Two-thirds of Americans want recreational marijuana use to be legal under federal law and in their own state. As more states move to legalize marijuana, most people say they wouldn’t mind opening a licensed marijuana business in their neighborhood.
Recreational marijuana use remains illegal at the federal level. The House of Representatives recently passed a bill at the federal level decriminalize marijuana.
Almost everyone who supports legalization under state law also supports federal law, and vice versa. In fact, legal recreational marijuana receives the same level of support whether the question is raised at the state or federal level, suggesting that jurisdiction may not matter much to people.
The legalization of recreational use of the pot in more states has led to the opening of more legal marijuana businesses, and most Americans would not mind this type of business opening in their neighborhood. they would favor or say they would not care much. .
Only three out of 10 would oppose opening a licensed recreational marijuana business in their area. The opposition is largely driven by those who are against legalizing marijuana use in the first place.
Marijuana users (37% of Americans say they use it) are more in favor of legalizing and opening recreational marijuana businesses in their neighborhood, and support is even greater among marijuana users. regularly.
Among those who say they never use marijuana, a small majority favor legalization, but are comparatively less favorable than those who do. People who don’t use the drug are less enthusiastic than those who do with the opening of licensed dispensaries in their neighborhood, but most of them would either favor it or say they wouldn’t care much.
Support for the legalization of marijuana under federal law is widespread
Eighteen states, plus the District of Columbia, now allow recreational use of marijuana.
Even among those living in states where recreational marijuana use is currently not legal, most say they want it to be legal and also support legalization under federal law.
Because marijuana use has become legal in several states, it is still illegal under federal law, making it difficult for licensed companies that sell marijuana to use the banking system.
The legalization of marijuana at the federal level is widely supported by gender, educational levels, racial groups, and age. However, younger Americans (who are more likely to use marijuana) are still more favorable to the legal pot than older Americans.
Political and ideological tendencies shape opinions. Most Democrats, Liberals, Independents, and moderates favor legalization under federal law, but Republicans and Conservatives are divided on the issue. Age divides Republicans and Conservatives, those who are younger support legalization, and those who are older oppose it, especially Republicans and Conservatives 65 and older.
This CBS News / YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 1,612 adult U.S. residents interviewed between March 29 and 31, 2022. The sample was weighted by gender, age, race. and education according to the U.S. Census of the U.S. Census and Current Population Survey, as well as the 2020 presidential vote. The margin of error is ± 3.1 points.
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