Trends in public attitudes to permitting cannabis for recreational use: analysis of Irish survey data since 2002

There has been considerable debate around the liberalization of cannabis laws in many countries. Given recent changes in cannabis policy, and the current discussion regarding cannabis legalization in Ireland, the aim of this study was to examine changes in attitudes over time towards permitting recreational cannabis use.

We analyzed data from Ireland's 2002/03 (n = 4918); 2006/07 (n = 4967); 2010/11 (n = 5119); 2014/15 (n = 5937); 2019/20 (n = 3982) National Drug Prevalence Surveys. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to examine factors associated with being in favour of the use of cannabis for recreational purposes.

The results indicate that there is minority support for permitting recreational cannabis use, which ranged from 19.1% in 2006/07 to 29.9% in 2019/20. In multivariable analysis being male and living in Dublin were significant predictors of agreeing with recreational cannabis use, as were being either a recent or past cannabis user, knowing cannabis users, perceiving cannabis use as not being a great risk, and not disapproving of cannabis use. Subjects aged less than 35 years and those who had completed primary education only were significantly less likely to agree with permitting recreational cannabis use.

The results from this study indicate that there is minority support for allowing recreational cannabis use. Support was highest among recent cannabis users, consistent with previous studies. The relative lack of support for recreational cannabis use among younger respondents was surprising and warrants further research.