Three out of five Americans say it should be legal for people to grow their own marijuana plants at home, according to a new poll that also shows cannabis consumers are broadly concerned about harmful pesticides in the products they consume.
The survey, which was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Royal Queen Seeds (RQS), found that 61 percent of U.S. adults back legalizing marijuana home cultivation, which the company points out is greater than 43 percent of Americans who say they have consumed cannabis—showing that support for the freedom extends beyond those who want to exercise it for themselves.
At the same time, however, 72 percent of consumers are very concerned about pesticides in their cannabis products, while 65 percent say that media coverage of tainted marijuana has made them more likely to want to grow their own instead of buying it.
The poll also found that two-thirds of cannabis consumers (67 percent) would choose cannabis grown without pesticides even if it had lower THC than products that did use agrochemicals.
“Consumers today are more informed and more intentional about what they put into their bodies,” Shai Ramsahai, president of RQS, said in a press release. “Blindly buying products just because of a high THC percentage is a fading trend. People want cannabis they can trust, and many are turning to home cultivation to take control over quality and safety.”
Other findings of the new poll include:
- More than 3 in 4 cannabis consumers (76 percent) say they prefer the “high” of marijuana over the “buzz” of alcohol.
- 39 percent of Americans (and 68 percent of cannabis users) would be more impressed if someone brought home-grown marijuana to a dinner party than a bottle of expensive wine.
- 80 percent of cannabis consumers say their use of marijuana has a broader wellness connection in their habits.
The poll involved interviews from March 17-19 with 2,017 U.S. adults aged 21 and older, among whom 851 have consumed cannabis, and has a margin of error of +/- 2.7 percentage points.
The survey is the latest in a series of polls commissioned by RQS.
Last year, the company found that half of U.S. marijuana consumers said they expected to consume more cannabis under the Trump administration than they have before.
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