The Biden administration is relying heavily on cannabis reform to drum up support among younger voters ahead of the upcoming presidential election.
According to a new report from the Los Angeles Times, Biden’s team is hoping that its recent commitment to cannabis reform will help galvanize support among 18-29 year olds, only 31% of whom currently view him favourably, a recent Economist/YouGov poll suggests.
Though this is significantly above his rival Trump’s 21% favorability rating, the administration believes these voters need to be particularly motivated to turn up to the polls, an issue they believe cannabis reform can solve.
Polling conducted by Celinda Lake, a former polster for Biden and a current representative of the Coalition for Cannabis Scheduling Reform, suggests that the current push to reschedule cannabis could gain him up to a 9% boost in approval ratings among this age group.
Though this young demographic is motivated by a number of key issues, only one of which is cannabis reform, the government’s pitch that cannabis reform is part of a wider push to change criminal sentencing laws could also improve Biden’s approval rating among Black men, another group that has seen support wane since 2020.
Across the US, support for cannabis legalization has now hit 70%, the highest ever recorded by pollsters, Gallup.
