Poll: Twice as many Americans say sugar is more harmful than marijuana
David McNew/Getty Images
At the end of a wide-ranging new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, respondents were asked to pick the most harmful of four substances. Almost half (48 percent) picked tobacco, 24 percent named alcohol, and then things got weird: 15 percent listed sugar as the most harmful thing for our body, with marijuana picking up the tail end at 8 percent. Yes, twice as many Americans said sugar is more detrimental to your health than pot.
Weed also won the race for the attention of the Millennials. An impressive 57 percent of respondents age 18 to 35 told the pollsters that they have "seen, read, or heard a lot" about the efforts to legalize marijuana, while only 44 percent said the same of ObamaCare, 39 percent about Russia's invasion of Crimea, and 34 percent the string of court cases in favor of same-sex marriage. This is generally good news for those pushing to legalize recreational pot, and bad news for Big Tobacco and, to a lesser extent, craft brewers.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published