Most Americans Back Cannabis Legalization, Medical Use, and Reclassification, YouGov Data Show

On December 22, 2025, international online research data and analytics technology group YouGov published results from multiple survey questions related to cannabis in the US (1,2,3). Over 31,000 US adults were surveyed for the three questions. The responses were broken down by region, gender, politics, age, and race.

Recreational Cannabis Use in the US

One of the survey questions was, “Do you think that the recreational use of marijuana should be made legal in the United States or not?” More than half of the respondents (54%) stated that yes, it should be made legal, while 27% stated it should not, and 19% stated they were unsure.

For Democratic respondents, 68% stated that it should be legal, 17% said it should not, and 15% were not sure. For Independents, 55% stated it should be legal, while 22% said it should not, and 22% were unsure. For Republicans, 41% stated cannabis should be made legal, while 41% said it should not be legal, and 18% were not sure.

Approval of Government Action on Reclassification

Another survey question was, “Do you approve or disapprove of the government reclassifying marijuana from the most restrictive category of drugs to a less restrictive category that allows for research on its potential medicinal uses?”

The percentages of those who strongly approved (42%) or somewhat approved (28%) were significantly greater than those who somewhat disapproved (8%) or strongly disapproved (8%), while 14% were unsure.

For Democrats 78% approved (a combination of “strongly approve” and “somewhat approve”), 11% disapproved (a combination of “somewhat disapprove” and “strongly disapprove”) and 11% were not sure.

For Independents, 69% approved, 14% disapproved, and 18% were unsure.

For Republicans, 66% approved, 21% disapproved, and 12% were not sure.

Medical Uses of Cannabis

Also asked was the question, “Do you think that marijuana has legitimate medical uses?”

For this question, 43% answered that cannabis definitely has legitimate medical uses, 33% stated that it probably does, while 8% stated it probably does not, and 5% stated it definitely does not. 11% were not sure.

For Democrats, 53% said it definitely did, 31% said it probably did, 5% stated it probably did not, and 4% stated it definitely did not. 7% were unsure.

For Independents, 44% stated cannabis definitely did have medical uses, 30% stated it probably did, and 7% stated it probably did not, while 5% stated it definitely did not. 13% were unsure.

For Republicans, 34% stated it definitely did have medical uses, 39% stated it probably did, while 10% stated it probably did not, and 7% said it definitely did not. 10% were unsure.

Cannabis Reclassification in the US

The surveys were conducted a few days after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to reclassify cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III controlled substances (4).

“This reclassification order will make it far easier to conduct marijuana related medical research, allowing us to study benefits, potential dangers and future treatments,” President Trump stated during the press briefing. “It's going to have a tremendously positive impact.”

The fact sheet published on December 18, 2025, outlined the actions that would be taken by various agencies, plus statements on cannabis for medical uses including: “Schedule III status will allow research studies to incorporate real-world evidence and models that can assess the health outcomes of medical marijuana and legal CBD products while focusing on long-term health effects in vulnerable populations like adolescents and young adults” (5).

References

1. YouGov. Do you think that the recreational use of marijuana should be made legal in the United States or not? December 22, 2025. https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/survey-results/daily/2025/12/22/592c8/3 (Accessed January 2, 2026).
2. YouGov. Do you approve or disapprove of the government reclassifying marijuana from the most restrictive category of drugs to a less restrictive category that allows for research on its potential medicinal uses? December 22, 2025. https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/survey-results/daily/2025/12/22/592c8/2 (Accessed January 2, 2026).
3. YouGov. Do you think that marijuana has legitimate medical uses? December 22, 2025. https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/survey-results/daily/2025/12/22/592c8/1 (Accessed January 2, 2026).
4. Colli, M. President Trump Signs Executive Order to Reschedule Cannabis to Schedule III. December 18, 2025. https://www.cannabissciencetech.com/view/president-trump-signs-executive-order-to-reschedule-cannabis-to-schedule-iii (Accessed January 2, 2026).
5. Fact sheet: President Donald J. Trump is increasing medical marijuana and Cannabidiol Research https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/12/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-is-increasing-medical-marijuana-and-cannabidiol-research/ (Accessed January 2, 2026).