October 2, 2019 9:15AM 

# Poll: 55% of Americans Favor Decriminalizing Drugs 

By [Emily Ekins](https://www.cato.org/people/emily-ekins) 

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![Americans favor decriminalizing drug offenses](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/images/wealth-work-survey/ekins-wealth-work-survey-91.jpg?itok=T0of_-k-) 

The [Cato 2019 Welfare, Work, and Wealth National Survey](https://www.cato.org/publications/survey-reports/what-americans-think-about-poverty-wealth-work) finds that a majority, 55%, of Americans favor “recategorizing drug offenses from felonies to civil offenses” such that they “would be treated like minor traffic violations rather than crimes.” Forty-four percent (44%) oppose treating drug offenses like traffic tickets.

*[Full survey results and report found here.](https://www.cato.org/publications/survey-reports/what-americans-think-about-poverty-wealth-work)*

Majorities of Democrats (69%) and independents (54%) support decriminalizing drug offenses. However, most Republicans (59%) oppose this change while 40% favor.

This partisan gap is consistent with [Gallup polling](https://news.gallup.com/poll/243908/two-three-americans-support-legalizing-marijuana.aspx) that has found Democrats and independents are more supportive than Republicans of legalizing certain types of drugs. For instance, Gallup found Democrats (75%) and independents (71%) are about 20 points more likely than Republicans (53%) to support legalizing marijuana.

![Democrats and Independents Support Decriminalizing Drug Offenses; Republicans Oppose](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/2019-10/Chart2a.jpg?itok=aKU1Qy0w) 

***Read more of the survey report [here](https://www.cato.org/publications/survey-reports/what-americans-think-about-poverty-wealth-work).***

[![Cato 2019 Welfare, Work, and Wealth National Survey](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/2019-09/Cover%20for%20web.jpg?itok=PmSlo42A)](https://www.cato.org/publications/survey-reports/what-americans-think-about-poverty-wealth-work)

*The Cato Institute 2019 Welfare, Work, and Wealth Survey was designed and conducted by the Cato Institute in collaboration with YouGov. YouGov collected responses online March 7 to 13, 2019 from a representative national sample of 1,700 Americans 18 years of age and older. The margin of error for the survey is +/- 2.2 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence.*

[*Sign up here to receive forthcoming Cato Institute*](https://www.cato.org/project-public-opinion)[ *survey reports*](https://www.cato.org/project-public-opinion)*.*

##### Related Tags 

[Drug War](https://www.cato.org/drug-war), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Criminal Justice](https://www.cato.org/criminal-justice), [Center for Representative Government](https://www.cato.org/center-representative-government), [Public Opinion](https://www.cato.org/public-opinion) 

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