Home Pastors Articles for Pastors Half of Young Adult Christians Want to See Marijuana Legalized

Half of Young Adult Christians Want to See Marijuana Legalized

Results of a new survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute show that 50 percent of Christians aged 18–29 said they “favor” or “strongly favor” legalizing recreational marijuana use. When you consider all Christians, though, 54 percent are against legalization while 39 percent support it.

Even so, 45 percent of young Christians surveyed said they had previously tried marijuana. The report showed that “nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of all Americans who report they have ever tried marijuana support legalizing marijuana. While an identical number (65 percent) of Americans who report that they have not tried marijuana oppose its legalization.”

As an article in the CNN Belief Blog stated, “Seventy percent of Americans said that recreational use of marijuana is not a sin, compared to 23 percent who said they believe using the drug is sinning. While most religious groups follow this trend, according to the poll, white evangelical Protestants are the most divided group, with 40 percent indicating using marijuana is a sin and 48% saying it is not.”

These results have led poll organizers to believe marijuana use will continue to gain more acceptance in the coming years. “Much like same sex marriage, what we are seeing here is generational replacement,” said Robert P. Jones, CEO of PRRI. “As more young Christians come to adulthood, they bring with them different experience and views.”

Recreational use of marijuana was legalized in Colorado and Washington in 2012, and the state of Oregon voted to keep it legal.