Britons are in favour of legalising cannabis, according to a new YouGov survey, with 47% supporting legalisation compared to 43% opposed.
The survey, conducted on 31 March and 1 April 2026, found that more than one in three adults (37%) admit to having used cannabis at least once, whilst 15% say they would be willing to use it in future.
When presented with three options, legalisation, decriminalisation, or criminalisation, the public remained closely divided, with 33% backing full legalisation, 23% favouring decriminalisation and only 35% wanting cannabis to remain a criminal offence.
The results show a small increase in support for cannabis amongst the general public. A 2025 YouGov survey found that 45% of people supported legalisation, while 55% of the public said they supported either decriminalisation (24%) or full legalisation (31%).
Support for reform in the 2026 survey correlates strongly with age, with 38-42% of under-50s choosing legalisation compared to just 20% of over-65s. Meanwhile, preference for keeping cannabis fully criminalised rises from 29% among younger voters to 47% among pensioners.
Green Party voters showed the strongest support for legalisation at 54%, followed by Liberal Democrat (37%) and Labour voters (34%). By contrast, 54% of Conservative voters and 42% of Reform UK supporters backed maintaining criminalisation.
Despite the Liberal Democrats pledging to legalise cannabis in their 2024 general election manifesto, just 7% of Britons were aware of this stance. The Greens, which have a comprehensive drug legalisation policy, were the party most associated with supporting legalisation, with 31% of respondents identifying them as backing reform.
A significant majority of Britons (60%) believe that making a drug illegal is ineffective at preventing people from taking it, with only 29% seeing bans as effective.
Even among those who support keeping cannabis criminalised, more respondents expected bans to be ineffective (48%) than effective (42%).
The survey also revealed Britons are divided on how police currently handle cannabis enforcement, with 24% believing the approach is too tough, 25% saying it is about right, and 26% arguing it is too soft.
On whether drug use should be treated primarily as a health issue or a criminal matter, the public showed no clear consensus. Whilst 40% said it should be treated as both equally, 25% leaned towards viewing it as a health issue, compared to 26% who saw it as predominantly criminal.
Green Party voters were most likely to view drug use as a health issue (52%), whilst Conservative and Reform UK voters were more inclined to see it as a criminal matter (41% and 37% respectively).
The survey found that 57% of Britons consider cannabis harmful to regular users, including 22% who view it as “very harmful”. However, this stands in stark contrast to attitudes towards hard drugs, with 97% seeing heroin and crack cocaine as harmful to users.
When asked about the potential impact of legalisation on crime levels, 34% thought it would make no difference, 29% believed it would lead to less crime, and 23% expected crime to increase.
The survey questioned a representative sample of British adults, with full results available on the YouGov website.
