The Pew Research Center recently conducted a nationwide survey in the United States, and the survey found that only 12% of adults in the U.S. think that cannabis should be completely prohibited. Cannabis is currently a Schedule I substance in the U.S.
“The vast majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana in some way, according to a January-February 2025 Center survey. Around nine-in-ten U.S. adults say either that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use (54%) or that it should be legal for medical use only (33%).” stated Pew Research Center about its findings.
“Another 12% say the drug should not be legal at all. These views have held relatively steady over the past six years.” Pew Research Center also stated. Below is a graph providing a visual breakdown of the survey results:
Despite cannabis being prohibited at the federal level in the U.S., two dozen states have adopted adult-use cannabis legalization measures. Additionally, forty states have adopted medical cannabis legalization measures. Washington D.C. has adopted both medical cannabis and recreational cannabis legalization.
“States have generated a combined total of more than $24.7 billion in tax revenue from legal adult-use cannabis sales since the first adult-use cannabis markets launched in Colorado and Washington in 2014, according to a new report published by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). ” writes MPP on its website about the legal recreational cannabis industry in the United States.
“In 2024 alone, legalization states collectively generated more than $4.4 billion in cannabis tax revenue from adult-use sales, which is the most revenue generated by cannabis sales in a single year. Further, seven states collected over $200 million in adult-use cannabis taxes (four of those states generated over $500 million in revenue, one of which collected over $1 billion).” MPP also states.