Between May 1 to 10, Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey was carried out, and the results might surprise you. The survey was conducted to ascertain the attitudes about the morality of cannabis and alcohol.

Survey participants were asked whether they thought 22 different practices and behaviors were morally acceptable or morally wrong. Among those 22 practices, Americans consider cannabis and alcohol to be the most morally acceptable to use.

Birth control got a higher ranking at 91 percent, with smoking cannabis falling slightly behind at 76 percent. However, cannabis consumption was fairly equal to other widely accepted acts, such as gay or lesbian relationships, gambling, having a baby out of wedlock, and stem cell research.

Gallup poll on cannabis proves Americans have adopted new views

The results of Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey were based on telephone interviews of 1,024 adults. Survey participants came from all 50 U.S. states and were aged 18 or above.

Many of the trends that were prominent in the survey date back to 2001. This enabled researchers to assess people’s views over time, which led them to discover how on most trends, Americans embraced a more open-minded view as time has progressed.

If we can make assumptions based on these trends, America’s permissive views also apply to smoking cannabis.

Last fall, 64 percent of people said cannabis should be legal. This is on par with the 65 percent who say smoking cannabis is morally acceptable.

Religiosity is an influential factor in views of smoking cannabis

Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey revealed how religious Americans were less likely to approve of cannabis and alcohol use, as opposed to key subgroups that didn’t attend church.

Based on the findings, alcohol was considered to be more morally acceptable than smoking cannabis. 

Some exceptions to this were young adults, moderates, and ideological liberals. Both practices were considered to be morally acceptable by people in these groups. 

Among those three groups, 75 percent of ideological conservatives saw alcohol consumption as morally acceptable, which is a stark contrast to the 47 percent who think cannabis consumption is morally acceptable.

Alcohol consumption was deemed to be morally acceptable by 88 percent of the people surveyed who never attended a religious service, whereas 60 percent of churchgoers held the same view.

While three-quarters of non-religious individuals believe it is fine to smoke cannabis, 41 percent of religious individuals agree.

Various subgroup disparities seemed to influence the church attendance rates among those surveyed, including age, race, gender and political ideology.

Females, older Americans, and non-white individuals were less likely to say cannabis and alcohol consumption were morally acceptable, but they were more likely to attend church.

An even larger percentage of people in each subgroup say that drinking alcohol is an acceptable moral practice.

With two-thirds of the people surveyed saying that cannabis use is OK, there is a good chance of complete cannabis legalization being well-received by the general public.