More than half of Americans think marijuana use is 'socially acceptable

(Mic) ' Asurvey of Americans' views on marijuanafound that a majority of people think the drug is "socially acceptable" ' a position that likely puts them at odds with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who said in March that amarijuanahabit isonly "slightly less awful" than heroin addiction.The poll, conducted in March by Marist in partnership with Yahoo News, surveyed 1,122 U.S. adults and found that 56% said using marijuanawas socially acceptable, compared with 42% who said it was socially unacceptable and 2% who were "unsure."The survey also revealed that 49% of respondents, nearly half, said they supported legalizing recreational marijuana. So far,Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia have all legalized the recreational use of marijuana. But the drug is still illegal at the federal level ' it's federally classified as a Schedule 1 drug, the same level as heroin.The Obama administrationmoved away from enforcing federal drug law in the states that had legalized marijuanafor recreation or medical uses, but that could change under the Trump administration. Sessions has indicated he wants to revive the war on drugs, which could mean taking a harsher stance on enforcing marijuanapolicy.However, as the new Marist/Yahoo News poll found, marijuanause is fairly widespread. Fifty-two percent of respondents said they had tried the drug at least once. And 54%of people who said they use marijuanaare parents.If Sessions moves forward on plans to crackdown on marijuanause, it's likely to be an unpopular decision ' the poll found that only 30% of respondents thought that the Trump administration should be tougher than former President Barack Obama on enforcing federal laws against the recreational use of marijuana.SEE ALSO:What I learned during my first year in the pot-growing businessJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: Meet the MQ-25A Stingray ' the US's response to threats like China's 'carrier killers
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