Saying no to weed: Public opinion towards cannabis legalisation in Uruguay

• Published in: Drugs : education, prevention & policy Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 67 - 76
• Main Authors: Cruz, José Miguel, Boidi, Maria Fernanda, Queirolo, Rosario
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 02.01.2018
• Subjects: Cannabis; drug policy; marijuana legalisation; public opinion; Uruguay
• ISSN: 0968-7637; 1465-3370
• DOI: 10.1080/09687637.2016.1237475

Aims: This research aimed to explore people's beliefs associated with opposition to cannabis legalisation in Uruguay. In 2014, Uruguay passed a national law regulating the production, sale and consumption of recreational marijuana. However, two-thirds of the Uruguayan public expressed disagreement towards the government's new policy. Methods: This study used logistic regressions on data from a national probabilistic sample of 1512 adults in Uruguay. Opinions and beliefs towards cannabis legalisation were collected in face-to-face interviews, using a battery of questions included in Vanderbilt University's AmericasBarometer national survey in 2014. Findings: Results showed that opposition to legalisation in Uruguay is independently associated with the beliefs that the new cannabis law will worsen the public security conditions in the country, that it will serve as a gateway to the use of harder drugs, and that the law will ultimately be ineffective to curb illegal trafficking. They also showed the importance of political ideology. Conclusions: Public views towards cannabis liberalisation are more intertwined with concerns about public security and apprehension that it will open the gate to heavier drugs than with concerns about individual health and demographic factors. The paper underscores the importance of belief systems and political socialisation over personal behaviour of use.