What Are the Percentages of Us Citizens Who Are for and Agains the Legalization of Marijuana

Story Highlights

• Record-high percent desire marijuana legalized
• Majorities of many key demographic groups support legalization
• Less than one-half Republicans, conservatives, weekly churchgoers support it

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans are more likely at present than at whatever point in the by v decades to back up the legalization of marijuana in the U.S. The 68% of U.S. adults who currently back the measure is not statistically dissimilar from last year's 66%; however, it is nominally Gallup'south highest reading, exceeding the 64% to 66% range seen from 2017 to 2019.

Line chart. Americans' support for the legalization of marijuana since 1969. Currently, 68% of Americans favor legalizing marijuana, upwardly from 12% in 1969.

Gallup start measured the public'southward views of marijuana legalization in 1969, when 12% of Americans backed it; by 1977, support had more than than doubled to 28%. It did not exceed 30% until 2000 but has risen steeply in the two decades since so, and is at present twice what it was in 2001 and 2003.

The latest data are from a Sept. 30-Oct. 15 poll, conducted before the election that saw marijuana legalization proposals on the election in several states. Voters in all of these states -- Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and Southward Dakota -- authorized the legal use of recreational marijuana in the November. iii election. They join 11 other states and the District of Columbia in legalizing pot for recreational purposes. Additionally, voters in Mississippi and Due south Dakota bring together 33 states and the Commune of Columbia in passing laws legalizing or decriminalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Many Key Demographic Groups Support Legalization

Majorities of most demographic subgroups of Americans back up legalizing marijuana, including by gender, historic period, education and household income. Yet there is considerable variation in the extent of support within each grouping, equally men, younger adults, college graduates and those in households with incomes of at least $100,000 are more likely than their counterparts to favor legalization.

Americans' Support for Legalizing Marijuana Amidst Demographic Groups

Do you think the use of marijuana should exist made legal, or non?

	Yes, legal	No, not legal
	%	%
Gender
Male	69	30
Female	66	34
Age group
18-29	79	21
xxx-49	75	24
l-64	60	39
65+	55	45
Education
Non college grad	64	36
College grad	76	24
Household income
Less than $40,000	67	33
$twoscore,000-100,000	68	31
$100,000+	74	26
GALLUP, Sept. 30-Oct. fifteen, 2020

Republicans, Conservatives and Weekly Churchgoers Remain Holdouts

About politically left-leaning and center-of-the-road Americans remain supportive of legalizing marijuana, while less than half of those who lean right favor information technology. Over eight in 10 Democrats and liberals, and more seven in 10 independents and moderates, back legalization, but just under half of Republicans and conservatives do.

Views of legalization likewise differ greatly depending on frequency of omnipresence at religious services. A slim majority of those who say they attend weekly oppose legalization. Yet, almost three in 5 of those who attend nearly weekly or monthly, and about four in five who attend less oftentimes, favor legalizing marijuana.

Americans' Support for Legalizing Marijuana, by Political party ID, Ideology and Religious Service Attendance

Do yous think the use of marijuana should exist made legal, or not?

	Yes, legal	No, non legal
	%	%
Party identification
Republican	48	52
Independents	72	27
Democratic	83	16
Political ideology
Conservative	49	50
Moderate	74	26
Liberal	87	13
Religious service attendance
Weekly	48	52
Almost weekly/Monthly	59	39
Less often	79	20
GALLUP, Sept. 30-Oct. 15, 2020

The 83% of Democrats and 72% of independents who prefer legalization are the highest readings in the trend for both groups, but Republicans' current 48% is downwards slightly from slim majorities in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Line chart. Partisans' back up for marijuana legalization since 2000. Currently, 83% of Democrats, 72% of independents and 48% of Republicans favor legalizing marijuana, up from 32%, 39% and 22%, respectively, in 2000.

Bottom Line

Since 2012, when Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana, there has been a slow trickle of states that have followed adapt. Over that period, Americans' back up for marijuana legalization has risen 20 points to a tape-high 68%. This measure has enjoyed majority support from the public since 2013. Additionally, Gallup information from before this year discover that 70% of U.S. adults at present consider smoking marijuana to exist morally acceptable, marking a 5-percentage-betoken uptick in one twelvemonth.

The trajectory of the public's back up for the legalization of marijuana has coincided with an increasing number of states approving it. It is not entirely articulate whether the shift in public opinion has acquired the change in many state laws or vice versa. Given recent trends, more states are likely to legalize recreational marijuana in the hereafter. Considering the loftier level of public support for such a measure out, a alter in federal policy could even occur.

View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).

Learn more nigh how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.

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Source: https://news.gallup.com/poll/323582/support-legal-marijuana-inches-new-high.aspx

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