Likely U.S. voters who identify as regular marijuana consumers might come from mixed political backgrounds, but a majority believes Democrats have \u201cbetter ideas\u201d for cannabis policy, according to a new poll. Most would also be more likely to support political candidates if they endorse legalization, regardless of party, the survey found.<\/p>\n
Also, nearly 70 percent said the presumptive presidential nominees of both major parties would have a stronger grasp of the cannabis market and culture if they were younger.<\/p>\n
The poll from NuggMD offers fresh takeaways about the political leanings and thinking of marijuana consumers who say they are likely to vote as the November election approaches.<\/p>\n
Among the respondents, 43 percent said they would vote for incumbent President Joe Biden, while 36 percent said they\u2019d vote for former President Donald Trump. Another 16 percent said they\u2019d choose a different candidate, and four percent said they would not vote for president at all.<\/p>\n
Just one percent of respondents said that cannabis policy issues didn\u2019t factor into their decision to participate in the upcoming election. Six percent said it was the \u201conly\u201d issue they cared about, compared to 47 percent who said it was one of \u201cseveral\u201d and 38 percent who said it was one of \u201cmany.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked which of the two major parties\u2014Democrats or Republicans\u2014has \u201cbetter ideas for cannabis policy,\u201d 56 percent said Democrats had the superior platform, versus 16 percent who credited Republicans and 28 percent who said \u201cneither\u201d and \u201cthey are the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among supporters of Biden, 87 percent said Democrats had better ideas around cannabis, compared to two percent who said Republicans did and 11 percent who believe the parties are on par when it comes to marijuana.<\/p>\n
Supporters of Trump were most likely to say both parties had equivalent platforms (42 percent), while 39 percent said Republicans had better ideas. Notably, nearly a fifth of Trump backers (19 percent) favored Democrats\u2019 marijuana policy positions.<\/p>\n
Eighty-eight percent of respondents overall agreed that elected officials should \u201cunderstand the cannabis markets and culture in order to effectively legislate around it,\u201d while four percent said it wasn\u2019t important.<\/p>\n
To that point, just two percent said lawmakers as a whole do hold a \u201cstrong\u201d understanding, compared to 20 percent who said they have \u201csome\u201d understanding of the culture and market. Five percent said they\u2019re somewhat knowledgable about the culture but not the market; 36 percent said they get the market but not culture. But most (37 percent) said they don\u2019t understand the market or culture at all.<\/p>\n
When asked about the ages of Biden and Trump, a 69 percent majority said they\u2019d both understand cannabis policy issues better if they were younger. Eleven percent said age doesn\u2019t matter, and 21 percent said they were unsure.<\/p>\n
Fifty-nine percent of cannabis consuming voters said they\u2019d be more likely to vote for a political candidate if they endorsed marijuana reform such as legalization. Seventeen percent said they\u2019d be more likely, but only if they were Democrats, and 10 percent said yes, but only for Republicans.<\/p>\n
Both presumptive presidential nominees do have an opportunity to take a stand on the issue in the lead-up to Election Day.<\/p>\n
The Biden campaign has increasingly leaned into his cannabis clemency actions and scheduling review directive, with the president touting them in his State of the Union address last month<\/a> and Vice President Kamala Harris separately hosting cannabis pardon recipients at the White House<\/a>, where she called for legalization.<\/p>\n Trump has a mixed record on marijuana policy, though his rhetoric has become increasingly anti-drug, infused with stigmatizing statements about cannabis consumers. That said, he\u2019s been generally consistent in his support for states\u2019 rights to set their own marijuana laws. Advocates and stakeholders are hoping to get a clearer position now that legalization in on the ballot in Florida<\/a>, where Trump is a resident.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, asked how they think both major parties want the cannabis sector to \u201cevolve,\u201d a plurality (40 percent) of survey respondents said \u201cDemocrats want a vibrant legal market, while Republicans want to suppress legal use.\u201d Twenty-nine percent said both parties want to suppress cannabis use, while 21 percent said both parties \u201cwant a vibrant legal market that drives economic activity.\u201d Another 10 percent said Republicans support the market while Democrats want to suppress legal use.<\/p>\n A demographic breakdown of that question shows that 67 percent of Biden voters think Democrats lead on the issue and Republicans oppose reform, while just one percent think the opposite.<\/p>\n Trump voters were most likely (36 percent) to say both parties are opposed to reform, followed by 26 percent who said Republicans want a legal market while Democrats want to suppress it.<\/p>\n Finally, the survey asked the age-old question: If public opinion strongly favors legalization, \u201cwhy do you think that cannabis has not been legalized federally?\u201d Respondents were able to select all options that they thought applied.<\/p>\n The top response, with 41 percent agreeing, was that the \u201clegislative process moves slower than public opinion.\u201d Another 39 percent suspect \u201cinterference from anti-legalization interests,\u201d while 36 percent said lawmakers simply \u201cdon\u2019t care what voters want.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis poll shows that adopting pro-cannabis policies can move more constituents into either party\u2019s camp,\u201d Deb Tharp, head of legal and policy research at NuggMD said in a press release. \u201cThis is a large voting population we\u2019re talking about, and its demographics are changing quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRespondents say they\u2019re motivated by policy commitments and wins, not by grievance politics, outrage, or red meat,\u201d she said. \u201cThe degree to which this emerging constituency is moveable, and how to move them, will probably come as a surprise to insiders of both parties.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, it signals that Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot by continuing to embrace the platform of prohibition,\u201d Tharp added. \u201cDemocrats should double down on cannabis and expand their voting base by embracing full decriminalization and expungement for victims of targeted, unjust enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n The survey<\/a> from NuggMD\u2014a cannabis technology company that links people to doctors via telemedicine for medical cannabis recommendation\u2014involved interviews with 755 cannabis consumers who are likely to vote from March 25 to April 3, with a +\/-4 percentage point margin of error. Voters in six swing states were intentionally over-indexed.<\/p>\n NuggMD also released a survey in January that found about one-third of marijuana consumers say they would go back to the illicit market<\/a> if cannabis was rescheduled and only made legally available as a Food and Drug Administration- (FDA) approved prescription drug.<\/p>\n Another poll released that month found that Biden stands to make significant political gains if marijuana is rescheduled<\/a>\u00a0under his administrative directive.<\/p>\n Schumer And Democratic Senators Seek Support For Federal Marijuana Legalization Bill Ahead Of 4\/20, With Plans To File This Month<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Democrats Have \u2018Better Ideas\u2019 For Marijuana Policy Than The GOP, Poll Of Cannabis Consumers Finds<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Likely U.S. voters who identify as regular marijuana consumers might come from mixed political backgrounds, but a majority believes Democrats have \u201cbetter ideas\u201d for cannabis policy, according to a new poll. Most would also be more likely to support political candidates if they endorse legalization, regardless of party, the surveyContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73924"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73924"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73925,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73924\/revisions\/73925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Democrats Have \u2018Better Ideas\u2019 For Marijuana Policy Than The GOP, Poll Of Cannabis Consumers Finds<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"