Study: Americans Say Sugar is More Harmful than Cannabis

According to a poll run by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, Americans believe that sugar, along with alcohol and tobacco, is more harmful to a person’s health than cannabis. The poll asked 1,000 adults of different party affiliations and backgrounds which substance they found to be the most harmful out of the substances listed above.

The poll found tobacco (49 percent) to be the most harmful, followed by alcohol (24 percent), then sugar (15 percent), and coming in last, marijuana (8 percent). Only 3 percent of those polled said all of the above and 1 percent was unsure.

Interestingly, it should be noted that the poll also found Americans have noticed more news coverage of “some states now allowing adults to purchase small amounts of marijuana for personal use” than Russia sending troops into Ukraine, the overturning of same-sex marriage bans, and the implementation of the Affordable Healthcare Act.

This poll shows an upward trend in what Americans think about cannabis use and that the irrational fear of its dangers are finally being disproved. With more people concerned with the ill effects of sugar on the human body than cannabis, it should come as no surprise that another poll performed in January, run by CBS, found a gradual rise in belief that cannabis should be legal, climbing from 27 percent in 1979 to 51 percent in January 2014, the first time in history that the majority of poll takers believe legalization is the way of the future.

The expanding knowledge of the benefits of cannabis for medicinal and recreational purposes are finally making headway in the views of the public. With the amount of coverage states such as Colorado and Washington are receiving in the news, and the $3.5 million tax revenue Colorado reported for January of this year, it will be important to see how states and the federal government will respond.

Let us know below if you think cannabis is safer than alcohol, tobacco and sugar.