American voters face a presidential rematch in November that many did not want, with the winner becoming the oldest person in history to hold or retake the White House. So it makes perfect sense for President Joe Biden and the president he defeated in 2020, Donald Trump, to court younger voters.
And while it has strong support among all Americans, it is also highly attractive to voters under 35: legalizing marijuana.
Three of the seven expected battleground states, Arizona, Michigan, and Nevada, have already approved full recreational and medical use of marijuana. His four remaining states (Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) still have strict restrictions. This is despite numerous polls in these states and across the country showing strong support for full legalization.
Part of the problem, said Morgan Fox, political director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), is that public support is always “a mile wide and an inch deep.”
This is another way of saying that even though many people are in favor of legalization, legalization was not a political priority for them. “But things are certainly starting to change, especially heading into the upcoming presidential election. We definitely have one of the most informed young voters ever,” Fox told me.
Opinion polls show strong support for marijuana legalization
Gallup said in a November poll that public support for legalization has reached a record high of 70% “after holding steady at 68%” for the past three years. And the younger you are, the more likely you are to feel that way. The survey found support from 79% of respondents aged 18-34, 71% of those aged 35-54, and 64% of those aged 55 and over.
There was also strong bipartisan support among Democrats (87%), independents (70%), and Republicans (55%).
Biden and Trump clearly know this, even though they have different approaches to legalization.
In his State of the Union address in March, Biden spoke about the federal government’s review of marijuana’s classification as a “Schedule 1 drug,” meaning it has “no currently recognized medical use and has a high potential for abuse.” He said he asked for. The Drug Enforcement Administration lists heroin and LSD in the same category.
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Biden also touted the reversal of thousands of convictions for people charged on federal land, saying he often said, “Because no one should go to jail for using or possessing marijuana!” I repeated the phrases I used.
Although Biden softened his resistance to legalization during the 2020 campaign, NORML still wants him to push back further.
“He hasn’t delivered on his campaign promises in terms of decriminalization and scheduling,” Fox said. “But he has done more on this issue than any sitting president ever.”
During his first term as president, Trump pardoned people convicted of marijuana distribution, and on his final day in office, he commuted the sentences of more than a dozen people convicted of similar crimes.
But in an interview with Newsmax last year, President Trump warned that while marijuana is “quite popular,” it causes “significant harm.” In a speech this month at the National Rifle Association’s Leadership Forum, he shifted the blame for gun violence to “genetically engineered marijuana and other drugs causing insanity.”
Fox said Trump “did a lot of pretty decent things” on criminal justice reform and marijuana during his time in office.
“But when asked during the campaign, the former president didn’t really have a firm or persuasive position on this issue,” he said.
Marijuana laws vary by state
Battleground states that have not embraced legalization are governed by patchwork marijuana laws that fall far short of what voters want.
In Georgia, the state manages a registry of people who can use “low THC oil” for medical purposes. In a poll conducted last year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the University of Georgia, 53% of registered voters in the state said marijuana should be fully legal for adults.
“I do not believe Georgia has an effective medical marijuana program,” Fox said.
Medical marijuana became available for purchase on tribal lands of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina this month. But Fox warned that “the moment you step off tribal land, you will be arrested.”
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The North Carolina General Assembly considered a medical marijuana bill last year but did not pass it. A February Meredith College poll found that 78% of registered voters in the state supported medical marijuana.
Pennsylvania approved medical marijuana in 2016, but Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was elected in 2020 and is widely expected to run for president in 2028, announced in his budget speech in February that the state would provide $250 million a year. He advocated full legalization as a way to raise dollars in state revenue.
A poll of registered voters in Pennsylvania conducted this month by Franklin Marshall University found that 62% support full legalization.
And in Wisconsin, Governor Tony Evers supports full legalization or medical marijuana only. But the state Legislature postponed the issue until next year in February, considering only medical uses.
A recent Marquette Law School poll of registered voters in Wisconsin found that 86% support medical marijuana and 63% support full legalization.
There is a great political opportunity for Biden and Trump to jump on this issue, especially in these four states.
Fifty-four years after the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 added marijuana to the list of Schedule 1 drugs, a majority of voters who want to legalize marijuana do not support decriminalization.
In a bipartisan election cycle where candidates and voters are at odds on so many issues, why can’t we run for office on issues that so many people agree on?
Follow USA TODAY election columnist Chris Brennan on X (formerly known as Twitter): @ChrisBrennan
