April 20 — or 4/20 — is a day to celebrate cannabis culture. And this year, a new report shows a record-number of Americans want to honor the marijuana’s annual day by legalizing it throughout the United States.
More Americans than ever before have expressed support for the legalization of marijuana across the country, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released Thursday.
“From a stigmatized, dangerous drug bought in the shadows, to an accepted treatment for various ills, to a widely accepted recreational outlet, marijuana has made it to the mainstream,” Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a statement.
Sixty percent of Americans support its legalization, while 34% oppose it, according to the poll. Nearly all Americans — 94% — say adults should be able to legally use the drug for medical purposes if prescribed by a doctor.
Eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana for Americans ages 21 and older, and 29 states have legalized the medical use of marijuana.
Seventy-three percent of Americans oppose federal enforcement of laws targeting weed in states that have already legalized it, the poll found.
The findings come soon after Canadian officials announced plans to legalize marijuana around the country by mid-2018.
Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,062 U.S. voters from April 12 – 18, and found a margin of error of 3%.