4/20 Poll: Republicans Remain Split on Legalizing Marijuana

Republicans remain split on legalizing marijuana, a Wednesday CBS News/YouGov poll revealed.

Forty-nine percent of Republicans support the legalization of marijuana, while 51 percent believe the plant should remain illegal for consumption. Republicans have remained split on the issue for several years.

Meanwhile, Democrats and independents overwhelmingly support the legalization of marijuana. Sixty-seven percent of independents support its legalization. Seventy-nine percent of Democrats say the same.

Overall, 66 percent of Americans support the recreational use of the drug. Seventy percent say they “would favor” or “would not mind” if a marijuana dispensary opened in their neighborhood.

The greatest supporters of marijuana legalization are those between the ages of 30-44 (73 percent). The least likely to support legalization are ages 65 and older (54 percent).

The legalization of marijuana has been a controversial issue for decades. First made illegal in 1937, marijuana has slowly become more popular and socially acceptable.

According to Gallup, only 12 percent of Americans believed marijuana should be legal in the 1960s. One decade later, that number reached 28 percent. In the 90s, those who believed it should become legal remained relatively flat.

But after 2000, American opinion dramatically changed. In 2000, 34 percent approved of legalizing marijuana. About 50 percent approved in 2010, and 68 percent approved in 2020.

The legalization of marijuana is most supported by those who earn more than 100k/yr (74 percent) and those who have a college degree (76 percent).

Those numbers only slightly drop among those who make 40k or less (67 percent). Among those who have not graduated from college, 64 percent approve of legalizing the drug.

The legalization of marijuana is also popular among those who attend church. Fifty-nine percent of those who attend church weekly or monthly support legalizing the flower. Seventy-nine percent of those who attend less often also support legalizing marijuana.

CBS News/YouGov survey 1,612 adult between March 29-31, 2022 with a margin of error 3.1 percentage points.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.