Attitudes towards cannabis legalization in Iceland

The debate on whether or not cannabis should be legalized has been growing in recent years. The legality of cannabis varies from country to country. Possession of cannabis have been decriminalized or legalized in numerous countries. The main aim of the present study was to examine both what characterizes those who are in favor of cannabis legalization and the potential effect on the community and cannabis consumption if cannabis would be legalized. The participants were 1198 obtained from an online survey on Facebook. The results provided support for the primary hypothesis of the study that participants with characterizes as being male, single, 30 years old and younger, with less education or had consumed cannabis ten times or more over their lifetime had in general a more positive attitude towards cannabis legalization. The results also showed that participants who had consumed cannabis in the last 12 months reported significantly greater effect on their cannabis consumption if cannabis would be legalized. Furthermore, participant’s belief that cannabis legalization in Iceland has a positive effect on the community was higher if they were in favor of cannabis legalization. The policy for cannabis legalization is constantly evolving and it is important to realize whether more permissive policies lead to increased prevalence of cannabis use and harmful consequence. Keywords: cannabis legalization, cannabis use, attitudes, community