Drug Policy

88% of Americans say marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use. Just 11% say the drug should not be legal in any form.

Americans largely favor legalization of the drug, including 57% who say it should be legal for both medical and recreational use.

74% of Americans live in a state where marijuana is legal for either recreational or medical use.

With more states authorizing the use of marijuana, the public continues to favor legalizing it for medical and recreational purposes. 

57% of Black adults say marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use by adults; 28% say it should be legal for medical use only.

Public concern about addiction is down even in the parts of the U.S. where drug overdose death rates have increased the most.

Black men are now on par with American Indian or Alaska Native men as the demographic groups most likely to die from overdoses.

Pew Research Center’s political typology sorts Americans into cohesive, like-minded groups based on their values, beliefs, and views about politics and the political system. Use this tool to compare the groups on some key topics and their demographics.

U.S. adults who are affiliated with a religion are less likely than religiously unaffiliated adults to support broadly legal marijuana.

Police officers in the United States still make more arrests for marijuana offenses than for any other drug, according to FBI data.