Cannabis views among Californians
California residents’ positions on whether or not marijuana should be legalized in the United States haven’t budged much from when we polled on this topic back in mid-2017; 47% think it should be legal for both personal and medical use (47%) and 34% just for medical use .
While over half say that they, themselves have yet to have tried marijuana, 43% of Californians say they partake; two in 10 have done so in the past 12 months.
What Californians consider when selecting a cannabis product
Regardless of consumption method, the top cited factor in choosing a cannabis product is the desired effect or perceived benefit (e.g. sleep, social, uplifting, chill, relaxing). In fact, 42% of frequent users and 37% of recent users cite effects/benefits as top factor overall and similar shares cite effects/benefits when consuming cannabis in edible form.
Of those who consume cannabis in edible form:
- 44% of recent users consume 10mg or less in a typical sitting with another 27% who don’t know how much they consume.
- Amount consumed hasn’t changed much for a majority of recent users with 36% using about the same amount and 21% who aren’t sure compared to when they first tried edibles.
Perceived Health Benefits of Cannabis
Perceived health benefits of cannabis use are more clear among those who have used marijuana themselves in the past 12 months whereas the views among Californians overall are a bit hazy.
- Cannabis use for pain management is seen as effective by 82% of those who have recently used marijuana, and 89% of frequent users agree.
- 48% among California residents overall find it effective and 41% don’t know
- Recent cannabis users also find that the substance is effective at improving mental health (59%) and at greater rates than Calfiornians overall (29%).
- 49% of Californians overall don’t know how effective it is and the jury is still out for 15% of recent users.
Read more about our polling methodology here.
Click through all the results in the interactive toplines below:
