Report: 66% Of Adults Support Federal Cannabis Legalization

New Frontier Data, the authority in data, analytics and business intelligence on the worldwide cannabis industry, releases its 2020 U.S. Election Special Report: Shifting Cannabis Sentiment & Consumption in partnership with global law firm Dentons and international business advisory firm FTI Consulting. The report builds upon a survey of over 5,000 current and potential cannabis consumers in the U.S. providing an at-a-glance comprehensive assessment of American voters’ current key political proclivities and priority issues to impact upcoming elections and the North American cannabis industry.

“If all cannabis legalization measures pass on November 3rd, more Americans will reside in states with legal adult-use cannabis than states where cannabis remains completely illegal,” said New Frontier Data Founder & CEO Giadha A. DeCarcer. “This expansion would offer new and existing consumers security and confidence in easily obtaining cannabis products, and is a giant step forward in legitimatizing a burgeoning industry as it moves into the mainstream market.”

“2020 is still an important year for cannabis ballot initiatives,” said Eric Berlin, a leading cannabis attorney who helps lead the global and U.S. Cannabis groups at Dentons. “While stay-at-home orders precluded live signatures required by several states’ ballot laws, we still expect that several states will further legalize cannabis in this coming election, including New Jersey and Arizona legalizing for adult use.”

Other key findings from the report include:

• 50% of potential consumers in illicit and medical-only states said they would try cannabis if adult-use was legalized in their state.
• Cannabis consumers are divided between political parties, with roughly 40% identifying as Democrats and 30% as Republicans.
• 53% of cannabis consumers intend to vote for Biden/Harris while 32% intend to vote for Trump/Pence.
• Nearly 50% of consumers aged 18-54 say cannabis legalization is a “very” or “extremely” important voting issue.
• 36% of consumers rank cannabis legalization as one of their top five issues determining how they will vote.
• Nearly 50% of consumers in illicit markets name cannabis legalization among their 5 most important voting issues.

“Cannabis legalization may well prove to be one issue that benefits from both COVID and the 2020 election,” said Elaine Carey, co-leader of FTI Consulting’s Cannabis practice. “However, any pro-cannabis momentum from a party shift is still somewhat contingent on the outcome of certain key Senate races.”

The 2020 U.S. Election Special Report: Shifting Cannabis Sentiment & Consumption is available for immediate download at no cost at www.NewFrontierData.com/electionreport.