According to new Gallup survey data, Republican support for legalizing marijuana has reached a national record high. While a majority in both major political parties support the reform, the partisan divide has grown over the last two decades.
The poll shows that a majority of Democrats (83%) and Republicans (55%) support ending cannabis prohibition. This is a two-point increase for Democrats and a four-point increase for Republicans over Gallup’s survey from 2022. It reflects a rapid rise in GOP respondents during the last year, despite the fact that the long-term trend favors Democrats.
The difference of 28 percentage points between Republican and Democratic opinions on marijuana reform is a greater divide than it was two decades ago, when both parties supported the measure with less than 50 percent.
Gallup.
Gallup’s new report, published on Monday, shows that partisan divides have grown on many issues. This includes those that still enjoy majority support from both parties. Marijuana is still a hot topic, but the divide on this issue is smaller than other issues such as global warming, abortion and gun control.
The report states that “Democrats are more likely to support marijuana legalization than Republicans since 2003.” The percentages of both partisan groups who agreed to legalize marijuana increased in lockstep between 2013 and 2022. However, the Democratic increase was modestly greater than that of Republicans, leading to a larger partisan gap in this area when measured in 2013.
Gallup’s analysis included 24 issues. Marijuana legalization was one of nine that both parties generally agreed on, with varying levels of support or opposition. Similar to the cannabis issue, same-sex marriage also has a 28 percentage point gap between Democrats and Republicans, with 85 per cent of Democrats supporting its legalization, while 57 per cent of Republicans do.
The report states that “Republicans are highly polarized in their views on many important social and policy issues in the United States, but the trends associated with this partisan gap have changed significantly over the last two decades.” The report states that “the gaps have grown significantly on certain issues, but have changed less on others despite the broad changes in Americans’ attitudes which affect both partisan group.”
The report continues, “Political Polarization is a major part of American politics.” There are significant, and in some cases huge, partisan differences in the views of all 24 issues in this analysis. This confirms a fundamental foundation of any analysis of U.S. Politics: that the political identity of individuals is strongly correlated with how they view social and policy issues.
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A number of other polls released earlier in the year also show that most Americans, regardless of their party affiliation, are ready to lift federal prohibition on marijuana.
While 23 states now have legalized adult use, and the vast majority of them allow some form medical cannabis, federal reform is still far behind. GOP lawmakers have generally been resistant to the issue, despite growing bipartisan support from their constituents.
Recent polls in both states show that 7 out of 10 Floridian voters support marijuana legalization. Recent surveys in both states indicate that the proposals are supported by a majority.
Minnesota Republicans are upset that the Governor is ignoring their concerns about marijuana legalization
Photo by Mike Latimer.
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