Roughly two-thirds of Americans believe that the use of marijuana by adults should be legal and just under one in three respondents say that they live in close proximity to a state-licensed adult-use retailer, according to nationwide polling data compiled by CBS News.
Consistent with numerous other national polls, the survey identified majority support for legalizing “recreational marijuana use” among respondents of all political persuasions. Support was strongest among Democrats (73 percent) and weakest among Republicans (53 percent). Sixty-six percent of Independents endorsed adult-use legalization.
“One of the greatest benchmarks of the success of legalization is the simple fact that public support for this policy change has consistently grown in the years since states began adopting it,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “To date, 38 states have legalized cannabis for medical purposes and 21 states have done so for adults. None of these states have ever repealed or even rolled back their laws and public support for these policies has never been higher. That is because these policies are largely working as politicians and voters intended and they are preferable to prohibition. The public has spoken and it is time for leaders in both parties to come together and amend federal law in a manner that comports with cannabis rapidly changing cultural and state-legal status.”
Twenty-eight percent of respondents acknowledged having a state-licensed adult-use cannabis retailer operating in their neighborhood. (Twenty-five percent of those surveyed were unsure.) Those already living in proximity of licensed store favored having marijuana retailers in their neighborhood by a margin of nearly two to one.
Although the survey did not ask respondents whether or not they personally consumed cannabis, 43 percent of those polled said that they had either friends or family members who were active consumers.
Full results of the CBS poll, which has a margin of error of ± 3.5 points is online.
