Three days before the Trump administration moved medical marijuana to Schedule III, a new YouGov poll found that 59% of Americans already supported legalizing marijuana use, and 84% supported legalizing it for medical purposes. The public has been ahead of federal policy for a long time. The data makes clear how far Washington still has to go.
The poll, conducted April 14-16 among 1,105 U.S. adult citizens, found majority support for marijuana legalization across party lines, age groups and levels of personal experience with the plant. It was released April 20 — three days before Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed the order rescheduling medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.
The numbers
Overall, 59% of Americans support legalizing marijuana use, compared to 28% who oppose it and 13% who are unsure. Support for medical marijuana specifically is overwhelming — 84% in favor, with only 9% opposed. Recreational legalization draws majority support at 55%, though with a wider political gap.
59%
support legalizing marijuana overall
84%
support legalizing medical marijuana
55%
support legalizing recreational marijuana
28%
oppose legalization overall
The partisan breakdown on overall legalization is notable: 75% of Democrats support it, but so do 54% of Independents and 50% of Republicans. On medical marijuana specifically, the numbers converge even further — 91% of Democrats, 81% of Independents and 81% of Republicans all support it. That is about as close to consensus as American politics gets.
Support for medical marijuana legalization by party
Democrats
91%
Independents
81%
Republicans
81%
The age story nobody expected
The conventional assumption is that younger Americans drive marijuana support. The data says otherwise. Americans between 45 and 64 — roughly Gen X — show the highest overall support at 63%, outpacing adults under 30 (58%), those between 30 and 44 (55%) and adults 65 and older (57%).
YouGov’s analysis points to familiarity as the likely driver. Half of Americans in the 45-64 age group know a current recreational marijuana user — the highest of any age group — and 24% have personally used …
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Author: Javier Hasse / High Times
