The public is far ahead of most elected officials in support of marijuana policy reform. A supermajority of Americans support making marijuana legal. Support isn’t limited to specific states, ages, parties, or regions. Gallup found majority or plurality support among all age ranges, while the polling firm Civiqs found majority support in every state for making marijuana legal. Yet only 24 U.S. states have legalized marijuana.

• National polls, including by Pew Research Center, Gallup, and CNN, show that most Americans support legalization. In October 2023, Gallup found that 70% of Americans support “making marijuana use legal” — more than double the level of support in 2000.
• There is solid, bipartisan support. In 2023, Gallup found 87% support for legalization among Democrats, 70% support from independents, and 55% support from Republicans.
• Gallup’s 2023 poll also found that no age group opposed legalization, reporting 64% support among those 55 and older, 71% for those 35-54, and 79% support from those ages 18-34.
• Since 2017, the public research firm Civiqs has surveyed more than 260,000 registered voters on legalization. As of July 2023, it found 69% support nationwide and majority support in every state, ranging from 54% in North Dakota and Wyoming to 80% in Massachusetts. (While some states’ voters have defeated cannabis legalization measures, since 2020 the losses have been in lower-turnout elections where the electorate is less representative of the population at large. In 2020, South Dakota voters approved a cannabis legalization measure — in a year with 73.9% voter turn-out. The state Supreme Court overturned that measure on single subject grounds, and a subsequent measure on the 2022 midterm ballot fell short. Turnout that year was below 60%.)
• Voters in states that have implemented legalization overwhelmingly view the laws as successful or as more of a success than a failure. April 2020 YouGov surveys found 56% to 69% of voters in eight legalization states — California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington — viewed their state’s legalization laws as mostly or entirely successful. In each state, no more than 20% of voters viewed the law as more of a failure than a success.
• Polls indicate voters’ support for keeping marijuana use legal increased after legalization. In all 20 legalization states where sales have begun, Civiq found support for legalization at 63% or higher. (75% support in Colorado, 78% in Washington, 63% in Alaska, 77% in Oregon, 76% in California, 71% in Nevada, 80% in Massachusetts, 73% in Maine, 76% in Illinois, 71% in Michigan, 77% in Vermont, 63% in Montana, 69% in Arizona, 68% in New Jersey, 70% in New Mexico, 64% in New York, 71% in Connecticut, 74% in Rhode Island, 63% in Missouri, and 71% in Maryland.)

Here are Civiq’s state-by-state results for the question, “Do you think that the use of cannabis should be legal, or not?,” from April 24, 2017 through July 5, 2023:

Other pollsters have conducted surveys in states that have not yet legalized cannabis and found majority support in several states that have not yet legalized:

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