Poll: 55 Percent of Likely California Voters Say Marijuana Should Be Legal

Originally published at blog.NORML.org

Fifty-five percent of likely California voters believe that “the use of marijuana should be legal,” according to the results of a statewide PPIC poll released yesterday.

The percentage in favor of legalization is the highest level of support ever recorded in the statewide poll.

African Americans (69 percent), Whites (64 percent), Democrats (63 percent), and Independents (57 percent) were most likely to express support for legalizing the plant’s use while Republicans (44 percent), Latinos (42 percent), and Asians (39 percent) were most likely to oppose the policy change.

Among those respondents who acknowledges having tried cannabis, 74 percent supported legalization. Among respondents who had never tried cannabis, 63 percent favored keeping it illegal.

The poll possesses a margin of error of +/- 4.7 percent.

California is one of several states in 2016 where the issue of regulating marijuana is expected to be decided by ballot measure. The issue is also anticipated to be before voters next November in Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, and Nevada.

In 2010, California voters rejected a ballot initiative that sought to permit the personal cultivation and commercial sale of cannabis by a vote of 46.5 percent to 53.5 percent.