U.S. Support for Legal Marijuana Steady in Past Year

Americans’ support for legalizing marijuana has held steady at 66% over the past year, after rising 30 percentage points between 2005 and 2018.

The latest results are based on Gallup’s annual Crime survey, conducted Oct. 1-13. Not only have 66% favored legalizing marijuana in the 2018 and 2019 Crime polls, but the same level of support was found in an intervening Gallup survey, conducted in May.

Gallup first asked about making marijuana use legal in 1969, when just 12% of Americans favored the proposal. Nearly a decade later, a 1977 survey found support had increased to 28%, but it held at about that level through 1995, finally surpassing 30% in Gallup’s next measurement, in 2000. Since then, the percentage of Americans advocating legal marijuana usage has more than doubled, with support increasing significantly among all major subgroups.

As public opinion has become increasingly pro-marijuana, so has state policy. As of June, 11 states plus the District of Columbia have legalized recreational use of marijuana. Twenty-two other states allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Politics, Age, Race and Religiosity Key Factors in Marijuana Views

Majorities of most key subgroups now favor making marijuana legal, according to an analysis of the opinions of more than 3,500 adults asked the question in the three 2018-2019 Gallup surveys. [Read more at Gallup]