Most cannabis consumers would vote for pro-cannabis candidates regardless of party, new polling finds
New York City
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April 11, 2024 12:28 PM Eastern Daylight Time
A majority of cannabis consumers who are likely to vote this November would cast their ballot for a pro-cannabis presidential candidate regardless of that candidate’s party, according to a new poll that sheds light on how aligned cannabis consumers are as a voting bloc and what they think about this year's presidential election.
When asked whether a presidential candidate’s endorsement of pro-cannabis policies would increase their likelihood of voting for that candidate, 59% of the respondents said: “Yes, this would make me more likely to vote for that candidate regardless of their party.” Just 14% of respondents said they are locked into voting for their party or candidate of choice.
The poll was conducted by NuggMD.com, the largest telehealth platform for cannabis, using its own first-party data. The full results are available on the company’s website.
It shows President Biden outperforming Donald Trump, 43% to 36%, among those who use cannabis regularly, a population of at least 35 million voting-age people. President Biden also polled well ahead of a generic Republican candidate, while Trump was roughly tied with a generic Democratic candidate.
Concerning cannabis policy, the Democratic Party polled better than the GOP among this audience. Fifty-six percent of respondents said Democratic electeds have better ideas for cannabis policy, compared to 16% who said the same of Republicans. But this support is neither universal nor particularly intense. Nearly 40% of respondents indicated that they believe Democrats “want to suppress the legal use of cannabis,” while 68% said the same of Republicans.
While 88% of respondents said understanding cannabis culture is a requirement for writing and passing effective cannabis legislation, 73% said elected officials in general currently lack that understanding.
“This poll shows that adopting pro-cannabis policies can move more constituents into either party’s camp,” said Deb Tharp, head of legal and policy research at NuggMD. “This is a large voting population we’re talking about, and its demographics are changing quickly.”
She continued: “Respondents say they’re motivated by policy commitments and wins, not by grievance politics, outrage, or red meat. The degree to which this emerging constituency is moveable, and how to move them, will probably come as a surprise to insiders of both parties.
“To me, it signals that Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot by continuing to embrace the platform of prohibition. Democrats should double down on cannabis and expand their voting base by embracing full decriminalization and expungement for victims of targeted, unjust enforcement.”
Methodology
NuggMD.com conducted the poll digitally from March 25 to April 3 using a random sample of its first-party data. In total, 53,380 individuals were contacted and 755 completed the survey, resulting in a margin of error of 3.89% at a confidence level of 95%. Six swing states (n=120 in aggregate) were over-indexed. The full data set is available upon request.
NuggMD is the nation's leading medical marijuana technology platform, serving patients in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. They've connected over 1,300,000 patients face-to-face with their new medical marijuana doctors via their state-of-the-art telemedicine platform. They believe every human being has the right to explore the benefits of medical cannabis and are fully committed to helping each patient explore every option in their journey to wellness. For further information, visit https://www.nuggmd.com.
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