55% of U.S. Adults Say Marijuana Should Be Legalized

The majority of American adults support legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in their state, according to polling data compiled by CBS News.

55% percent of poll respondents said that they want to see legalization in their home states, NORML reported. Among those already residing in legal states, 60% said that they favor the policy change.

59% percent of poll respondents also favor expunging the criminal records of those with past cannabis convictions.

“Though most want recreational use of marijuana to be legal, relatively few Americans say they personally use marijuana regularly,” CBS News reported. “Just 6% say they do, while another 9% say they use marijuana on occasion. More than 8 in 10 Americans say they either hardly ever or never use marijuana, or that they’ve never tried it. Whether or not marijuana use is fully legalized seems to have little bearing on the percentage of Americans who regularly use it: 7% say they use marijuana regularly in states where its use is fully legal, compared to 5% who do so in the rest of the country.”

The CBS poll is the latest in a series of recent national polls showing that most Americans believe that the possession and use of marijuana by adults should be legally permitted.

Arizona legalized recreational marijuana use for adults in 2021. View the law here.