About two in three American voters says legalizing marijuana nationwide would be a “good” idea, according to a new poll.
As advocates and stakeholders await a decision from President Donald Trump on a more modest rescheduling proposal, the survey from Emerson College found that 65 percent of registered voters are in favor of going further by ending prohibition altogether. Just 35 percent said legalization is a “bad” idea.
The 65 percent support figure marks a five percentage point increase compared to the last time Emerson College inquired about the issue last October.
Democrats were the most likely to back legalization, at 79 percent. That was followed by independents (66 percent) and Republicans (49 percent).
Majority support for reform extended across all age demographics, except those 70 and older, who are narrowly divided on legalization with 52 percent against and 48 percent in favor.
“Support is highest among voters under 30 (71 percent) and in their 40s (74 percent),” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a press release.
“If Trump was to make a decision and legalize it, boy, that could really turn things around on his favorability, which has been pretty stagnant for the last few months,” Kimball said in an interview about the survey.
The survey involved interviews with 1,000 registered voters from August 25-26, with a +/-3 percentage point margin of error.
This is the latest in a series of polls investigating public opinion on cannabis reform.
For example, recently released polling data from the Pew Research Center found that an overwhelming majority of Americans—nearly nine in 10—support legalizing marijuana in some form.
Another recent survey from the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR), which was conducted by the firm Forbes Tate Partners, showed that seven in 10 American voters want to see the end of federal marijuana prohibition—and nearly half say they’d view the Trump administration more favorably if it took action on the issue.
A poll released in June that Marijuana Moment partnered on with the cannabis telehealth platform NuggMD showed that a majority of marijuana consumers disapprove of the Trump administration’s actions on cannabis policy to date, but there’s also a significant willingness among users to shift their position if the federal government opts to reschedule or legalize marijuana.
Earlier this year, meanwhile, a firm associated with Trump—Fabrizio, Lee & Associates—also polled Americans on a series of broader marijuana policy issues. Notably, it found that a majority of Republicans back cannabis rescheduling—and, notably, they’re even more supportive of allowing states to legalize marijuana without federal interference compared to the average voter.
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In the background of this polling, the Trump administration is considering a proposal to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
The president said last month that he’d be making a decision within weeks. And while he endorsed the policy change on the campaign trail ahead of his second term, he was less clear in his latest comments about where he’d ultimately come down on the issue.
At the same time, congressional Democrats last week filed a bill to federally legalize cannabis by descheduling it.
This is the fourth session in a row that Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) has put forward the proposal. It passed the House twice under Democratic control while the sponsor served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, but it did not advance last session with Republicans in the majority.
Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.
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