Nation: CHANGING MORALITY: THE TWO AMERICAS A TIME-Louis Harris Poll

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If the U.S. has moved toward a new permissiveness in sex, however, no such tolerance has developed toward the use of drugs. Only those under 30 indicate any desire to legalize marijuana; otherwise, the denunciation of pot is overwhelming. In fact, 90% associate drug use with "moral corruption and decay"; 85% believe that smoking marijuana leads to use of stronger drugs; 74% believe it morally wrong; and 67% think it worse than drinking liquor.

Again, Harris' interviewers framed hypothetical situations. For example: "If you were a parent and had a son who came home from the Army and smoked marijuana, would you report him to the police or not?" By 42% to 40%, the answer was yes. On the other hand, in many categories there were big majorities against turning in the son: suburban residents, the under-30s, the college-educated, professional people, those earning over $10,000, westerners and Jews. Curiously, blacks would turn the son over to the police by a bigger margin than whites—42% to 38%, v. 42% to 41%, Those who would not turn in the son said that they would send him to a doctor or psychiatrist, or help him break the habit themselves.

Another question was posed: "What would you do if a son came home from the Army, bringing a supply of marijuana that he sold to his friends for $5,000 profit?" This hypothetical situation evoked a much sterner response: 73% would report him to the police, and only 14% would not. The answer of Leo Adams, a retired electrician of Rittman, Ohio, was representative: "If he smoked it himself, he's only hurting himself. This way he might give the habit to a lot of others—maybe even another son, if I had two."

Taking these mutations of American morality into consideration, Harris concludes that the TIME-Harris poll exposes a huge gulf between the old verities and life as it is actually lived by the American people today. Indeed, from the facts themselves, it is fair to conclude that the poll has captured a detailed portrait of American moral standards in a period of drastic change. That portrait is neither ugly nor entirely flattering, but it does show in bold relief the Janus-like face of a nation that is anxiously establishing new standards of morality while remaining reluctant to abandon completely the values of its forebears.