# What changed public opinion regarding marijuana legalization? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 10, 2018, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392 "2018-08-10T16:03:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/21 "2018-08-10T19:59:15Z")
I think the turning point for me was when I saw the medicinal uses were not limited to the “holistic medicine” crowd. I used to think pot was a purely recreational drug and if it disappeared from the face of the earth, we still have beer. Now I see that it serves a medial role that cannot be easily or cheaply filled by anything else. I used to do a lot of pot when I was in college but I stopped almost as soon as I graduated. Most of my friend stopped and the ones that didn’t were going to abuse something, whether it was pot or alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/22 "2018-08-10T20:03:15Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Only 17% of Boomers supported legalization in 1990, that has increased to 56% today. It could be because they had much younger children back then, and being notorious helicopter parents, were terrified their children might repeat what young folks were doing in the 1960s-1970s. Maybe since they’ve moved on to opiates and lord knows what else, they realized weed is not actually all that bad. Or maybe as they got older and faced health challenges they realized they might benefit from medical marijuana. Many, many people are unempatheic about other peoples’ problems until it happens to them or someone they care about. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/23 "2018-08-10T20:11:39Z")
For me, at least, it was just more information being available, including that which fought misinformation. It being less dangerous and far less addictive than drinking really meant a lot to me. Plus it seemed that, despite being illegal, tons of people use it anyways, and to no real ill effect. It also helps that the world seems shittier and thus I see more reason that people might want to drink or smoke pot to take a break. Nothing about any of that seem special to me, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the same for others. Though I do also want to add one more thing for me: the connection between why marijuana was scheduled like it was and racism, and that, even to this day, there’s disproportionate enforcement against black people. That may be a liberal reason to support it, but my experience is that liberals tended to support it without all that. And conservatives tend to ignore or disagree with that shit. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/24 "2018-08-10T21:15:03Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Plus it seemed that, despite being illegal, tons of people use it anyways, and to no real ill effect. This was a factor for me too. I think that’s why I stopped really thinking about it all that much. I knew people who did it, and they were perfectly fine people on or off marijuana. Not that I ever believed in reefer madness, but it is like many other things. We fear what we don’t know or understand, and with familiarity comes comfort and acceptance. That’s why the gay people (especially famous people) who came out early are so important and brave. Them coming out, and letting the world see that, yeah, people you like and admire are gay, and so being gay is not a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/25 "2018-08-10T21:28:59Z")
The change began when we reached the point that more than 50% of the population had either used it themselves with little or no ill effects or personally knew others that had used with little or no ill effects. Once the lie of marijuana being ultra-harmful was known and acknowledged as a lie, it was just a matter of actually changing the laws. Inertia is a powerful force, tho, so it’s taking a bit (which is fine: let the process play out, eh). ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/26 "2018-08-10T21:30:40Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Gone are the days when we chose political affiliation based on our beliefs. Now we choose our beliefs based on our political affiliation. And marijuana legalization has become one of the things you’re supposed to support if you are a Democrat / Liberal. I agree with your 1st point to some extent, but I think there are a couple of twists when it comes to marijuana. I can imagine what they saw as drug-fueled depravity in the 60s is one reason why some people became conservatives in the 1st place, but then again many conservatives continued to oppose legalization because they saw it as “liberal”. But nowadays there are _some_ conservative who–with uncharacteristic consistency–support legalization to be in keeping with their libertarian beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/27 "2018-08-10T21:47:28Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Gone are the days when we chose political affiliation based on our beliefs. Now we choose our beliefs based on our political affiliation. If you think this is new, you’re blind. Or maybe you can explain the Religious Right falling in line behind the deficit hawks, as if Jesus cared about national deficits. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/28 "2018-08-10T21:57:09Z")
I think that reasonable people may be responding to observable decades long evidence that they have been fed loads of refer madness bullshit about May Jane’s harmfulness, and can see that imprisoning otherwise lawful and threatless citizens is barbaric and counterproductive, and further recognizing that we could be making shitloads of money from the legal sales of it. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/29 "2018-08-10T22:04:36Z")
Is it just me or is “we could be making shitloads of money from the legal sales of it” a _terrible_ reason to legalize a drug? Even if that drug were plain pure water? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/30 "2018-08-10T22:05:54Z")
I agree. Marijuana should be legal and tax-free. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/31 "2018-08-10T22:11:30Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Is it just me or is “we could be making shitloads of money from the legal sales of it” a _terrible_ reason to legalize a drug? Even if that drug were plain pure water? If it’s the only reason, sure I’d agree. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/32 "2018-08-10T22:15:16Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I agree. Marijuana should be legal and tax-free. In my dream hippie world it would be just like growing tomatoes in the back yard and handing a few over the fence to the neighbor- no one would give a shit. But I live in Illinois, and realistically the only way it would ever be legalized is if the state was gonna make big bucks off of it. And that’s a compromise I could live with. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/33 "2018-08-10T23:06:31Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Is it just me or is “we could be making shitloads of money from the legal sales of it” a _terrible_ reason to legalize a drug? Even if that drug were plain pure water? If water was illegal, I probably wouldn’t get too hung up on the details. But it’s not actually a terrible reason. Within some limits, taking something from the black market and putting it into the regular economy is a good thing in a well functioning society. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/34 "2018-08-10T23:24:06Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > How much overlap is there between the opposition/change in support for pot legalization and the opposition/change in support for gay marriage? Exactly 100%. It’s reason overcoming superstition, plain and simple. Nothing else is really involved, though of course other things do happen at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2018, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/35 "2018-08-11T00:08:44Z")
I generally agree with you all, but when I was younger and tried it, a couple of times I got paranoid as hell. If I didn’t have someone there to get me through, I don’t know what would have happened. What caused that? All I hear is how wonderful it is. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2018, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/36 "2018-08-11T00:36:12Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > What caused that? All I hear is how wonderful it is. The main active ingredient, THC, is a stimulant and a psychedelic. A low dose of stimulant is unlikely to cause paranoia but even a light dose of psychedelics can strongly amplify negative emotions and thoughts. You were probably feeling apprehensive at the prospect of using pot and that anxiety fed on itself in a self-reinforcing loop. It’s not all wonderful and it’s not for everyone. A thread about the realistic liabilities of pot might actually be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/37 "2018-08-11T00:50:23Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > In my dream hippie world it would be just like growing tomatoes in the back yard and handing a few over the fence to the neighbor- no one would give a shit. But I live in Illinois, and realistically the only way it would ever be legalized is if the state was gonna make big bucks off of it. And that’s a compromise I could live with. Pretty much all I thought was necessary too. The compromise isn’t awful, and better than continuing the demonstrated weed philosophy that has cost society so much. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2018, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/38 "2018-08-11T01:35:49Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > The main active ingredient, THC, is a stimulant and a psychedelic. A low dose of stimulant is unlikely to cause paranoia but even a light dose of psychedelics can strongly amplify negative emotions and thoughts. You were probably feeling apprehensive at the prospect of using pot and that anxiety fed on itself in a self-reinforcing loop. Yeah, it only enhances whatever feelings are already there. It doesn’t just magically take bad feelings and turn them into good ones. And yeah, it can create paranoia. I never smoke if I’m feeling shitty. I know it’ll just make me feel shittier. I know people for whom it doesn’t have this effect though; they will smoke no matter what their current situation is, no matter what trouble is going on in their lives…I just can’t do that. But different people are different. Also, different kinds of weed are different. I am positive that if weed had been legal for the past 20-odd years, scientists would have figured out ways by now of tailoring the effects of different strains of weed very very specifically, so that you can know with virtual certainty _exactly_ what kind of effects any given variety of it will produce. But since it hasn’t been legal and so it can’t be studied properly, this isn’t possible. I do think it _will_ happen within the next few decades though. ---
**Author:** ![betterlifethroughchemistry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/betterlifethroughchemistry/32/3094_2.png) [@betterlifethroughchemistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betterlifethroughchemistry)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2018, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/39 "2018-08-11T02:51:51Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Only 17% of Boomers supported legalization in 1990, that has increased to 56% today. It could be because they had much younger children back then, and being notorious helicopter parents, were terrified their children might repeat what young folks were doing in the 1960s-1970s. Maybe since they’ve moved on to opiates and lord knows what else, they realized weed is not actually all that bad. > > Millennials have also increased their support from 34% in 2006 to 71% today. Many of them were probably still under the fog of government propaganda and socialized education in general in 2006. Much of what the Boomers told them does not jive with their life experience, and therefore they reject these old Puritan ideas. > > One factor has to be the depiction of marijuana use in pop culture. It has changed quite a bit. > [Support increases for marijuana legalization | Pew Research Center](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/10/12/support-for-marijuana-legalization-continues-to-rise/) > [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > Never been a user myself, but I’ve always supported legalization / decriminalization. > > My position with regard to marijuana was further emboldened by something a paramedic friend told me: “I’ve been on hundreds of domestic abuse calls, and not one of them involved someone smoking pot and then beating up their wife.” > [@nelliebly](#): > > Another factor: state excise taxes and the prospect of that money going toward schools or public health programs or treatment centers. Washington state has a 37% excise tax on marijuana sales and collected $730 million last year. I think a lot of people decided if so many people were going to smoke it anyway, the state might as well get some money off it to support good causes. See, if there was a ‘like’ button, I would have it it several times, but theses three point out to me that the support for decriminalization/legalization is a multifaceted answer. Personally, the Rockefeller Drug Laws in NY State are the most archaic laws in NY (IMHO, no cite) as they have destroyed the lives of many non-violent people…as our society gets more permissive (some for the good, some for the bad), I think we Boomers are looking at the issue as not being a big deal…I’m not sure I agree with legalization of everything, but marijuana is not an issue…again, JMHO… ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2018, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392/40 "2018-08-11T02:55:45Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I generally agree with you all, but when I was younger and tried it, a couple of times I got paranoid as hell. If I didn’t have someone there to get me through, I don’t know what would have happened. > > What caused that? All I hear is how wonderful it is. Well that is one of the arguments that the ones opposing legalization do use, but it is not convincing when one looks at the big picture. (Relevant Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshel short animated video) [**3 Arguments Why Marijuana Should Stay Illegal Reviewed**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP15q815Saw) > [@](#): > > The main active ingredient of marijuana is THC, and there’s strong evidence that THC is related to psychosis regardless of other risk factors. > > Marijuana also contains a substance called CBD, that seems to counteract its effect. It’s even being tested as a treatment against psychosis and anxiety. But because it doesn’t make you high, growers have gradually decreased the amount of CBD in marijuana over the last few decades, while increasing THC levels. > > Sample testing showed that THC levels have risen from around 4% in the 1990s to nearly 12% in 2014, shifting the ratio of THC to CBD from 1:14 in 1995 to about 1:80 in 2014. It’s unclear how precise those tests were, however. > > Overall, recent findings suggest that the more marijuana you consume, and the stronger it is, the higher your risk of developing psychosis. But how high is the risk of psychosis for the general population? \*\*A study from Britain found that while marijuana use has risen significantly between 1996 and 2005, the number of schizophrenia cases – a type of psychosis – remain stable. \*\* > > The risk of marijuana induced psychosis remains the highest for people who already have a high risk of psychosis to begin with. For them, it seems more likely that marijuana speeds up the development of their condition, rather than causing it, as far as we know right now. So the reasoning goes, if fewer people have access to marijuana, the lower the risk of marijuana induce psychosis. \*\*But actually, you could argue that precisely because marijuana is illegal, more people will end up with psychosis. > > Prohibition makes illegal drug stronger and more potent.\*\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-changed-public-opinion-regarding-marijuana-legalization/819392.md?page=3)