As More States Normalize Marijuana Legalization, New Poll Shows Many Americans Feel Neutral About Its Societal Impact

With the majority of states now having legalized marijuana for medical or
recreational use, a new poll signals that cannabis’s normalization has left
many people feeling neutral about how the policy impacts society—though
more say the reform has been “good” than believe it has been “bad.”

The poll from NBC News, which was conducted by SurveyMonkey, asked over
30,000 Americans about their views on a wide range of policy issues,
including cannabis legalization.

“Thinking about the fact recreational marijuana is now legal in much of the
country, do you think this is generally: 1) A good thing for society, 2) A
bad thing for society or 3) Neither good nor bad,” the survey asks.

A 44 percent plurality said legalization was neither good nor bad, followed
by 29 percent who said it was a good thing for society and 27 percent who
said it was bad.

The pollsters also did a demographic breakout of the survey to focus on Gen
Z adults aged 18-29. While a similar percentage (45 percent) expressed
neutrality on the question of the societal impact of cannabis legalization,
more of the younger generation (33 percent) said the policy is good for
society. Another 23 percent said its impact was bad.

The broader survey involved interviews with 30,196 adults from August 13 to
September 1, with a +/- 1.9 percentage point margin of error. That included
2,970 Gen Z adult who were included in the more narrow poll.

While this poll focused on societal impacts of legalization, a separate
survey released earlier this month found that 65 percent of registered
voters agreed that the reform in general is a “good” policy.

This all comes as advocates and stakeholders await a decision from
President Donald Trump on a more modest rescheduling proposal, which he
said would be decided imminently.

These are some the latest in a series of polls investigating public opinion
on cannabis reform.

For example, recently released polling data from the Pew Research Center
found that an overwhelming majority of Americans—nearly nine in 10—support
legalizing marijuana in some form.

Another recent survey from the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education,
and Regulation (CPEAR), which was conducted by the firm Forbes Tate
Partners, showed that seven in 10 American voters want to see the end of
federal marijuana prohibition—and nearly half say they’d view the Trump
administration more favorably if it took action on the issue.

A poll released in June that Marijuana Moment partnered on with the
cannabis telehealth platform NuggMD showed that a majority of marijuana
consumers disapprove of the Trump administration’s actions on cannabis
policy to date, but there’s also a significant willingness among users to
shift their position if the federal government opts to reschedule or
legalize marijuana.

Earlier this year, meanwhile, a firm associated with Trump—Fabrizio, Lee &
Associates—also polled Americans on a series of broader marijuana policy
issues. Notably, it found that a majority of Republicans back cannabis
rescheduling—and, notably, they’re even more supportive of allowing states
to legalize marijuana without federal interference compared to the average
voter.


*— Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug
policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon
supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps,
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*Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on
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In the background of this polling, the Trump administration is considering
a proposal to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the
Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Recently, nine GOP congressional lawmakers have called on the U.S. attorney
general to reject what they called a “corrupt and flawed” marijuana
rescheduling proposal.

In contrast to that letter from GOP lawmakers, a leading drug policy reform
group recently launched a petition urging the president to go further than
rescheduling by legalizing marijuana altogether.

*Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.*

The post As More States Normalize Marijuana Legalization, New Poll Shows
Many Americans Feel Neutral About Its Societal Impact appeared first on Marijuana
Moment.