Poll: Majority of Texans Support Cannabis Legalization

A new poll reveals a majority of Texans support legalizing cannabis for medical and adult use, according to a Marijuana Moment report. The survey conducted by the University of Texas at Tyler and the Dallas Morning News found that 72% of registered voters support medical cannabis legalization, including 67% of Republicans.

Fifty-five percent of respondents say they would support legalizing cannabis for adult use. Republicans are split 48% against and 43% for adult-use legalization, while 65% of Democrats support broader legalization along with 63% of Independents.

The poll was conducted August 1-7 and consisted of 1,384 registered voters, with a margin of error of 2 percentage points. Other polls conducted in Texas have found support for adult use as high as 67%, with a slim majority of Republicans in favor, the report says.

Texas has been unable to advance any meaningful cannabis reforms on a state level. However, some local jurisdictions, including the state capital in Austin, have passed decriminalization measures, and some smaller Texas towns have decriminalization measures on the upcoming November ballots.

Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke has made the issue one of his top campaign pillars in his campaign for governor against incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. In January, Abbott said he did not believe low-level cannabis possession was the “type of violation” state officials “want to stockpile jails with.” As for O’Rourke, he said in his campaign announcement last year, that cannabis legalization was something “most of [Texans] actually agree on.”