Support For Marijuana Legalization Remains At Record High, Says New Poll

According to the latest Gallup poll, 68% of Americans support legalizing marijuana. This figure has remained the same the last two years.

Included in this group are those with no religious preference (89%); self-identified liberals (84%); Democrats (81%); young adults (79%); and those who seldom or never attend religious services (78%).

The groups whose support is at least 10 points below the national average, include those who attend church weekly (46%), conservatives (49%), Republicans (51%), older adults (53%) and Hispanic adults (56%).

Interestingly, political ideology also factors into the equation as conservatives are less likely than moderates or liberals to support making marijuana legal. However, the majority of younger conservatives (those under age 50) favor legalization, compared with 32% of older conservatives.

Conversely, liberals, regardless of age, show a high support for legalization, registering at 81% or higher. For political moderates, age differences are more modest, with 20 points separating the oldest (62%) from the youngest (82%) moderates.

In 1969, when Gallup first began polling Americans about marijuana legalization, only 12% expressed their support. In 1996, when California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana, 25% of those polled said that marijuana should be legal for those ages 21 and older. Since 2012, when Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize adult-use cannabis, public support for legalization has risen nationally by some 20 percentage points. Legalization has enjoyed majority support among Americans since 2013.

This poll was conducted from October 3 to 20, 2022.