April 18, 2024
New York’s Shaky Legal Marijuana Rollout
Marist New York State Poll
Broad Support for Legal Recreational Marijuana AND Big Concerns in NYC About Rollout
While majorities of New Yorkers are broadly supportive of the state’s three-year-old law legalizing the sale and recreational use of marijuana, the widely panned rollout has hit a nerve in New York City. Nearly three in ten city residents (29%) say the problem of illegal weed shops is very serious while only 14% of suburban residents and 11% of upstaters say the same.
A majority of New York City residents (57%) say illegal or unlicensed stores are a very serious or somewhat serious problem where they live. Far fewer of those who reside in the suburbs (35%) and Upstate (34%) share this view.
Nonetheless, majorities across New York say the law to legalize recreational marijuana has been a good thing for the state (56%) and that they support legal recreational use (61%).
Nearly six in ten New Yorkers (59%) favor allowing licensed marijuana dispensaries stores in their towns, however, there is a significant partisan difference. While 70% of Democrats say this, 53% of voters not enrolled in a major party and just 43% of Republicans agree.
A majority (55%) says legal weed has made no difference in their local quality of life while 16% say it’s improved it, and 28% say it’s made it worse.
The one thing about marijuana that New Yorkers most agree on is the social acceptability of using it. Twice as many New Yorkers say they think it’s socially acceptable to use weed (66%) than not (33%).
"Despite the state’s rocky rollout of licensed marijuana stores, New Yorkers are generally supportive of legal marijuana," says Lee M. Miringoff, Director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. "But in New York City where, by some estimates, thousands of illegal stores operate, there is a lot of concern about the impact."