Majority Of Americans Still Back Marijuana Legalization—Despite Big Drop In Republican Support Under Trump, Gallup Poll Shows

Marijuana legalization support still commands a majority—but the floor just tilted. Gallup’s latest snapshot says 64 percent of Americans back ending cannabis prohibition, down four points from last year. It’s a wobble, not a collapse, but it matters in a country where small swings become big headlines. The twist is who moved: Republicans. Their support slipped 13 points to 40 percent—the lowest in a decade—while Democrats (85 percent) and independents (66 percent) barely budged. Call it a mood swing inside one tent, not a national change of heart. But for anyone tracking cannabis policy reform and the real-world cannabis industry impact, this is the kind of simmer that can become a boil when the next bill hits the floor.

Why the retreat? Gallup hints at a vibe shift tied to the new White House’s hardline, chest-thumping drug posture—interdictions at sea, loud talk about keeping illicit supply off the map, heavy use of drug-war optics. For many GOP voters, that performance cues a belief that the United States is finally “winning” again on drugs, and support for legal cannabis cools in the shadow of that storyline. It’s an odd split-screen: a majority nation that largely favors legalization, and a Republican base reassured by crackdowns. In other words, perception is policy. Gallup’s toplines were built from 1,000 interviews in mid-October, a sober sample with a plus/minus four-point wobble, but the directional story is clear. If this sounds familiar to you—momentum one year, headwinds the next—you’re not crazy. The industry’s been living this whiplash for a decade, which is exactly why many leaders argue that holding the political line is existential; consider the warning embedded in Top Marijuana Advocacy Group Says Resisting Efforts To Overturn State Legalization Laws Must Be A ‘Priority For The Entire Industry’.

Complicating the picture is the federal two-step on cannabis. Campaign-season nods toward rescheduling, banking reform, even a Florida adult-use nod—followed by the usual fog once governing starts. One month you hear, “Decision soon.” The next, it’s a shrug about “good things” in medical and “bad things” elsewhere. Meanwhile, intoxicating hemp products—THC-adjacent, legal-ish, and everywhere—have become the new piñata at the state and federal levels. That fight is scrambling coalitions and confusing voters who thought legalization meant clarity. Watch the crosswinds as legacy lobbies wade in; the booze world has a dog in this hunt, and it’s not subtle, as seen in Alcohol Industry Groups Push Congress To Ban Intoxicating Hemp Products—At Least Until Federal Regulations Are Enacted. If you want receipts for the opinion landscape, Gallup has them in tidy tables and charts; start here: gallup.com.

Here’s the other strange reality check: Use doesn’t seem to care much about legality. Gallup’s broader work has found cannabis consumption roughly similar in legal and non-legal states, which is a polite way of saying criminalization doesn’t really switch off demand. Fifteen percent of U.S. adults admit to lighting up; just 11 percent say they smoke cigarettes. The culture has already normalized the plant, while the law plays catch-up in fits and starts. That tug-of-war shows up in state politics every week. Some pushes stall or veer off the ballot—see the storyline in Oklahoma Activists Withdraw 2026 Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiative—while other jurisdictions refine access rules at the margins, like first responders and cops navigating policy potholes in Massachusetts Lawmakers Approve Bill On Marijuana Access Barriers For Police And First Responders. Add it up and you get a map that looks less like a neat federal plan and more like a dinner napkin scribbled in a crowded bar.

So what should the industry—and anyone who cares about coherent marijuana policy—do with a number like 64 percent? Don’t panic. But don’t ignore where the slippage happened. Republicans didn’t abandon legalization; many just paused, seduced by a narrative that enforcement equals progress. Narratives can be rewritten with outcomes. If rescheduling lands, banking opens, and public-health guardrails hold, sentiment tends to thaw. If intoxicating hemp chaos gets sorted with smart, fair rules, confidence returns. The bigger truth is still on the table: a majority of Americans want legal cannabis, and they’ve lived long enough with it in the wild to feel mostly neutral about its societal impact—more “fine, move on” than “sound the alarm.” That’s not apathy; that’s normalization. In the meantime, if you’re exploring the legal market’s next chapter—and want to see where high-THCA craft is headed when the policy dust clears—take a quiet walk through our shop: https://thcaorder.com/shop/.