very socially acceptable way to relax.

[u/BillionDollarBalls → u/bs178638]

I quit drinking in 2019 at 24. My adhd makes me binge things. I can't have one beer without having 5 more. On the other hand I find psychedelics and ecstacy very easy to moderate. I'll binge weed but I can also just quit. Not smoking was way easier than quitting booze

[u/Personal_Spend_2535]

I think it's a lot like alcohol. Some people enjoy the effects, some don't. You can use it to get somewhat wasted, but you can also use it mildly to relax and such.

[u/TicTacKnickKnack]

1/3 of Oklahomans have a medical card. It's pretty universally accepted.

[u/Ponklemoose → u/TicTacKnickKnack]

And case anyone is worried about those folks, most of them are using it treat an inability to get high without pot.

[u/TicTacKnickKnack → u/Ponklemoose]

One of my friends literally got a card for a stubbed toe to see if he could. He hopped on zoom and got a 2 year card. The doc never even asked to see his foot.

[u/Emotional-Bed-1224 → u/TicTacKnickKnack]

Oklahoma is wild about their medical cards. Any reason can get you one. I know someone who just said they’re in grad school and the doctor was like, sounds good. Here’s your card. Haha.

[u/Overbeingoverit → u/Emotional-Bed-1224]

I remember CO before we legalized recreational, you used to be able to get your med cards at literal outdoor festivals. Like, there would be "wellness tents" and some shady doctor in there charging people to tell him that they had a bad back so they needed their med card. As far as I can tell, the only people who had a negative impact from legalizing recreational was those doctors.

[u/colton5007 → u/TicTacKnickKnack]

While OK has some of the most relaxed MMJ laws, I can't seem to find evidence of your claim. For example the Marijuana Policy Project says that ~9% of Oklahomans are MMJ patients. While this is certainly still a staggering statistic and appears to be the highest per capital figure reported by the MPP, this is still quite far from your self-reported 1/3rd statistic.

[u/CowboyOfScience]

"IT'S LITERALLY A DRUG!!"

So is caffeine.

[u/imnotmarvin → u/[deleted]]

If we want to talk about long term damage caused by substance abuse, sugar needs to be one of the main conversations. In America, we've been intentionally manipulated into addiction by food makers.

[u/dengibson]

I'm in CT. Went in for lung cancer screening yesterday, and the waiting room reeked like weed. So yeah, pretty much normalized.

[u/TerdSandwich]

We flood our bodies with so many drugs on a daily basis, I think drawing such a hard puritan line at specific ones is weird tbh.

[u/thecatofdestiny → u/TerdSandwich]

But insurance and pharma companies aren't making billions of dollars off this one, unacceptable!!!

[u/sofa_king_ugly]

Nicotine is literally a drug

Caffeine is literally a drug

Alcohol is literally a drug

[u/ArnorCitizen → u/sofa_king_ugly]

Your love is my drug.

[u/Rondo27 → u/sofa_king_ugly]

Please don’t forget opioids. Perfectly legal as long as you have a prescription.

[u/Appropriate_Skin_173]

I live in Ohio and it's not rare to openly see people smoking 'blunts' or ESPECIALLY see your coworkers with a THC vape. I've smoked with strangers before. For being illegal it's pretty much not

[u/AshDenver]

I’m American and it’s still weird to me. Accepted but still weird. I’m old enough to remember friends being paranoid they’d go to prison for having a joint in the car.

[u/JunoCalliope → u/AshDenver]

I’m not even old and I remember getting pulled over for speeding once with weed in the car and panicking that I was gonna go to jail. It was only legalized in my state 5 years ago! It’s wild how much the mindset has shifted in such a short time

[u/Hot_Excitement_6]

It's pretty acceptable. Even I places where it is illegal a large amount of the prison population is for possession of marijuana. People in the US smoke alot of weed. East Asia is just more conservative when it comes to drugs that aren't alcohol or cigarettes. When I heard that South Korea will arrest its citizens for consuming drugs outside Korea, where its legal, I couldn't believe it.

[u/jesusbottomsss → u/Hot_Excitement_6]

In the country with the largest incarcerated population in the entire world illegal does not equal immoral - we’ve criminalized so many things just to fuel the slave labor economy of the prison industrial complex.

[u/WeedFinderGeneral → u/jesusbottomsss]

“In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.”

― Hunter S. Thompson

[u/Both_Lynx_8750]

Yeah its accepted.

From here, the way some asians countries drink seems excessive. Also alcohol makes you violent whereas weed does not.

Personally I think the ruling class hates marijuana and psychedelics because they make you question capitalism.

[u/Hikintrails]

It's legal in Michigan and very much accepted here now. There are so many dispensaries that it's kind of crazy. Lol

[u/JershWaBalls → u/Hikintrails]

I went to Kalamazoo a few months ago. It was my first time in Michigan. I searched for 'dispensaries near me' and basically the entire map was covered in red pins. It was 75% cheaper and about twice as strong as Illinois. One of the best trips I've ever taken.

[u/Orion14159]

It's rapidly gaining mainstream acceptance. 20 years ago it was a pretty small minority of people who thought it should be fully legal recreationally and now something like 2/3 of people polled say we should legalize it and regulate it like alcohol

[u/WanderThinker]

Why would what someone else does tear you apart?

Also, DRUG is not a bad word. All medicine is a form of a some type of drug.

You have been brainwashed.