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The public’s attitudes toward marijuana use have changed dramatically in recent years throughout the United States. In the 1930s, many people believed that marijuana was more dangerous and more deadly than substances such as opium, morphine, and heroin. Since then, public support for marijuana legalization has turned around.1 More people agree that marijuana is a safe substance for use, even safer than legal substances like alcohol or tobacco. Many agree that marijuana has medical qualities that can relieve symptoms of a wide variety of ailments. Many others agree that it can be used recreationally to help people relax after a tough day or even to stimulate creativity in some individuals.

The public’s perceptions of marijuana have been tracked over time. Public opinion can be thought of as the “shared opinion of a collection of individuals on a common concern,”2 or a compilation of how the general public feels about an issue.3 The Gallup polling organization carried out an early poll on the public’s perception of marijuana legalization in 1969. The question asked was, “Do you think the use of marijuana should be made legal or not?” The results indicated that only 12 percent of respondents were in favor of legalization. A similar poll taken a few years later showed that the percentage of respondents supporting marijuana had increased to 28 percent. The support for legal marijuana fell during the 1980s, possibly due to President Reagan’s War on Drugs. The percentage of people who supported legal marijuana remained at about 25 percent through the mid-1990s but in 2000 increased significantly to 31 percent.4 A more recent poll taken in 2013 indicated that the public support for legislation rose dramatically to 58 percent. Table 1.1 shows the results of public opinion polls about marijuana legalization over time. More information on how Gallup carries out their polls is presented in box 1.1.

Table 1.1. Support for Marijuana Legalization

Year	Percent Supporting Legalization
1969	12
1973	16
1977	28
1985	23
2001	34
2005	36
2009	44
2013	58

Source: Swift, A. (2016, October 19). “Support for Legal Marijuana Use up to 60 percent i n U.S. Gallup Research.” www.gallup.com/poll/196550/support-legal-marijuana.aspx.

Textbox 1.1. How Polls Are Taken

Public opinion polls are used to identify the public’s ideas and perceptions of issues, people, and events. They can be used to track patterns locally, nationally, or even internationally. Polls can be completed in person, over the phone, or by a mailed or paper survey. However the information is gathered, a poll that is carried out using scientific methods can be an accurate reflection of the public’s mood. Pollsters need not question every person in a population in order to get a reliable estimate of opinions. Instead, they can interview only a small group of the entire population, analyze those responses, and generalize to the entire population. If the sample is chosen correctly, it can be a reliable measure of the entire population. It is imperative that the people questioned comprise a “representative sample,” meaning that all categories of people are represented in the smaller sample. The potential respondents must be randomly selected from the entire population in a process called probability sampling. For example, when it comes to telephone surveys, Gallup uses a random-digit-dialing (RDD) technique that provides them with a random list of phone numbers (cell phones and landlines). This means that the phone numbers are not chosen based on any characteristic: age, location, income, or any other attribute. The questions that are asked must also be written in such a way that the responses are not biased, allowing the respondents’ answers to be a true reflection of their views. Some of the more well-recognized organizations known for conducting trustworthy polls include Gallup, Pew, Rasmussen, CNN, New York Times/CBS, Harris, and Quinnipiac University.

Polls taken by other organizations show similar trends to those found by the Gallup organization. The Pew Research Organization took an early poll on marijuana legalization in 1969, asking respondents if they believed that marijuana should be either legal or remain illegal. Their results showed that only 12 percent supported legalization (see table 1.2). Since that early poll, support for marijuana legalization has risen dramatically, peaking at 57 percent in 2016.5

Table 1.2. Pew Survey: Do You Think the Use of Marijuana Should Be Made Legal?

Date	Legal	Illegal
1969	12	84
1980	30	66
1990	16	81
2000	31	63
2006	32	60
2016	57	37

Source: Geiger, A. (2016, October 12). “Support for Marijuana Legalization Continues to Rise.” Pew Research Center. www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/10/12/support-for-marijuana-legalization-continues-to-rise.

Public opinion polls carried out by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in 2016 reported that about 61 percent of Americans favored marijuana legalization. When questioned further, 24 percent of those in favor of legalization thought that marijuana should be available only with a physician’s recommendation. Moreover, about 43 percent indicated that laws should place limits on the amount of marijuana that users can purchase.6

Most people who support marijuana legalization do so because of the possible medical benefits of the plant. The second most prevalent reason for support pertains to the safety of marijuana as a natural drug. On the other hand, those who oppose marijuana report that they are concerned about the addictive qualities of the drug.7 Others report that marijuana causes harm to society in general and therefore should not be legal.8

As the support for legal marijuana increases, overall support for the War on Drugs has declined. Those who oppose the War on Drugs indicate that it has been, or continues to be, a waste of money.9

As table 1.3 shows, a respondent’s age affects his or her level of support for marijuana legalization. Those respondents between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four, otherwise known as the millennial generation, have higher support for legalization. Those who are fifty-five years and older tend to have the lowest amount of support for legalization. In 2017, about 71 percent of young respondents indicated that they supported legalization of marijuana (see table 1.4). Those born in the early to mid-1960s had the second-highest level of support, at 57 percent. This population is referred to as the Gen X generation. The “baby boomers” have about the same level of support, around 56 percent.10 As expected, older Americans in general have the least amount of support for legalization.

Table 1.3. Support for Marijuana by Age

	2003/2005	2016
National Adults	35%	60%
18–34	44%	77%
35–54	35%	61%
55+	29%	45%

Source: Swift, A. (2016, October 19). “Support for Legal Marijuana Use up to 60 percent in U.S. Gallup Research.” www.gallup.com/poll/196550/support-legal-marijuana.aspx.

Table 1.4. Support for Marijuana

	Legal	Illegal	Unsure
Total	57%	37%	5%
Men	60%	34%	5%
Women	55%	40%	5%
White	59%	36%	5%
Black	59%	37%	4%
Hispanic	46%	49%	5%
Millennial (18–35)	71%	25%	5%
Gen X (35–51)	57%	38%	5%
Baby Boomer (52–70)	56%	40%	4%
Postgrad	60%	33%	7%
College Grad	59%	37%	4%
Some College	63%	32%	5%
High School or Less	53%	42%	5%
Republican	41%	55%	5%
Conservative Republican	33%	62%	5%
Moderate/Liberal Republican	63%	35%	3%
Independent	63%	33%	5%
Democrat	66%	30%	4%
Conservative/Moderate Democrat	55%	39%	5%
Liberal Democrat	78%	19%	3%

Table 1.4 also shows that support for marijuana legalization is found more in males than females and more in Democrats than Republicans. Independents show even more support. More information is provided in tables 1.6 and 1.7.

Table 1.5. Support for Legalizing the Use of Marijuana, by Birth Cohort, over Time

	1969	1985	2000/2001	2015
1981–1997	NA	NA	NA	71
1966–1980	NA	NA	43	64
1951–1965	NA	32	35	58
1936–1950	20	22	29	40
1935 and earlier	8	15	18	19

Source: Jones, Jeffrey M. (2015, October 21) “In U.S., 58% Back Legal Marijuana Use.” Social & Policy Issues, Gallup http//newsgallup.com/poll/186260/back-legal-marijuana.asp.

Table 1.6. Support for Marijuana by Political Party Affiliation

	2003/2005	2016
National Adults	35	60
Republicans	20	42
Independents	46	70
Democrats	38	67

Source: Swift, A. (2016, October 19). “Support for Legal Marijuana Use up to 60 percent in U.S. Gallup Research.” www.gallup.com/poll/196550/support-legal-marijuana.aspx.

Table 1.7. Support for Marijuana Legalization by Political Party

	Should	Should Not	Unsure/No Answer
Total	59	36	5
Republicans	35	61	4
Democrats	72	23	5
Independents	58	36	5
May 24–30, 2016	54	41	5
November 28–December 12, 2012	51	44	5

Source: Quinnipiac University Poll, February 16–21, 2017. www.pollingreport.com/drugs.htm. N=1,323 registered voters nationwide.

More recent polls have found that the number of people who believe that marijuana can be harmful to users has decreased during the past twenty-five years. Results from polls taken in 1991 showed that about 84 percent of the public perceived marijuana to be harmful to users. In 2014, that number dropped to about 53.8 percent.11

The public’s support for marijuana was made evident in the state of Washington, where voters approved marijuana use in 2012. Four years after the original vote, a polling organization asked voters if they would cast the same or a different vote if given the chance to vote again on the initiative to legalize marijuana. The results found that more than 25 percent of voters who were originally opposed to the legalization of marijuana reported that they would change their position and now vote in favor. Moreover, the results showed that older voters with at least a bachelor’s degree and who had a history of using marijuana were most likely to support legalization.12 The public support for marijuana in Washington could not be clearer.

Current Book

These polls show clearly that public opinion about marijuana has changed over time and that it differs by age, gender, race, education, and political party affiliation. These changes have led to new policies to legalize marijuana in some form. This book is an analysis of the public’s opinions about marijuana with a focus on individual professions. Many professions will be impacted in different ways by the legalization of marijuana. Teachers, police officers, and medical professionals must face problems that result from the new policies. Each chapter that follows provides an analysis of how different professionals, as a group, feel about the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana. The data was collected through a series of interviews, both in person and written, in which the professionals were asked about their perceptions of how legislation legalizing marijuana would affect them and their jobs. The goal was to provide a deeper understanding of not only how marijuana will affect society as a whole, but how different professionals will have to adapt their daily tasks to accommodate the new environment.

In chapters 2 and 3, a short description of the history and current status of marijuana legalization are provided. Chapter 4 presents some of the arguments made by both sides of the legalization debate. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 provide a description of the statements made by the professionals concerning the legalization of marijuana when asked how the new policies would affect them as they perform their jobs. An analysis of this information is the focus of the remaining chapters of the book. Here, the major trends and patterns in the responses from members of the different professions are shown as well as the differences among the different professions. These chapters seek to answer the question of how legalization will affect different jobs in the next few years. In the end, this book provides an understanding of some of the ways that marijuana legalization will impact different occupations.