One common public argument from Big Weed is that “Marijuana legalization is a settled, a political inevitability!” Well, new data from Gallup proves that dead wrong.
Just look at those numbers:
Overall, Americans of all party ID’s are backing away from legal weed since the peak of support around 2023: A drop of basically 9% in two years. That’s insane velocity given the overall slow trend of the rise up to that peak. This is great news for public health because it shows that despite the “inevitability” rhetoric, Americans are waking up.
In private, industry advocate and addiction profiteers know this. But this “inevitability” line of reasoning does seem to get some public traction—which is why this latest data on voter sentiment around legal weed was so amazing to see, and so important to get out there.
Why the turn now? Well, because Americans have had plenty of time to live with the ugly reality of legal weed for a long time in populous states.
Plenty of time to see addiction profiteers flood poorer neighborhoods with retail shops—and to see the illegal retail industry that’s exploded in New York City and elsewhere despite the promises of legalizers.
Plenty of time to get familiar with the endless drumbeat of terrible data showing that weed wrecks the body and the mind.
When we drill down by party ID, there’s even more interesting news: Support for legal weed among the GOP has cratered, dropping by close to 30% since the peak.
There are a number of major political takeaways from this.
The first is that far from the battle being nearly over, as the legalizers would have you believe, it’s just beginning.
And the wind is at the backs of people fighting back against legal weed, like in Massachusetts and Maine—there, SAM is backing ballot initiatives to repeal all commercial sales.
Second, rescheduling is simply not going to be the unambiguous political winner for the White House Big Weed has been trying to say it will be (and paying big money to influencers to claim). GOP support for legal weed is cratering.
When the smoke blows away, changes like this don’t lie: America wants an end to legal weed.