Poll: Half of Young Christians Favor Legalizing Marijuana, Many Have Tried It

Half of young Christians have bucked the opinion of their older brethren and said they favor legalizing marijuana for recreational use, according to a recent poll.
Thirty-two percent of Christian's aged 18-29 said they "strongly favor" legalization, while 18% said they "favor" the move, according to a Public Religion Research Institute survey released Thursday. Among Christian's 65 and older, only 9% said they strongly favor legalization and 47% say they strongly oppose it.

Though the younger generations favor legalization, all Christians still lean toward keeping the drug illegal. While 39% of Christians say they favor or strongly favor legalization, 54% say they support keeping the drug illegal, according to the poll.

According to the poll, 45% of young Christians have "tried marijuana," compared to 13% of Christian seniors who say they have.

"Nearly two-thirds (65%) of Americans who report they have ever tried marijuana support legalizing marijuana," the report says. "While an identical number (65%) of Americans who report that they have not tried marijuana oppose its legalization."

"Marijuana legalization connects to a broader generational story that we are seeing in religious culture," said Robert P. Jones, CEO of the polling firm. "The younger, religious Americans are taking a lot of their cues from their generational cohorts. To be sure, they are colored by their religious affiliation."

Jones continued: "The generational sea change on this issue is also shifting the ground inside churches."

Marijuana, while a longtime political question, was thrust to the forefront of debate in 2012, when two states - Washington and Colorado - legalized use of the drug for recreational use. That same year, Oregon voted to keep marijuana illegal.

In Washington, legalization was a way to raise tax revenue. The Washington referendum called for a 25% tax rate imposed on the product three times: when the grower sells it to the processor, when the processor sells it to the retailer, and when the retailer sells it to the customer.

Marijuana use, according to the poll, is not seen as a sin by a majority of Americans.