A poll of voters in four recently legal U.S. states suggests that cannabis legalization is a nonpartisan issue and that federal level reform is “inevitable”. The poll on cannabis legalization was conducted by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates and FM3 Research on behalf of the pro-legalization group New Approach PAC. 

Respondents who maintained this opinion were based in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota. Each of the aforementioned states voted to legalize adult-use cannabis on November’s Election Day. 

State residents who partook in the poll on federal cannabis legalization were questioned on how they felt about the latest policy change. Three in four respondents said that they think nationwide cannabis legalization is imminent and is being delayed due to the fact that Congressmen believe the subject is a bipartisan issue.

More than half of polled Republicans think cannabis legalization is a non-partisan issue

Individuals who were surveyed as part of FM3 Research’s recent poll – which took place between November 5 and 8 – painted a clearer picture of Republican support for cannabis legalization. According to the memo, “a large majority of young Republicans” favor legalization.

Additionally, more than half – 53 percent – of the Republican respondents said that they think the subject of legalization is a non-partisan issue. Conversely, almost two-thirds of voters in the four polled states said that “both liberal and conservative voters can get behind” legalization.

The poll findings also discovered that most of the 1,602 respondents backed legalization; by a margin of 68-28 percent. Ever-growing support for cannabis legalization in the U.S. “comes despite the fact that voters in these states favored Donald Trump over Joe Biden by a combined five points (48 percent to 43 percent) and are more than twice as likely to identify as conservative (41 percent) as liberal (20 percent),” FM3 Research and Fabrizio, Lee & Associates wrote in a memo. 

“In sum, public opinion in the four states that legalized marijuana this fall shows a pattern of shifting opinions that bodes well for [cannabis] policy reform across the country. Support for legalization in principle has become broad, strong, and bipartisan; reflecting a steady positive shift in perceptions of voters of all parties over the last few years,” the firms continued. 

Majority of polled Democrats support cannabis legalization in the U.S.

Shedding some light on the level of support that Democrats harbour for cannabis legalization in the U.S., FM3 Research’s poll highlighted how 85 percent of respondents in this political party want to see plant laws loosened. Comparatively, 53 percent of Republicans and 66 percent of independents want legal weed.

Of the survey’s mixed group of respondents, 81 percent said that they want to stop the federal government from intervening in cannabis-friendly states. Additionally, 56 percent said that cannabis legalization fits in well with their personal values, while 38 percent said that legislation would go against their beliefs.

In summary, support for cannabis reform in the U.S. is increasing, with more than one-quarter of voters (27 percent) saying that their support is stronger now than it was a few years ago.

“These shifting views are common to voters of all parties – with 33 percent of Democrats, 25 percent of independents, and 23 percent of Republicans having grown more supportive in the past few years – in each case more than double the proportion who have grown more opposed,” the firms concluded.