Poll: Americans Rate a Legal Drug as Most Harmful to Society

A new poll found that Americans find a completely legalized drug to be the most harmful in the United States. This drug is the sole cause of an average of 90,000 deaths per year. Alcohol, the poll revealed, was listed by 76 percent of Americans as the most harmful substance in their local communities.

Alcohol is highly addictive and is known to cause behavioral issues, mood swings, and can be lethal. The Washington Post reports that marijuana was at the bottom of the list in a recent poll conducted AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in regards to the attitudes of Americans toward substance abuse.

A good portion of Americans classify alcohol as a drug because it is a psychoactive, mood-altering substance that affects a person’s ability to think and function properly. Researchers have been attempting to get lawmakers to refocus public health resources toward alcohol and tobacco rather than illicit drugs, such as marijuana.

Americans recognize alcohol as being more problematic to their communities than marijuana and other drugs like painkillers. Alcohol is used by more Americans than all other drugs, and negatively affects the lives of those exposed to it.

Lawmakers as well as authoritative agencies such as the DEA and ATF continue to disagree in regards to drug policies and agency reports about drug issues.