Story Highlights 78% say drinking alcohol is morally acceptable

65% say smoking marijuana is morally acceptable

Religiosity is a major factor in determining attitudes

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Large majorities of Americans believe that using substances like alcohol and marijuana are morally permissible. Specifically, 78% say drinking alcohol is morally acceptable and 65% say smoking marijuana is.

Attitudes about the morality of alcohol and marijuana items were measured for the first time in Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs survey, conducted May 1-10. The survey asked Americans to indicate whether they believe each of 22 different behaviors and practices are morally acceptable or morally wrong.

Alcohol and marijuana rank near the top of the list of practices Americans consider morally acceptable. Only birth control, at 91%, gets a higher percentage sanctioning it than drinking alcohol does. Smoking marijuana trails birth control, drinking alcohol and divorce (76%), but is on par with widely accepted acts including gambling, sex between an unmarried man and woman, gay or lesbian relations, stem cell research, and having a baby outside of marriage.

Americans are least likely to regard married men and women having an affair, cloning humans, polygamy and suicide as morally OK. Their opinions are most closely divided on morality of abortion -- 43% believe it is morally acceptable and 48% believe it is not.

Drinking Alcohol, Smoking Marijuana Among Practices Americans Find Most Morally Acceptable Next, I'm going to read you a list of issues. Regardless of whether or not you think it should be legal, for each one, please tell me whether you personally believe that in general it is morally acceptable or morally wrong. Morally acceptable Morally wrong % % Birth control 91 6 Drinking alcohol ^ 78 19 Divorce 76 20 Sex between an unmarried man and woman 69 28 Gambling 69 28 Gay or lesbian relations 67 30 Medical research using stem cells obtained from human embryos 66 29 Smoking marijuana ^ 65 31 Having a baby outside of marriage 65 32 The death penalty 62 33 Buying and wearing clothing made of animal fur 60 37 Medical testing on animals 54 43 Doctor assisted suicide 54 42 Abortion 43 48 Pornography 43 55 Sex between teenagers 42 54 Cloning animals 40 57 Suicide 20 75 Polygamy, when a married person has more than one spouse at the same time 19 78 Cloning humans 16 81 Married men and women having an affair 10 88 May 1-10, 2018; ^ Asked of a half sample Gallup

Gallup's trends on many of these items date back to 2001. On most, Americans have adopted more permissive views over time. Presumably, this also applies to the new item on smoking marijuana, given the surge over the past two decades in the percentage who say that smoking the drug should be legal. In fact, the 64% who last fall said marijuana should be legal nearly matches the 65% who say smoking it is morally acceptable.

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Religiosity Is Key Determinant in Views of Drinking, Smoking Marijuana

Majorities of key subgroups of Americans regard both drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana as morally acceptable, but highly religious Americans, as measured by the frequency with which they attend church, are less likely to do so. Whereas 88% of those who seldom or never attend religious services find drinking alcohol to be morally acceptable, 60% of those who attend weekly hold that view. And while three-quarters of non-attenders say smoking marijuana is OK, less than half of regular churchgoers, 41%, agree.

Other subgroup differences, including those by gender, age, race and political ideology, appear to reflect differences in church attendance among those groups. For example, nonwhites, women, older Americans and conservatives are more likely to attend church but less likely to say smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol are OK.

Religiosity a Key Factor in Views of Morality of Drinking Alcohol, Smoking Marijuana Drinking Alcohol Smoking Marijuana % Acceptable % Wrong % Acceptable % Wrong U.S. adults 78 19 65 31 Gender Men 84 15 70 26 Women 73 23 59 36 Age 18 to 34 years 81 18 77 21 35 to 54 years 78 17 61 36 55+ years 77 21 58 37 Race White 82 15 68 29 Nonwhite 67 29 59 35 College graduate Yes 87 9 72 24 No 73 25 61 34 How often attend church Every week 60 37 41 59 Monthly 71 22 63 31 Seldom/Never 88 11 75 20 Ideology Liberal 84 11 81 19 Moderate 77 20 75 21 Conservative 75 25 47 49 May 1-10, 2018 Gallup

In nearly every key subgroup, a greater percentage say drinking alcohol is morally acceptable than says the same about smoking marijuana. Young adults, ideological liberals and moderates are notable exceptions, as these three groups are about equally likely to find the two practices morally acceptable. In contrast to liberals and moderates, ideological conservatives are far more likely to view drinking alcohol (75%) than smoking marijuana (47%) as acceptable moral behavior.

Bottom Line

Most Americans do not object on moral grounds to people drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana. Of the two, they are more likely to see drinking alcohol as an acceptable behavior, perhaps because it is legal in all states while smoking marijuana is not. Some states have recently legalized marijuana and many others are considering doing so, perhaps removing some of the stigma associated with the drug. But with roughly two-thirds of the public saying marijuana use is morally acceptable, it seems there will not be sufficient opposition to thwart attempts to make it legal.