Parents smoke weed more often than childless people

Would you use marijuana if it was legal? With questions like these, the Hamburg opinion research institute Appinio has surveyed the mood of the Germans on the planned legalization of marijuana. The representative study comes to astonishing results when it comes to questions about the acceptance of the drug and consumer behavior.

The survey shows that the federal government's legalization plans are met with mixed responses from the public. While 49.9 percent of respondents are in favor of legalizing the drug, around 34 percent are against it. Around 16 percent of respondents are undecided on this question.

The mood becomes clearer when it comes to the question of decriminalizing the substance. According to the Appinio survey, a clear majority of 62.3 percent of Germans consider it positive that the private possession of cannabis up to a quantity of 30 grams for private consumption could be exempt from punishment from 2024.

The survey denied that the Germans would become stoners en masse after the legalization of cannabis. A majority of almost 52 percent of those surveyed stated that they did not want to consume cannabis even after legalization.

Around 30 percent answered the question of whether they would consume weed as a result of legalization with "rather no". Almost one in five respondents can imagine using the drug if it is legal. A good fifth of those surveyed also stated that they wanted to breed their own cannabis plants after legalization.

For those Germans who already smoke cannabis, legalization would not change much. Six out of ten respondents state that their current consumption would not change. On the other hand, every fifth pothead believes that legalization would further increase their own consumption.

The survey shows astonishing differences in consumer behavior between men and women – and between parents and those without children. According to the survey, respondents with children in the household smoke weed more often than childless people.

While almost seven percent of childless marijuana users say they smoke weed once a week, the figure is around 12 percent among parents. In addition, almost 38 percent of childless cannabis connoisseurs only tried the substance once and then gave up. Among those surveyed with a child in the household, this value is only around 25 percent.

Overall, around 46 percent of those surveyed said they had used marijuana before. A majority of almost 54 percent has never smoked weed.

A clear majority of more than 30 percent of marijuana users say they have tried the substance only once. According to the survey, only around five percent of consumers smoke pot every day.

Almost nine percent of the stoners surveyed consume once a week, around twelve percent once a month. 21 percent of users smoke the herb less than once a year.

The survey on the protection of minors makes people sit up and take notice. Around a third of marijuana users say they were under 18 when they first used it.

A good half of those surveyed smoked their first joint between the ages of 18 and 24. Only one in ten marijuana users was over 34 when first exposed to the drug.

According to the survey, the higher the level of education, the later the first use of cannabis occurs. Around 42 percent of those surveyed with a secondary school diploma were minors when they smoked weed for the first time. On the other hand, just under 26 percent of high school graduates stated that they were under 18 when they first smoked.

There are striking differences in consumer behavior between women and men. More men than women have already smoked weed in their lives: according to the survey, half of the men have been “high” at least once, compared to 42 percent of the women.

43 percent of women have not touched a joint after the first use. Among men, this figure is only 24 percent.

There are also gender differences in the type of cannabis use. Almost every third woman among consumers prefers to smoke weed in company. For men, this figure is around 58 percent. While every fifth man prefers to smoke weed alone, only every tenth woman wants it.

In line with this distribution of roles, there is more support for cannabis legalization among men: almost 55 percent of men support the legal release of marijuana. Only around 44 percent of the women surveyed support this project.

In addition, there are significantly more men who want to try the substance for the first time after legalization: 26 percent of men want to consume marijuana after legalization. Among women, only 22 percent want to try the herb.

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