The public are divided on the question of legalisation

Key findings

  • 37% of Britons say they have ever used cannabis, and 15% say they would consider doing so in future
  • On a two-way question, Britons split 47-43% on whether or not to legalise cannabis
  • On a three-way question, comparing criminalisation, decriminalisation, and legalisation, Britons again split between criminalisation (35%) and legalisation (33%) – fewer favour decriminalisation (23%)
  • Conservatives take the toughest stances on cannabis, and Greens the most permissive
  • The younger people are, the more permissive their views on cannabis
  • Few support changing rules on hard drugs like heroin and crack cocaine

If you use the American dating system, 20 April each year marks ‘4/20’, a day that is tongue-in-cheek associated with cannabis due to its close resemblance to the number ‘420’ – a code term for cannabis use.

With today marking 4/20, this represents as good an opportunity as any for YouGov to examine public attitudes towards cannabis in the UK.

How many Britons say they’ve ever used cannabis?

Overall, one in three Britons admit to ever having used cannabis, including 25% who say they have done so “once or twice”, and 12% who have done so “many times”.

Those in the 25-49 year old age bracket are the most likely to say they’ve ever used cannabis, at 47%. The youngest Britons and the oldest are the least likely to say they have ever tried cannabis, at 23% of 18-24 year olds and 25% of the over-65s.

Among those who have ever used cannabis, 29% say they would be willing to do so again, while among those who have not, 7% say they are willing to try. Collectively, this amounts to 15% of the British public who would be willing to take cannabis in the future.

Do Britons support legalising cannabis?

When asked a two-way question on whether they support or oppose legalising cannabis, the public are split: 47% say they would support doing so, while 43% would be opposed.

YouGov also tracks attitudes to cannabis legalisation with a three-way question, that asks respondents to choose between legalisation, decriminalisation and criminalisation. This version also finds a close split between legalisation (33%) and criminalisation (35%) – with a further 22% opting for the decriminalisation approach.

By comparison, when asked the same three-way question about hard drugs like heroin and crack cocaine, the vast majority of the public (83%) want such substances to remain totally illegal. Only 7% would see them decriminalised, and just 5% want legalisation.

Support for legalising cannabis falls with age – on our three-way question, 38-42% of the under-50 age groups choose the legalisation option, dropping to 20% among the over-65s.

Likewise, the older people get, the more likely they are to want to keep cannabis fully criminalised, rising from 29% to 47%. Levels of preference for the decriminalisation option are consistent across age groups (20-25%).

Age correlates strongly with political preferences, and so it is no surprise to see that parties that tend to have an older support base (Conservatives and Reform) take a tougher stance on cannabis than those with a younger electorate (Labour and Lib Dems, and particularly the Greens).

Among Green voters, 54% opt for the legalisation option on our three-way question. Labour and Lib Dem voters tend to be closely split across the three options, while the criminalisation option is preferred among Reform (42%) and particularly Tory voters (54%).

What do Britons think the parties’ stance on legalising cannabis is?

While voters have made their own preferences clear, where do they think the parties stand? We asked the public to pick from a list of the five largest UK parties which, if any, they thought supported the full legalisation of cannabis.

Ultimately, most Britons (52%) said they didn’t know whether or not any party supported legalisation.

The only party that a substantial number of Britons think backs legalisation are the Greens, with 31% of Britons saying so. Party leader Zack Polanski is reportedly in favour of legalising all drugs, including class A drugs like heroin and crack cocaine.

The only party that pledged to legalise cannabis at the 2024 general election were the Liberal Democrats, but only 7% of Britons believe the party holds that stance. Only 0-1% think each of Labour, Reform and the Tories support legalisation.

A further 14% say that none of the five major parties support making cannabis legal.

Green voters are no more likely than other voters to think the party wants to legalise cannabis.

An equivalent question asking about hard drugs like heroin and crack cocaine found similar numbers answering don’t know (46%), while 37% thought none of the parties wanted to institute legalisation of such drugs. Greens again are the party the largest number of people think want to legalise heroin and similar drugs, although at the much reduced rate of 16% - only 1% say the same for any of the other parties.

Reform UK voters are particularly likely to think the Greens want to legalise hard drugs (31%) than other voters (9-17%).

How harmful do Britons think cannabis is?

The majority of Britons (57%) see cannabis as a harmful substance to those who take it regularly, including 22% who see it as “very harmful”. Around four in ten Britons (39%) think cannabis causes little to no harm, although only 7% think it is “not harmful at all”.

This stands in contrast to 97% who see each of heroin and crack cocaine to be harmful to regular users, with 91-93% in each case considering each “very harmful”.

Is the police stance on cannabis too tough, and would legalising cannabis lead to more crime?

Britons are totally divided on the police’s approach to cannabis: 24% think they are too tough, 25% think their approach is about right, and 26% think it is too soft.

The public are largely divided on the impact that legalising cannabis would have on crime. The largest portion (34%) think that it would make no difference, followed closely by the 29% who think it would lead to less crime. A further 23% think crime would increase as a result.

How effective do Britons think making a drug illegal is at preventing people from taking it?

But do Britons think that making a drug illegal is an effective way of preventing people from taking it? The majority say no, with 60% saying it is either somewhat or very ineffective at doing so, with only 29% seeing bans as effective.

Even among those who support keeping cannabis criminalised on our three-way question, more expect bans to be ineffective (48%) than effective (42%). Those who support decriminalisation or legalisation stances are even more likely to think bans are ineffective (64% and 74%, respectively).

Should drug use be treated as a health or a criminal issue?

A key debate when it comes to drugs policy is whether to treat usage as a health issue or as a criminal issue. The public are divided on the question: while the largest portion see it as "both equally” (40%), most of the rest are split between 25% who see it most as a health issue and 26% who see it as a criminal issue.

Green voters are far more likely to see drugs as a predominantly health issue (52%) than a criminal issue. Labour and Lib Dem voters are also more likely to take the health approach (28-32%) than the criminal one (17-19%).

Reform and Tory voters, by contrast, are more likely to see drugs as a mainly criminal issue (37-41%), rather than being primarily about health (12%).

Similarly, there is a direct correlation with age, with younger Britons more likely to come down on the ‘health’ side of the aisle, while older Britons tend to see drugs more through the prism of crime.

See the full results here

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