Fox News released a poll Wednesday that shows a record high number of respondents in favor of legalizing marijuana – including 46 percent of surveyed Republicans.
The network’s poll indicates 59 percent of those reached by phone said they support reforming America’s marijuana laws. A potential problem for Trump’s anti-legalization administration in 2020, the poll found support for legalizing personal amounts of marijuana has increased 51 percent since 2015.
Conducted Jan. 21 through Jan. 23, the poll is representative of a national sample of 1,002 registered voters contacted via 575 cell phones and 427 landlines. The poll’s results “have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.”
To ensure the poll represented bipartisan views, it was conducted under the collective direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R).
“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,” said Daron Shaw of Shaw & Company.
But while 68 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of Independents indicated they would now favor reforming their marijuana laws, the GOP remains divided on the issue at 46-46 percent with 8 percent undecided.
The Republican party’s opposition to legalization has declined precipitously since 2013. According to Fox News, “opposition among those groups is down 14 and 16 points, respectively, from five years ago.”
credit:marijuana.com
