Republican Support For Marijuana Legalization At Record High, But Partisan Gap Persists As More Democrats Embrace Reform

While 23 states have now enacted adult-use legalization—in addition to the vast majority that authorize some form of medical cannabis—federal reform has lagged far behind the public. GOP lawmakers in particular have generally resisted the issue despite the growing bipartisan support among their constituencies.

Republican support for marijuana legalization might be at a record high nationally—but despite majorities of voters in both parties now backing the reform, a partisan divide has widened over the past two decades as Democrats have been even quicker to embrace the issue, according to new analysis of survey data from Gallup.

A majority of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (83 percent), as well as Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (55 percent), both back ending cannabis prohibition, the analysis, which is based on data from Gallup’s 2022 survey, shows.

The 28 percentage point difference of opinion on marijuana reform between the parties represents a larger divide than was the case two decades ago when support was under 50 percent for both parties.

This is consistent with a broader trend that Gallup identified in a new report published on Monday that shows how partisan gaps have widened on a variety of issues, including those where there’s still majority support across party lines. Marijuana legalization still sees a smaller divide compared to many of the other hot button issues like global warming, gun control and abortion.