Politics
Bipartisan Majority Of American Voters Support Marijuana Legalization, New Poll Finds After Trump Orders Rescheduling
A bipartisan majority of American voters across nearly all major demographics—age, race, gender and political affiliation—support legalizing marijuana, according to a new poll released just days after President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing agencies to enact the more incremental reform of cannabis rescheduling.
The survey, conducted by JL Partners and commissioned by The Daily Mail, showed that 53 percent of registered U.S. voters back legalization. That includes 62 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of Republicans.
The poll asked simply: “Would you support or oppose legalizing marijuana?”
While there was majority support among all age demographics, those 30-49 years old were the more supportive at 61 percent. But even 50 percent of those 65 and older, historically the most conservative age category, back the policy change.
Fifty-eight percent of men favor legalization, while 50 percent of women support the reform.
The survey involved interviews with 1,000 registered voters from December 20-21. That means it was conducted beginning just two days after Trump directed the attorney general to expeditiously complete the process of moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
The move wouldn’t federally legalize cannabis, however, and administration officials stressed at the signing ceremony for the rescheduling order that legalization was not their intent.
What rescheduling would do, however, is symbolically recognize the medical value of marijuana, allow cannabis businesses to take federal tax deductions and loosen certain research barriers associated with Schedule I drugs.
The latest poll from the Daily Mail is generally consistent with the growing bipartisanship around marijuana legalization, but another recent survey from YouGov showed Republicans evenly divided on the issue, with 41 percent in favor and 41 percent against the broader reform.
However, bipartisan majorities of Americans said in that survey that they support federally rescheduling marijuana.
Separately, a majority of respondents in the YouGov poll (76 percent) also said marijuana either “definitely” (43 percent) or “probably” (33 percent) has “legitimate medical uses.” On that question, there was also bipartisan agreement. Democrats were most likely to say cannabis has medical value (84 percent), followed by independents (74 percent) and Republicans (73 percent).
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The rescheduling process initiated by the Biden administration, which Trump has now asked to be finalized, is still pending. Congressional researchers also recently released a report noting that there’s a chance the Justice Department could opt to start the process all over again, or even not complete it at all. But as prior polling has indicated, it’s a politically popular reform across the aisle.
The president said this month that cannabis can “make people feel much better” and serve as a “substitute for addictive and potentially lethal opioid painkillers.” He clarified, however, that he personally has no interest in using marijuana himself.
Trump also dismissed the concerns of GOP lawmakers who oppose rescheduling, pointing out that an overwhelming majority of Americans support the reform and that cannabis can help people—including his personal friends—who are suffering from serious health issues.
Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
