Chocolate Is Moral, But E-Cigs Are Not

By and large what we consider acceptable behavior and what we deem a vice changes based on time and place. About a fifth of people in the U.S. e-smoke once a day, with nearly four in ten saying the habit is morally acceptable. That holds up for the rest of the world as well with a similar proportion of people worldwide holding that same belief, according to a study conducted by Ipsos.

Liquor, casino gambling, and cannabis are the top three vices where the U.S. differs from the rest of the world, with U.S. respondents more lenient in what is considered morally acceptable. Seven in ten U.S. respondents do not see anything wrong with drinking in moderation, only around half of people worldwide hold that same belief. A similar cannabis gap exists, with nearly half of people in the U.S. not seeing anything wrong with cannabis while only 28 percent of people worldwide don’t think there is anything wrong with moderate amounts of cannabis. A nearly 23 percentage point gap exists over whether casino gambling is morally acceptable, with the U.S. being more in favor of the practice than the rest of the world.

Most people, regardless of location, don’t think that chocolate or social media are really a vice in moderate amounts.