(NEXSTAR) — Broader public acceptance of marijuana legalization has grown in recent years.
About 70% of American adults said marijuana should be legal in a Gallup poll taken last year, the highest level recorded by the polling firm since it first asked about marijuana policy in 1969. By contrast, only about one-third of respondents supported marijuana legalization 20 years ago.
Last year’s Gallup poll showed the highest support for marijuana among young voters, a key demographic in seven presidential battleground states.
Nearly half the country has already legalized medical cannabis, recreational marijuana, or both as of 2024.
A few more states could join that list in November. Voters in Florida, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota will all be responding to marijuana legalization measures on their ballots.
Here's a look at what those measures are.
A ballot measure in Florida would, if passed, legalize the recreational use of marijuana. According to Nexstar's WFLA, adults 21 years old and older would be allowed to purchase marijuana from licensed dispensaries, just as the state's medical marijuana patients have for years.
In order to pass, the measure needs 60% of voters to say "yes" on their ballots. Among those will seemingly be former President Donald Trump, who said in September that he will vote for it.
“As I have previously stated, I believe it is time to end needless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use,” he posted to Truth Social at the time.
Voters in Nebraska will be asked to respond to two cannabis-related measures this season.
Initiative Measures 437 and 438, if passed, would legalize and regulate the use of medical marijuana in the state, respectively.
Neighboring states Iowa and South Dakota have already legalized medical cannabis while Wyoming allows for the sale of CBD and low-THC products. Colorado and Missouri have legalized both recreational and medicinal uses of marijuana.
In North Dakota, voters will be asked for a third time about legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
According to Nexstar's KXMB, Measure 5 would make it legal for adults 21 years old and older to produce, process, sell, and use cannabis in North Dakota while establishing a state body to regulate it.
Similar measures in 2018 and 2022 were not passed. Neighboring Montana and Minnesota have already legalized recreational and medicinal use of cannabis. In 2016, North Dakota voters approved medical marijuana.
Like North Dakota, South Dakota will see its third attempt at legalizing recreational marijuana on the ballot in November.
In 2020, voters approved marijuana legalization, but the legality of the measure was challenged by the head of the state's highway patrol, Nexstar's KELO reports. The South Dakota Supreme Court ultimately ruled against the measure.
Two years later, voters rejected another ballot measure, Initiated Measure 27, that would have legalized the possession, distribution, and use of recreational marijuana. This year, voters will be asked to respond to Initiated Measure 29, which is identical to Initiated Measure 27.
South Dakota voters approved the use of medical marijuana in 2020.
Nationally, the federal process of rescheduling marijuana as a less dangerous drug continues.
In addition to supporting Florida's legalization measure, Trump said earlier this year that he would work “with Congress to pass common sense laws” regarding marijuana and expressed support for rescheduling the drug.
His opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, said in September that she believes “we have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
