Cannabis consumers would vote for the U.S. presidential candidate who endorses pro-cannabis policies, regardless of their party, according to a new poll.
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As the 2024 U.S. Presidential election approaches, analyzing voters’ issue priorities is crucial for understanding trends.
Among the issues at stake in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, cannabis may be one to take into account, especially considering that its current legal status is under review and legalization at the state level by nearly half of the U.S. states.
The cannabis telemedicine company NuggMD released a 2024 election poll conducted on 755 regular cannabis consumers between March 25 and April 3. This number represents a small fraction when compared to the more than 48.2 million people estimated to have used cannabis at least once, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nevertheless, the poll offers a glimpse into the voting intentions of cannabis consumers for the next elections.
The poll indicates that 59% of cannabis consumers would vote for a presidential candidate who supports pro-cannabis policies like legalization. However, 17% would support such policies only if the candidate is a Democrat, while 10% would do so only if the candidate is a Republican, and 14% would stick to their preferred candidate or party.
Of the 755 respondents, 87% will or are likely to vote in the 2024 elections. Among these, 38% believe that the Democratic party has better ideas for the country, compared to 27% who favor the Republican party, while 35% see both parties as equal.
In terms of cannabis policy, 56% of respondents who are going to vote or are likely to vote think that the Democratic party has better ideas for cannabis policies. Additionally, 43% would vote for U.S. President Joe Biden, while 36% would vote for former President Donald Trump if the two were to be the official candidates for the next elections. In comparison, voter preferences between a generic Democrat and a generic Republican show 38% favoring Democrats, 21% favoring Republicans, 33% indicating indecision, 6% preferring another candidate, and 3% abstaining from voting for president.
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This shows a significant change in voter preferences between generic and specific candidates. Although many respondents show openness to various options based on candidates, President Biden has a slight lead over Trump in direct comparison. However, a significant number of voters are undecided or favor alternative candidates, suggesting possible fluctuations in voter sentiment.
Overall, the respondents of this poll show that cannabis is not the only issue they care about (6%), but rather one of several issues (47%) or one of the many issues they care about (38%), highlighting that cannabis is not a top priority in their voting intentions.
In terms of knowledge about cannabis markets and cannabis culture among candidates, 88% of overall respondents believe that candidates need to understand the cannabis markets and culture in order to effectively legislate around it. In fact, 37% of respondents believe that candidates don’t understand the market or the culture at all, while 36% think that candidates understand the market to some degree but not the culture.
This poll also confirms the trend of age as a factor that may impact the upcoming election, with 69% of respondents believing that younger candidates would improve politicians’ understanding of cannabis markets and culture.
While endorsement of cannabis legalization or any pro-cannabis policies may contribute to changing the voting intentions of cannabis consumers, 40% believe Democrats support a “vibrant legal market,” while Republicans aim to “suppress legal use.” However, 29% think that both parties want to suppress the legal use of cannabis.
As most Americans support cannabis legalization, as highlighted by several surveys in recent months, 41% of cannabis consumers in this poll believe, among other reasons, that cannabis hasn’t been federally legalized yet because the legislative process moves slower than public opinion. Additionally, 39% attribute it to interference from anti-legalization interests, and 36% think legislators don’t care about what voters want.
Overall, while this poll on cannabis consumer voters is tiny compared to the estimated cannabis users in the U.S., it sheds light on the voting intentions among this group of people.
It highlights that while cannabis may be the single issue for only a small fraction of single-issue voters, it remains relevant for cannabis consumers when they consider a candidate alongside other issues. But most importantly, endorsing a pro-cannabis policy could sway the vote of this group of people, regardless of their party affiliation.
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