Support For Marijuana Legalization Increased Again In 2019, Pew Poll Finds

Support for legalizing marijuana grew again this year, with just over two-thirds of Americans in favor of the policy, according to a Pew Research Center poll that was released on Thursday.

The survey, which involved phone interviews with about 9,900 adults from September 3-15, found that 67 percent of respondents think cannabis should be legal. That’s five percentage points higher than Pew’s last poll on the issue in 2018, and it closely reflects the percent support for legalization that Gallup reported (66 percent) in a survey released last month.

Two-thirds of Americans say the use of marijuana should be legal, reflecting a steady increase over the past decade https://t.co/QoMXjiaUYk pic.twitter.com/V4vLqY3r9f

— Pew Research Fact Tank (@FactTank) November 14, 2019

According to the results of a new question Pew asked for the first time that gave respondents multiple policy options to choose from, 91 percent of Americans said that marijuana should be legal for either medical or recreational purposes: Fifty nine percent said both forms should be legal and 32 percent said it should only be legal for medical use.

Just 8 percent want cannabis to remain illegal across the board.

91% of U.S. adults say marijuana should be legal either for medical and recreational use (59%) or that it should be legal just for medical use (32%). Fewer than one-in-ten (8%) prefer to keep marijuana illegal in all circumstances https://t.co/QoMXjiaUYk pic.twitter.com/E4qmKtkjdX

— Pew Research Fact Tank (@FactTank) November 14, 2019

That’s a notable finding, as some prohibitionists have argued that polls showing growing support for broad legalization are misleading because people would be less inclined to voice support for outright legalization if given more options. In fact, a sizable majority remains in favor of full legalization, according to Pew.

The poll also affirms that marijuana reform is an increasingly bipartisan issue, with a majority of Republicans and those who lean toward the GOP (55 percent) saying cannabis should be legal, compared to 78 percent of Democrats and those who lean toward the party.

Last year, the survey showed that only 45 percent of Republicans favored legalization, versus 69 percent of Democrats. Unlike the prior Pew poll, however, this latest version combines responses from party members and individuals who said they lean toward one party or the other. The previous survey distinguished those two groups and reported support separately.

There are wide partisan and generational differences in views of marijuana legalization. https://t.co/pxkcvB2nPo pic.twitter.com/AhpjMfziaN

— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) November 14, 2019

“The percentage of the public who favors adult-use marijuana legalization has skyrocketed over the past three decades and shows no signs of abating,” NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri said. “As more and more states have moved forward with their own marijuana liberalization policies in recent years, public support has only grown stronger. At a time when the political divide is larger than ever, the issue of marijuana legalization is one of the few policy issues upon which most Americans agree.”

There is majority support in the new survey for ending cannabis prohibition among both men and women, and across racial demographics.

Expect the upward trend in support to continue. The only age group where there isn’t majority support for legalizing marijuana is the Silent Generation (35 percent). Boomers and Generation X support the policy, 63 percent and 65 percent, respectively. But an overwhelming majority of Millennials (76 percent) back legalization.

Say marijuana use should be legal…

▪️ Millennials (1981-1997) 76%
▪️ Generation X (1965-1980 65%
▪️ Boomers (1946-1964) 63%
▪️ Silent generation (1928-1945) 35%https://t.co/OxSKfN4To3 pic.twitter.com/GSI5X4QF9O

— Pew Research Fact Tank (@FactTank) November 14, 2019

The partisan gap for that generation is significantly narrower than the overall divide, with 71 percent of Millennial Republicans and 78 percent of Millennial Democrats saying cannabis should be legal.

Generational divides within parties on support for legalizing marijuana use…

Democrats
▪️ Millennials 78%
▪️ Gen X 76%
▪️ Boomers 81%
▪️ Silent Generation 53%

Republicans
▪️ Millennials 71%
▪️ Gen X 55%
▪️ Boomers 49%
▪️ Silent Generation 21%https://t.co/OxSKfN4To3

— Pew Research Fact Tank (@FactTank) November 14, 2019

78% of Democrats and their leaners say marijuana use should be legal. Republicans and their leaners are less supportive, with 55% in favor of legalization and 44% opposed. https://t.co/QoMXjiaUYk pic.twitter.com/rLdsysrc9A

— Pew Research Fact Tank (@FactTank) November 14, 2019

“Two-thirds of Americans say the use of marijuana should be legal, reflecting a steady increase over the past decade,” Pew said. “The share of U.S. adults who oppose legalization has fallen from 52 percent in 2010 to 32 percent today.”

The growth in public support for legal marijuana has come as a growing number of jurisdictions have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational purposes. Eleven states and the District of Columbia have legalized the drug for recreational purposes. https://t.co/QoMXjiaUYk pic.twitter.com/flcRmwN478

— Pew Research Fact Tank (@FactTank) November 14, 2019

“The growth in public support for legal marijuana has come as a growing number of jurisdictions have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational purposes,” the report states.

As Pew noted, numerous Democratic presidential candidates are in favor of cannabis legalization—with the notable exception of former Vice President Joe Biden—and the survey results suggest it’s a valuable policy position to have both in primaries and general elections.

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This story was updated to include comment from NORML.

Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.