Most Americans say that it's possible to be a responsible adult and occasionally smoke marijuana
Colorado is now into its fourth month of legal marijuana sales, and Washington state is gearing up to launch a similar system of taxing and legalizing marijuana. Even as other states loosen their laws, Colorado is dealing with a novel problem: how should people who legally smoke marijuana be treated?
Colorado prohibits employers from firing workers for engaging in legal activities during their personal time, but as marijuana is still illegal according to federal law, Colorado courts have ruled that workers can be fired for using marijuana. More broadly, Colorado is a testing site for whether or not large numbers of people can freely use marijuana and still live up to their personal responsibilities.
The latest research from YouGov shows that most Americans (59%) think that it is possible to occasionally smoke marijuana and still be a responsible adult, though 28% disagree. 45% of Americans say that most people who occasionally use marijuana are responsible adults.
Asked whether occasionally smoking marijuana makes it harder to be a responsible adult, attitudes are mixed. Nearly half the public (47%) say that it makes no difference whether you occasionally smoke, but 38% say that it does make it harder to live up to adult responsibilities. Unsurprisingly, only 5% say that occasional marijuana use makes it easier to be a responsible adult.
