Seven in ten Americans are supportive of easing restrictions on cannabis, new polling data finds, favoring making the drug legal for recreational use across the entirety of the country.
The Gallup poll released on Wednesday found that 70 percent of U.S. adults are supportive of legalizing marijuana use, while only 29 percent believe cannabis should remain illegal. One percent of respondents said they were unsure of their opinion.
While the rate of support for marijuana legalization is the highest in the poll’s history, it is consistent with the rate that has been seen recently — in the past three years of Gallup asking the question, no fewer than 68 percent of respondents said that marijuana use should be legalized across the country. The last time that support for legalization polled below 60 percent was in 2015, and the last time that it polled below 50 percent was more than a decade ago.
Support for the legalization of recreational cannabis is likely strong due to the fact that most Americans readily admit that they’ve tried the drug. In a Gallup poll published in August, for instance, 50 percent said they’ve tried marijuana, consistent with what other polls have found on the same question.
The more recent Gallup polling also found that there is broad support across ideological lines for legalization. While 87 percent of Democrats favor legalization and 70 percent of independents do, most Republicans, who have traditionally been more likely to oppose legalization efforts, also support making recreational marijuana legal in the U.S., with 55 percent saying they’re in favor of the idea.
The poll also found that nearly 8 in 10 people (79 percent) ages 18-34 backed legalizing recreational cannabis use in the U.S.
“The high level of support among younger adults [to legalize recreational marijuana] suggests national backing will only expand in the years ahead, likely resulting in more states, and perhaps the federal government, moving to legalize it,” Lydia Saad, director of U.S. Social Research for Gallup, said in the report.
The poll was published the day after voters in Ohio passed a binding referendum in the state to legalize marijuana for recreational use. That measure passed by a wide margin, with 57 percent supporting the new rules and just 43 percent opposed. The Buckeye State becomes the 24th state in the country (in addition to Washington D.C.) that allows the recreational use of cannabis within their jurisdictions, despite a federal ban on marijuana that remains in place.
Under the new provisions that passed, starting next month residents in Ohio over the age of 21 can buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis, and can grow plants at home. The new provision, however, will not lead to the expungement of past marijuana convictions.
The criminalization of marijuana has played a significant role in the mass incarceration of Americans, particularly people of color. Tens of thousands of individuals are imprisoned in the U.S. because of marijuana offenses. Although usage rates between white and Black users of marijuana are similar, a Black person who uses cannabis is 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for using the drug than a white person is.
“Marijuana is no longer a controversial issue,” said Tom Haren of the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol, speaking to Marijuana Moment about the successful referendum outcome. “Ohioans demonstrated this by passing State Issue 2 in a landslide. Ohioans are being extremely clear on the future they want for our state: adult-use marijuana legal and regulated.”
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.