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

Figures & data

Table 1. Spearman correlations for opposition to marijuana legalisation, cannabis consumption and beliefs about marijuana legalisation in Uruguay.

	Has consumed cannabis	Cannabis is harmful to health	Cannabis is gateway to other drugs	Legalisation will be ineffective	Cannabis consumers are a threat	Public security will worsen with the law
Opposition to legalisation	−0.346**	0.426**	0.556**	0.349**	0.498**	0.616**
Has consumed cannabis	1.00	−0.315**	−0.343**	−0.108*	−0.403**	−0.215**
Cannabis is harmful to health		1.00	0.556**	0.215**	0.478**	0.315**
Cannabis is gateway to other drugs			1.00	0.364**	0.526**	0.420**
Legalisation will be ineffective				1.00	0.258**	0.306**
Cannabis consumers are a threat					1.00	0.395**

*p < 0.05;

** p < 0.01.

Table 2. Factors associated with opposition to cannabis legalisation in Uruguay.

	Model 1		Model 2		Model 3
Variables	Linearised coefficients (SE)	t-statistic	Linearised coefficients (SE)	t-statistic	Linearised coefficients (SE)	t-statistic
Demographics
Female	0.166 (0.12)	1.41	0.051 (0.13)	0.37	0.202 (0.17)	1.16
Age 26–40	0.342 (0.19)	0.18	−0.103 (0.19)	−0.54	0.213 (0.24)	0.87
Age 41–55	0.190 (0.19)	0.99	−0.222 (0.19)	−1.17	0.248 (0.23)	1.05
Age 56 and older	0.360 (0.19)	1.84	−0.345 (0.19)	−1.79	0.043 (0.28)	0.15
Secondary education	−0.853** (0.15)	−5.75	−0.725** (0.15)	−4.78	−0.689* (0.24)	−2.87
Higher education	−1.380** (0.15)	−9.25	−1.211** (0.15)	−7.76	−0.786* (0.29)	−2.66
Catholic	0.523** (0.13)	3.90	0.310* (0.12)	2.52	0.146 (0.19)	0.74
Evangelical	0.639* (0.22)	2.84	0.301 (0.23)	1.32	−0.216 (0.36)	−0.61
Atheist	−0.353* (0.14)	−2.50	−0.404* (0.15)	−2.61	−0.559* (0.21)	−2.55
Personal context
Has children			0.013 (0.15)	0.09	−0.112 (0.23)	−0.49
Has used marijuana			−1.376** (0.16)	−8.48	−0.770* (0.25)	−3.10
Relatives/friends consume marijuana			−0.510** (0.13)	−3.78	−0.206 (0.19)	−1.10
Beliefs
Left-of-centre ideology					−0.005* (0.002)	−2.51
Right-of-centre ideology					0.006* (0.002)	2.59
Cannabis harmful to health					0.306 (0.20)	1.56
Cannabis as gateway to other drugs					1.104** (0.18)	6.20
Law will be ineffective to curb illegal sale					0.686** (0.17)	4.08
Cannabis consumers are threat to society					0.402* (0.16)	2.44
Security will worsen with legalisation					2.456** (0.20)	11.99
Constant	0.749 (0.22)	3.39	1.758** (0.25)	7.10	−1.154* (0.48)	−2.41
N	1.489		1.465		1.213
F-adjusted test (Prob > F)	0.972 (0.474)		0.897 (0.560)		0.627 (0.769)

*p < 0.05;

** p < 0.001.

Table A1. Variables and items in the AmericasBarometer 2014 Survey.

Personal variables	Items in AmericasBarometer 2014	Values
Opposition to cannabis legalisation	For weeks now, the marijuana market is decriminalised and regulated by the government. Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree or strongly disagree with this measure?	Recoded to:Agree or strongly agree = 0Disagree or strongly disagree = 1
Religious denominations (different dummies)	What is your religion, if any? [If the respondent says that he/she has no religion, probe to see if he/she should be located in option no religion or option atheist]	No religion = 0Catholic = 1Evangelical = 1Atheist = 1
Respondent has children	Do you have children? How many?	No = 0Yes = 1
Have tried marijuana?	Some people use or have at least experimented with marijuana. Have you ever tried marijuana? (1) No, never; (2) Yes, one time; (3) Yes, two or more times	No = 0Yes = 1
Family or friends consume marijuana	Do you have friends or relatives who consume marijuana?	No = 0Yes = 1
Political ideology: Dummy for Left (1–4) Dummy for Right (7–10)	On this card there is a 1–10 scale that goes from left to right. One means left and 10 means right. Nowadays, when we speak of political leanings, we talk of those on the left and those on the right. In other words, some people sympathise more with the left and others with the right. According to the meaning that the terms “left” and “right” have for you, and thinking of your own political leanings, where would you place yourself on this scale?	Left = 1No left = 0Right = 1No right = 0
Cannabis is harmful to health	Now I 'm going to read some statements that reflect different views on marijuana, and I will ask you to tell me to what extent you agree or disagree with these statements. We will use again the 1–7 scale, where 1 means “strongly disagree” and 7 “strongly agree”. You may also indicate any intermediate score. Marijuana is harmful to health. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?	Agree = 1Else = 0
Marijuana as gateway	Marijuana is the gateway to other drugs such as cocaine, LSD or pasta base	Agree = 1Else = 0
Law will be ineffective to curb illegal sale	Although regulated, people will continue to buy illegal marijuana	Agree = 1Else = 0
Cannabis consumers are threat to society	People who use marijuana are a threat to society	Agree = 1Else = 0
Security will worsen with legalisation	In terms of public security, as a result of this law, will the country be better, the same or worse than now?	Country will be worse = 1Else = 0

Table A2. Descriptive summary of the variables.

Variables	% (Counts)
Female	52.5 (795)
Age groups
16–25	15.5 (234)
26–40	25.9 (392)
56–65	16.1 (244)
66+	17.2 (250)
Education
Primary	29.5 (439)
Secondary	49.1 (742)
Higher	21.4 (323)
Religious affiliation
No religious affiliation	27.9 (422)
Catholic	35.3 (534)
Evangelical	9.4 (142)
Atheist	14.9 (225)
Respondent has children	75.7 (1.144)
Respondent has consumed cannabis	22.1 (334)
Relatives/friends have consumed cannabis	48.6 (724)
Left-of-centre ideology	41.4 (577)
Right-of-centre ideology	25.6 (357)
Agreed Cannabis harmful to health	68.3 (994)
Agreed Cannabis is gateway to other drugs	70.7 (1.030)
Agreed Law will be ineffective to curb illegal sale	69.0 (1.000)
Agreed Cannabis consumers are threat to society	43.4 (635)
Believe Security will worsen with legalisation	44.0 (640)