Canadian Support For Marijuana Legalization Is Increasing, New Poll Shows

January 14, 2026

Canadian support for marijuana legalization keeps rising, and the numbers tell a sober, grown-up story

Canadian support for marijuana legalization is rising—no drum circle, no confetti cannon, just the quiet hum of a country settling into its own skin. Eight years after nationwide adult-use cannabis became the law of the land, two-thirds of Canadians now back it. That’s 65 percent, up a few notches from last year, according to a fresh Research Co. poll of 1,002 adults. Only 29 percent oppose legalization; 6 percent shrug. The support isn’t siloed in any one region or demographic, either—it’s majorities across the board, coast to coast. Margin of error: 3.1 points. It reads like a report card from a country that tried something new, looked around, and decided it didn’t have to clutch its pearls. Call it marijuana policy reform by way of steady pragmatism—less swagger, more results. The Canada cannabis market feels less like a culture war and more like an infrastructure project that actually got built.

Behind the headline, the consumer story is even better. Thirty-six percent of Canadians say they used cannabis before legalization, and another 15 percent admit they only started after the law changed. Nearly half—49 percent—still haven’t tried it, which undercuts the old panic that legalization was a gateway to mass indulgence. Among those who have used since 2018, legal stores are doing real work pulling people off the street corner and into the regulated light. You can argue about tax rates and SKUs all day, but the retail channel is where the illicit market goes to die, slowly and in broad daylight.

48% say all their cannabis came from licensed retailers.
17% say most of it did.
13% split purchases between legal and illegal sources.
16% stayed entirely outside the legal system.

Then there’s the thing that keeps HR departments up at night: weed and work. The poll shows a country still calibrating how to square legal cannabis with safety-sensitive jobs. Thirty-four percent say employers should definitely be able to test for marijuana, another 30 percent say probably. On the flip side, 14 percent say probably not, and 13 percent are firmly against it. The kicker? That consensus cuts across political tribes. As Research Co. president Mario Canseco put it, there’s no real partisan split; majorities of recent Conservative, Liberal, and New Democrat voters alike think testing is justified. That’s the gnarly edge of normalization: cannabis is legal, but we’re still figuring out how to live with it. South of the border, the normalization drumbeat is familiar—just ask Hoosiers, where 3 In 5 Indiana Residents Support Marijuana Legalization, New Poll Finds As State Lawmakers File Reform Bills.

Weed wins, but the runway ends at the harder stuff

Canada might be cool with cannabis, but it’s colder than a prairie winter on legalizing other drugs. Support clocks in at 14 percent for MDMA, 12 for powder cocaine, 10 for crack and meth, and only 9 for heroin and fentanyl. That should surprise exactly no one. Voters want functional policy, not free-for-all indulgence. Still, the psychs are slipping through a side door. Provinces and states are testing the waters with clinical pilots and medical frameworks. In the U.S., lawmakers aren’t whispering about it anymore—see Trenton, where the New Jersey Legislature Passes Bill To Create Psilocybin Therapy Pilot Program, Sending It To Governor. Canada’s public sentiment suggests a similar path: regulated access, clinical guardrails, none of the carnival barker hype. But don’t mistake stability for permanence. Legal access can be fragile, sometimes one election or one moral panic away from the chopping block. The warning lights are already blinking, as arguments rage over what the next regulatory turn should look like—and Legal Marijuana Access Faces An Existential Threat In 2026, And We Must Fight Back (Op-Ed) doesn’t sound like hyperbole if you’ve watched this space long enough.

The Canada cannabis market is growing up—and the economy can feel it

Here’s the quiet revolution: legal cannabis revenue has gone from novelty to line item. Canadians increasingly see the industry as a real contributor to the economy, not a moral hazard stuffed in a smell-proof bag. It shapes jobs, storefronts, tax receipts, even tourism. There’s also a substitution story unfolding. Studies have hinted that when weed goes up, beer can go down—a tradeoff that would make any pub owner sweat through the Sunday rush. That helps explain the strange bedfellows in policy fights: when markets jostle, titans notice. You can see the outlines of that push-and-pull in headlines about how legacy alcohol and big cannabis sometimes team up to kneecap a competitor they both dislike. If that sounds conspiratorial, it isn’t—just business—and it’s surfaced in crosscurrents like Joe Rogan Surprised After GOP Senator Says Marijuana And Alcohol Industries Jointly Backed Push To Ban Hemp THC Products. That’s the political economy of legal weed in one uneasy frame: incumbents circling, regulators refereeing, consumers doing the only voting that always counts—at the counter.

So where does this leave Canada? With a mature, regulated cannabis marketplace that most people support, a public still hashing out workplace rules, and a cold shoulder for anything harder than marijuana. The illicit market isn’t dead, but you can hear its breathing change. This is what normalization looks like: boring paperwork, predictable revenue, fewer nightmares. Less theater, more policy. The trick now is guarding progress without letting it calcify. Keep the taxes rational, keep testing evidence-based, keep the supply chain clean, and don’t let culture wars write the regulations. If you want to follow where the industry is heading next—and taste the future without the noise—drop by our shop.