Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans (and Half of Republicans) Now Support Legalizing Marijuana

It’s absolutely stunning how fast Americans’ views have shifted on this topic.

Truly a remarkable finding in today’s Gallup poll — support for legalizing marijuana reaches record high support (64%) pic.twitter.com/HgzqhKi7tK

— Matt Ferner (@matthewferner) October 25, 2017

Also remarkable record support for marijuana legalization from Republicans, 51 percent, per Gallup https://t.co/ZpouRQN7Rcpic.twitter.com/OwMP4DzNym

— Matt Ferner (@matthewferner) October 25, 2017

However, marijuana is still designated as a Schedule 1 narcotic by our federal government. Per the DEA:

Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Some examples of Schedule I drugs are:

heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana (cannabis), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy), methaqualone, and peyote

Perhaps nothing demonstrates how hopelessly stuck in the past the federal government is, that a drug which is prescribed by doctors to cancer patients is deemed to have “no currently accepted medical use.” With the success of legalization in Colorado and Washington, and the increased tax dollars flowing into their coffers, hopefully the federal government will join its citizens in the 21st century, and will stop classifying marijuana on the same scale as truly hard drugs like meth, heroin and peyote.

Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling.