Seventy-five percent of North Carolina adults support legalizing medical marijuana and 11 percent oppose it, according to a poll published on Thursday by Elon University. The survey of 1,121 North Carolina adults was conducted August 21-31 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.09 percentage points.
Elon University poll finds 75 percent of North Carolina adults back medical marijuana legalization
Seventy-five percent of North Carolina adults support legalizing medical marijuana and 11 percent oppose it, according to a poll published on Thursday by Elon University. The survey of 1,121 North Carolina adults was conducted August 21-31 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.09 percentage points.
Support for legalizing marijuana for recreational use was 55 percent, with 30 percent opposed, the poll found. Seventy-four percent of Democrats and 33 percent of Republicans favored recreational legalization. On medical legalization, 89 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of Republicans were in support.
Asked whether North Carolina should allow or prohibit the sale of hemp-derived products such as seltzers and gummies with THC levels that can cause intoxication or a high, 53 percent said they backed keeping them legal and 28 percent said they should be banned. Sixty-two percent of Democrats supported legal hemp THC products, compared with 35 percent of Republicans. In a separate question, 82 percent of all respondents backed banning sales of hemp-derived consumable products to people under 21, including majorities across party lines.
Jason Husser, director of the Elon University Poll and a professor of political science and public policy, said support for legalization has been stable in the state in recent years. "We found a significant increase in support for legalization between 2017 and 2021 as North Carolinians saw legalization occurring in other states," he said in a press release. "Over the last five years, support for legalization has largely been stable with a large majority supporting medical legalization and a small majority favoring recreational legalization."
The poll results were released as Gov. Josh Stein (D) continues to press the Republican-controlled legislature on marijuana policy. Stein called on lawmakers last month to legalize and regulate cannabis in a way that "protects kids," and lawmakers this week are considering a bill to restrict hemp THC products. A bill to restrict hemp and kratom products was recently approved by the Senate and now awaits potential action in the House. Lawmakers have considered medical cannabis legislation over the last several sessions, with the Senate approving several proposals and the House declining to follow suit, according to the source.
The North Carolina Advisory Council on Cannabis, which Stein convened last year, said in an interim report approved in April that the current "absence of regulation for North Carolina's intoxicating cannabis market raises numerous concerns," noting that hemp products are readily available yet largely unregulated and that marijuana remains prohibited in the state even for medical use. Members are tasked with developing initial recommendations on a "comprehensive cannabis policy, including any proposed legislation," with a final report due by December 31 of this year.
Democratic lawmakers recently filed legislation to let voters decide whether to legalize marijuana for personal or medical use at the ballot box this November. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians launched the state's first marijuana dispensary in 2024, over the protests of certain Republican congressional lawmakers, and bipartisan North Carolina lawmakers have been stepping up a push for psychedelics reform legislation. While he was the state's attorney general, Stein led a task force under then-Gov. Roy Cooper (D) that examined racial injustice issues and recommended decriminalizing marijuana and studying broader legalization in response to racially disparate enforcement trends.
- The source does not state the wording of the poll questions on medical and recreational legalization, or the margins of error for individual party subgroups.
- The source does not state what the Senate-approved bill to restrict hemp and kratom products would do, or when the Senate approved it.
- The source does not state the rationale of House leaders for declining to take up medical cannabis legislation approved by the Senate.
- The source does not state the details or current status of the Trump administration's move to reschedule cannabis at the federal level.
- The source does not state the calendar year for the December 31 deadline for the Advisory Council on Cannabis's final report.
- The source does not name the Republican congressional lawmakers who protested the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians dispensary or state their reasons.
Read the original at Marijuana Moment