Fox News Poll: 59% of U.S. Voters Support Legalizing Marijuana

Fox News Poll: 59% of U.S. Voters Support Legalizing Marijuana

According to a new Fox News Poll, a large majority of voters in the United States favor legalizing marijuana.

The poll found that 59% of voters support marijuana legalization, up from 51% in 2015, and 46% in 2013. The polling shows that just 32% of voters oppose marijuana legalization, down from 49% in 2013. Millennials (72%) have the highest level of support, followed by Gen Xers (60%) and baby boomers (52%).

“This is a massive shift in opinion over a very short period. As more states legalize marijuana without the negative consequences opponents have warned about, support will likely continue to increase,” says Democratic pollster Chris Anderson, who conducts the Fox News Poll with Daron Shaw, his Republican counterpart.

Two-thirds of Democrats (68%) and independents (67%) favor legalization. Republicans split 46% to 46% (in 2015, 59% of Republicans were against it).

Majorities of very conservative voters (61%) and white evangelical Christians (53%) oppose legalization. However, opposition among those groups is down 14 and 16 points, respectively, from five years ago.

“When you look at the growing percentage of people who say they support legalizing marijuana, especially among those under 30 years of age, it’s obvious why the Democrats are anxious to get pot initiatives on the ballot in statewide elections,” says Shaw.

The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,002 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from January 21-23, 2018. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters.