While the majority of Americans see the national drug problem as getting worse, a minority see cannabis as being an issue.
A little more than 20% of respondents to a Rasmussen telephone and online poll said that cannabis is "somewhat dangerous" while 12% said it is "very dangerous."
In contrast, 28% said that the drug was "not very dangerous" and 29% said that cannabis was "not at all dangerous."
Still, about 60% of the 1,000 Americans surveyed said that drug misuse in general is getting "worse" in the country while just 9% said that the issue was getting better.
Attitudes have changed across the political spectrum, helping to lead to the changing attitudes.
A new poll by the National Cannabis Roundtable found that "there's been a massive shift in opinion, and it's evidently clear that Republicans have extremely positive attitudes toward legal cannabis," said former Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican, who is now a National Cannabis Roundtable (NCR) board member.
The poll, which was conducted by top Republican and Trump pollster Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, founded that 73% of Republicans agree that legal cannabis businesses should have the same rights as other legal businesses, and 76% believe that if a state legalizes cannabis, the federal government should not fight the state.
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Cannabis Stocks Tumble in September
Cannabis stocks had a terrible September as the industry works through a lot of issues that are weighing on the market.
The Global Cannabis Stock Index fell nearly 26% during September, marking its worst month in more than three years, according to New Cannabis Ventures. The month's decline puts the index down 65.7% in 2022.
For the quarter, the index fell 23.7%.
Meanwhile, the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ) dropped about 15% during the month, though the ETF did bounce back more than 4% at last check Monday, the first day of trading in October.
Cannabis Sales in the States
Cannabis sales in Vermont launched over the weekend at the start of October, as the state looks to benefit from the boost in tax revenue that comes along with the end of prohibition.
While over 70 municipalities in the state have opted into allowing retail cannabis sales in their jurisdiction, only three stores were open at launch: Mountain Girl Cannabis in Rutland, FLORA Cannabis in Middlebury, and Ceres in Burlington.
The Vermont Cannabis Control Board estimates that the state could see $225 million in annual sales, according to a 2021 report. That would translate to about $46 million in new state taxes after the state imposed a 14% excise tax on recreational sales.
Meanwhile, cannabis sales in Nevada fell just shy of $1 billion in fiscal 2022 with total combined medical cannabis and adult-use marijuana purchases totaling $965 million.
The total was a nearly 4% decline that the states take during the prior fiscal year, but was still much higher than the $685 million Nevada took in in 2020.
Most of the sales came from Clark County, home of Las Vegas, where marijuana purchases totaled $754 million.
Nevada has a 10% excise tax on recreational cannabis sales as well as a wholesale excise tax on medical as well as adult-use markets.
