A new poll found that 49 percent of people favor legalizing recreational marijuana just as the Trump administration aims to crack down on state laws that allow recreational sales.
Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, but several states have decriminalized it and allowed sales for recreational use. A poll from the Mason-Dixon polling firm found that 49 percent of respondents support legalization for recreational use and 29 percent support legalization for medical use.
Only 16 percent supported keeping the current policy that makes marijuana illegal under federal law. Another 5 percent support decriminalizing marijuana use by removing the possibility of jail time for possession but keeping the sale of marijuana illegal, the poll found.
Eight states have legalized marijuana for recreational use: Maine, Massachusetts, Colorado, Nevada, California, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. More than 20 states have legalized medical marijuana, according to a tally as of Jan. 8 from Governing Magazine.
California allowed the sale of recreational marijuana starting Jan. 1 and Massachusetts is expected to start in July, Governing said.
However, the Trump administration signaled it will clamp down on the sale of marijuana in states that have legalized it.
The Obama administration had drafted a memo that essentially told federal prosecutors to look the other way in states that legalized recreational and medical use.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said this month that he would let federal prosecutors in states that have legalized it decide how aggressively to pursue federal enforcement of marijuana laws.
The Mason-Dixon poll was based on 1,000 registered voters who were interviewed on the telephone Jan. 10-13 and had a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points.
