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UK: Majority of Brits support cannabis reform, YouGov survey finds

Lia O'Dowd

Leafie

Tuesday 21 Apr 2026

Only 35% of the general public think cannabis possession should remain a criminal offence, while one in three Brits say they have tried cannabis at least once.

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%).

https://www.leafie.co.uk/news/majority-brits-support-cannabis-reform-yougov-survey/

 

 

 

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