April 12, 2020
Federal states in which the majority of respondents support the medical use of cannabis have a majority in the Bundesrat. 47.8 percent of women are in favor of legalizing cannabis for medical purposes, 44.5 percent of men are in favor of the complete legalization of cannabis with regulation and taxation. A majority of parents are in favor of allowing the medical use of cannabis.
“We at the Sanity Group value open, social debate and are constantly striving to find and implement ways to improve social well-being. Thanks to its proven positive effects in many cases, we believe that cannabis has a strong potential, both medically for society and, as a consequence, for the improvement of health for the national economy. According to the European Cannabis Report (4th edition), the European cannabis industry has a potential total market value of 123 billion euros by 2028. That is why we wanted to broaden the discussion by providing reliable data and insights into the overall social perception in Germany,” says Finn Hänsel, Managing Director of the Sanity Group GmbH.
The majority of respondents in all German states support the legalization of cannabis to a certain extent. In this context, federal states in which the majority of participants support the medical use of cannabis have a total share of more than half of the seats in the Federal Council, the distribution of which depends on the population.
Among the male and female respondents, the results show that the majority at least advocates the medical legalization of cannabis. 35.3 percent of men support the current legal status of cannabis on medical prescription, with the larger group and almost half of the male voters (44.5 percent) support the complete legalization of cannabis with regulation and taxation.
While the majority of women are generally against the criminalization of cannabis, their results show the opposite of male voters in terms of the extent of legality: 47.8 percent of the respondents support the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes, while 32 percent of women support the full legalization of cannabis.
Parents are generally positive about cannabis: 38 percent of this population group supports the legalization and taxation of cannabis, which is 3.5 percent more than those who support cannabis as medicine (34.5 percent).
Childless people speak out in favor of cannabis with a proportion of 38.2 percent favors legalization of cannabis where regulation and taxation exist, while medically prescribed cannabis is preferred with 44.1 percent.
This survey was conducted through Civey, an external opinion polling platform with machine learning technology. For this purpose, an online survey network of more than 25,000 websites (URLs) was used by Civey Riversampling to obtain the opinion of users around the clock. Civey relies on nonprobability samples and has developed a procedure to compensate for possible distortions. The survey responses were analyzed to verify that the user is a real person, provides sufficient information and measures the possibility that his or her answer is truthful.
A quoted sample of approximately 5,000 respondents is drawn based on variables such as age, gender, voting intention for the Bundestag election, time of voting, and place of voting to ensure that a minimum number of respondents from each population group were considered. Thus the survey is considered representative. Finally, the votes in the sample are re-weighted according to other socio-demographic aspects such as age, gender, marital status, population density, purchasing power and party preference to correct any remaining distortions. Finally, the weighting of the data is based on the official population data, which are obtained from the Federal Statistical Office or the Federal Election Commissioner.
About Sanity Group
The Sanity Group and its subsidiaries develop innovative cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals as well as wellness and cosmetic products and make them easily accessible throughout Europe. To exploit the full potential of their health benefits, the Sanity Group invests in basic research on the cannabis plant and its active ingredients, as well as in specific areas of application. Equipped with this knowledge, the Sanity Group’s team of experts continuously educates healthcare professionals, patients, and consumers and supports them in leading a healthier life.