More than six in ten Americans believe that the social use of marijuana should be legal for adults, according to nationwide polling data provided by CBS News.
The percentage marks a significant increase since 2013, when only 45 percent of respondents endorsed legalization, and it is among the highest levels of public support ever reported in a national poll. Only a majority of those respondents over the age of 65 did not support legalization.
Pollsters also reported that 88 percent of US adults support regulating the use of medical marijuana, and that 71 percent of Americans — including majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents — oppose efforts on the part of the federal government to interfere in state’s that have legalized the plant’s distribution and use. The percentage represents a blowback to the Trump administration, which in February threatened “greater enforcement” of federal anti-marijuana laws in states that have legalized its adult use.
Fifty-three percent of respondents said that they believe alcohol to be more harmful than cannabis, and a majority of those under the age of 65 acknowledged having used it.
The CBS News poll possesses a margin of error of +/- four percent.
[Update: A nationwide Quinnipiac University poll, also released this week, reports similar levels of public support. It reports that 60 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana, the highest level of support ever reported by the polling firm. It further reported that voters oppose, by a margin of 73 percent to 21 percent. government enforcement of federal anti-cannabis laws in states that have legalized the medical or recreational use of marijuana.]
