National support for marijuana legalization is at an all-time high, with 69 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana and ending the war on drugs, according to a new poll.
For the first time this includes strong majority support from Republicans (62 percent). There is majority support from every demographic included in the survey. This also includes those 65 and older (51 percent).
The survey comes from Quinnipiac University. They are responsible for consistently surveying Americans’ stance on the issue since 2012. This is the highest level of support to date.
Listen to the Polls
Multiple legislatures are participating with either approving or considering proposals to legalize marijuana in their respective states. Top congressional lawmakers are also in the process of introducing bills to legalize marijuana federally.
This new number is 18 percentage points higher than the results from nine years ago. A breakout session found that 70 percent of registered voters support legalization. This is compared to only 24 percent that say they oppose it.
Nearly two in three people who identify as Republican support enacting the policy change. Democrats were the most likely to favor legalization, with 78 percent in favor.
The survey involved interviews with 1,237 American adults from April 8-12. The margin of error is +/- 2.8 percentage points.
Back in 2019, the poll found that only 60 percent of respondents wanted to end probation. It also found that 63 percent were in favor of expunging records for people with prior cannabis convictions. There is also close to universal support for medical cannabis legalization (93 percent).
New Year, New Policies
In 2021 there have been multiple states that have legalized medical cannabis or recreational marijuana (or both). State and federal lawmakers seem to be recognizing the bipartisan shift in public opinion and continue to craft legislation to reflect the people’s wishes.
President Biden still opposes adult-use legalization. Despite the overwhelming amount of Americans that support legalizing marijuana. White House Secretary Jen Psaki said last month that the president’s position on the issue “has not changed,” meaning he opposes the reform. But the president has not clearly said that he would sign or veto a bill to enact the policy change if it arrived on his desk.
The president mostly backs modestly rescheduling the cannabis plant, decriminalizing possession, legalizing medical cannabis, expunging past cannabis records, and letting the states set their own policies.
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