Germany/USA: Three quarters of citizens in the USA and Germany support the medical use of cannabis
According to a poll conducted by Emnid Institute there is a broad support in Germany when it comes to the medical use of cannabis. Of 1,001 interviewees asked by phone 76 per cent said that the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes should be allowed while only 18 per cent disagreed and 6 per cent had no opinion on this issue. The poll consisting of two questions was ordered by the German Association for Cannabis as Medicine (ACM). According to the answers to the second question 65 per cent of Germans think that a treatment with the cannabis compound dronabinol (THC) should be paid by the health insurances, which currently is usually not the case.
Support for the medical use of cannabis was highest among highly educated people, men, people between 50 and 60 years of age, and partisans of the small political parties, Greens (90 per cent), Liberals (85 per cent) and the Left (85 per cent). More than three quarters of the large parties Social Democrats (83 per cent) and Christian Democrats (77 per cent) also supported the medical use of cannabis. The lowest support was observed among non-voters (72 per cent). These results are in agreement with a recent Rasmussen poll in the USA showing that 75 per cent of Americans support the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes if prescribed by a physician.