Poll: Majority of Americans still favor legalizing marijuana nationally

A solid majority of American adults want cannabis legalized at the federal level, according to a national poll.

The CBS News study, conducted April 11-15 with roughly 1,000 people, found that 59% of Americans across the country believe marijuana should be legal. Only 36% said it should remain banned.

In addition, 61% of poll respondents agreed that marijuana legalization should be left to the states, while 33% believe the federal government should determine cannabis’ legality.

Those findings track with two other polls from a year ago, which both found that over 60% of Americans think cannabis should be legal.

The new CBS poll also found that 41% of Americans now believe alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana, and 63% believe marijuana is less harmful than “most other drugs.”

The finding jibes with numerous other polls that have showed strong sympathy across the United States for the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, states’ rights to regulate cannabis and other reforms that have been proposed in Congress.