A new survey shows that two-thirds of American voters think legalizing marijuana across the country would be “good”.
While advocates and other stakeholders wait for President Donald Trump to make a decision on the more modest proposal of rescheduling, Emerson College’s survey found that 65 per cent of voters registered are in favour of ending prohibition completely. A mere 35 percent deemed legalization a “bad idea”.
Emerson College last asked about this issue in October. The figure of 65 percent shows a five-point increase.
At 79 percent, Democrats are the most likely group to support legalization. The independents were followed by Republicans and Democrats (66 percent each).
All age groups are in support of reform except for those over 70 years old, who have a divided opinion on the legalization issue, with only 52 percent opposed and 48 percent favoring.
Spencer Kimball said that the highest level of support was among those voters aged under 30 (71%), and then in their forties (74%) in a recent press release.
Kimball, in an interview regarding the survey, said that if Trump were to legalize marijuana, it would be a huge boost for his popularity, which had been stagnant over the past few months.
This survey consisted of 1,000 interviews conducted between August 25 and 26 with an error margin of +/-3 percent.
The latest of a number of surveys that investigate public opinion about cannabis reform.
For example, recently released polling data from the Pew Research Center found that 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, showed 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 MEDCAN24 partnered on with the cannabis telehealth platform 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 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.
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This poll comes as the Trump administration considers a proposal that would move cannabis to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
Last month, the president announced that he would make a final decision in a few weeks. While he had endorsed this policy on his campaign trail for his second term, his most recent comments were less specific about his final position on the matter.
The same week, Democrats filed in the House of Representatives a bill descheduling cannabis to make it legal at federal level.
This is the fourth session in a row that Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) has put forward the proposal. This proposal was passed by the House two times under Democratic control when the sponsor served on the Judiciary Committee. It did not pass the House last session, however, with Republicans as the majority.
Philip Steffan is the photographer.






