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Only 35% of brits support legalisation of cannabis

Home> News

Published 13:32 12 Mar 2023 GMT

Only 35% of brits support legalisation of cannabis

Britons are split over whether or not cannabis should be legal

Ben Thompson

Ben Thompson

Britain is know to be quite a liberal country on most things - but when it comes to legalising cannabis, public opinion is split.

A poll by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that the British public are narrowly divided on the issue of cannabis legalisation.

Only 35 percent of Brits support changing the law to legalise marijuana.
Pixabay

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It has been legal in the UK to use cannabis for medical reasons since 2018, but under the Misuse of Drugs Act it remains a criminal offence to supply, produce or use the drug in other circumstances.

When asked to what extent they would support the legalisation of marijuana, a survey of 1,500 Brits found there was a lot of divided opinion.

Only 35 percent of respondents supported legalising the drug - with 16 percent claiming they would 'strongly support' a change in the law.

Twenty percent claimed to neither support or oppose legalisation, with seven percent confessing they weren't sure where their opinion fell.

Those opposed to legalisation had a narrow majority in the poll, with 38 percent of British people backing the current legalisation surrounding marijuana use.

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Twenty six percent of respondents claimed to 'strongly oppose' measures to liberalise Britain's legal approach to marijuana.

Proposals to legalise marijuana were opposed most by those who voted for the Conservatives in 2019.
RayArt Graphics / Alamy Stock Photo

Interestingly, the poll found that the youngest and oldest demographics were those who took the hardest line against legalisation.

Only 34 percent of 18-to-24 year olds backed legalisation, which was only slightly higher than the 21 percent of 65 and overs who had the same view.

By contrast, 45 percent of 25-to-34 year olds and 41 percent of 35-to-44 year olds lent their support to a change in the law.

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Differences in opinion could also been seen along political lines - as 51 percent of 2019 Conservative voters opposed legalising cannabis.

Whereas for those who gave their vote to Labour in that years election, 48 percent agreed with the idea of decriminalising marijuana use.

Currently, possessing cannabis carries a potential prison sentence of up to four years and producing and supplying the drug could land somebody behind bars for up to 14.

The poll found that this current time frame still enjoys considerable support among respondents, with 41 percent supporting a prison sentence for the crime, compared to the 30 percent who opposed it.

Cannabis has been legalised in several countries around the world, including Malta, Canada and Uruguay.

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It's use is also legal in several US states, including Arizona, California, New York and Montana.

Featured Image Credit: Lafargue Raphael/ABACA/Shutterstock/Joe Bird / Alamy Stock Photo
Ben Thompson
Ben Thompson

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