Politics
Most Marijuana Consumers Expect Federal Legalization Will Happen Before 2028 Presidential Election, Poll Shows
A new poll shows that a slim majority of marijuana consumers anticipate that cannabis will be federally legalized before the next presidential election in 2028.
Even amid the stalled-out marijuana rescheduling process, the survey from the medical cannabis telehealth platform NuggMD showed some optimism about the possibility that a complete end to prohibition could come under the Trump administration.
Respondents were asked: “Do you expect cannabis to be federally legalized during the next three years?”
About 54 percent of marijuana consumers said they did hold that expectation, compared to 46 percent who said they didn’t see legalization happening on that timeline.
“The 50 million Americans who choose to use cannabis are the main stakeholders in its legality, so it is noteworthy to see that a majority of them expect federal legalization to happen before the 2028 election is set to occur,” Andrew Graham, head of communications at NuggMD, told Marijuana Moment.
Via NuggMD.
“I don’t necessarily share that optimism, but it’s worth reiterating that federal legalization is overwhelmingly popular with most every voting demographic,” he said. “The party that’s currently in power needs to cut ties with its prohibitionist wing and focus on doing what’s obvious and popular. Federal legalization, and the creation of a fair, pro-business regulatory environment, is long overdue.”
The survey, which involved interviews with 390 cannabis users who live in state-legal markets from July 31 to August 2—with a +/- 4.96 percentage point margin of error—is one of the latest temperature checks on public sentiment toward cannabis policy as reform efforts remain in flux at the federal level.
For example, polling data released by the Pew Research Center last month showed an overwhelming majority of Americans—nearly nine in 10—support legalizing marijuana in some form.
Another recent survey from the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR), which was conducted by the firm Forbes Tate Partners, found that seven in 10 American voters want to see the end of federal marijuana prohibition—and nearly half say they’d view the Trump administration more favorably if it took action on the issue.
A poll released in June that Marijuana Moment partnered on with NuggMD showed that a majority of marijuana consumers disapprove of the Trump administration’s actions on cannabis policy to date, but there’s also a significant willingness among users to shift their position if the federal government opts to reschedule or legalize marijuana.
Earlier this year, meanwhile, a firm associated with President Donald Trump—Fabrizio, Lee & Associates—also polled Americans on a series of broader marijuana policy issues. Notably, it found that a majority of Republicans back cannabis rescheduling—and, notably, they’re even more supportive of allowing states to legalize marijuana without federal interference compared to the average voter.
Trump’s former acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also recently predicted that the administration will soon “dig in” to the state-federal marijuana policy conflict, emphasizing the need to “eliminate confusion, not create it” amid the rescheduling push.
Meanwhile, Terrence Cole, who was sworn in last month as the new administrator of the DEA, declined to include rescheduling on a list of “strategic priorities” the agency that instead focused on anti-trafficking enforcement, Mexican cartels, the fentanyl supply chain, drug-fueled violence, cryptocurrency, the dark web and a host of other matters.
That’s despite the fact that Cole said during a confirmation hearing in April that examining the government’s pending marijuana rescheduling proposal would be “one of my first priorities” after taking office.
Ahead of Cole’s swearing-in on Wednesday, the Senate a day earlier gave final approval to the Trump nominee. Almost immediately afterward, a major marijuana industry association renewed the push to make progress on the long-stalled federal cannabis rescheduling process.
Meanwhile, NuggMD also released a survey last month that found a majority of marijuana consumers feel their use of cannabis has had a “positive” impact on their careers.
