Each year, 20 April — often written as 4/20 — draws attention to cannabis culture worldwide. It also makes for a useful moment to take the temperature of UK public opinion. Fresh YouGov polling published on 20 April 2026 suggests the country remains deeply divided on reform, even as personal experience with cannabis is far from uncommon.
Cannabis use is widespread, but not universal
According to YouGov, 37% of Britons say they have ever used cannabis — including 25% who have tried it “once or twice” and 12% who have used it “many times”. That is a substantial minority, but still leaves most of the public without direct personal experience.
Use is not evenly spread across age groups. People aged 25–49 are the most likely to report having tried cannabis (47%), while both 18–24 year olds (23%) and over-65s (25%) are among the least likely. That pattern complicates the familiar narrative that younger generations are always the most permissive on drugs policy.
Looking ahead, YouGov finds that 15% of the British public would be willing to use cannabis in future — a figure that combines those who have used it before and would do so again, with a smaller share of never-users open to trying it.
Legalisation: a nation split down the middle
On the central question of whether cannabis should be legalised, YouGov’s two-way question produces an almost even split: 47% support legalisation and 43% are opposed.
A three-way question — offering criminalisation, decriminalisation, or full legalisation — tells a similar story. 33% choose legalisation, 35% prefer criminalisation, and 23% back decriminalisation. There is no clear majority for any single approach, but the public is not rushing towards a liberal consensus either.
The contrast with harder drugs is stark. On heroin and crack cocaine, 83% of Britons want substances to remain fully illegal, with only 7% favouring decriminalisation and 5% legalisation. Cannabis may sit in a category of its own in the public mind — contentious, but not comparable to Class A drugs in most voters’ eyes.
Age and politics shape the debate
Support for legalisation falls markedly with age. On YouGov’s three-way question, 38–42% of under-50s choose legalisation, compared with just 20% of over-65s. Preference for full criminalisation rises in the opposite direction, from 29% among younger groups to 47% among the oldest.
Party affiliation follows a familiar pattern. Green voters are the most permissive, with 54% choosing legalisation. Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters are more evenly split across the three options, while 42% of Reform UK voters and 54% of Conservative voters prefer criminalisation.
Yet voters are uncertain about where parties actually stand. 52% of Britons say they do not know whether any major party supports legalising cannabis. The Greens are the only party a substantial share associate with legalisation (31%), despite the Liberal Democrats having pledged to legalise cannabis at the 2024 general election — a stance only 7% of the public correctly attribute to them.
Harm, policing, and whether bans work
YouGov also asked about perceived harm. 57% of Britons see cannabis as harmful to people who use it regularly, including 22% who consider it “very harmful”. That compares with 39% who see little or no harm, though only 7% say it is “not harmful at all”. For heroin and crack cocaine, by contrast, 97% consider regular use harmful.
On policing, the public is evenly divided: 24% think the police are too tough on cannabis, 25% say the approach is about right, and 26% think it is too soft. There is no consensus that enforcement is either excessive or inadequate.
Asked about the impact of legalisation on crime, 34% think it would make no difference, 29% expect less crime, and 23% expect more. Again, no single view dominates.
Perhaps the most striking finding is scepticism about prohibition itself. 60% of Britons say making a drug illegal is somewhat or very ineffective at preventing people from taking it, with only 29% seeing bans as effective. Even among those who support keeping cannabis criminalised, more think bans are ineffective (48%) than effective (42%).
Health issue, criminal issue, or both?
The question of whether drug use should be treated primarily as a health matter or a criminal one also splits the country. 40% see it as both equally, while 25% lean towards health and 26% towards crime. Green voters are far more likely to emphasise health (52%), whereas Conservative and Reform voters tend towards a criminal framing (37–41%).
That divide matters for policymakers. A public that doubts the effectiveness of criminalisation, but is also split on legalisation and concerned about harm, is not easily satisfied by simple slogans on either side of the debate.
What this means for UK cannabis policy
Taken together, YouGov’s findings paint a picture of a country that is familiar with cannabis, uncertain about reform, and unconvinced that the status quo is working well. Most Britons do not use cannabis, but more than a third have tried it. Most do not support legalising harder drugs, but nearly half are open to legalising cannabis — while a similar share is opposed.
For campaigners, the data suggests room to make the case for reform, particularly among younger voters and on the argument that criminalisation fails to deter use. For opponents, concern about harm and crime — plus strong support for tough stances on harder drugs — remains a powerful counterweight.
YouGov’s survey is a snapshot, not a forecast. But as Westminster continues to face pressure on medical access, policing priorities, and the economic case for regulation, these numbers confirm that cannabis policy remains one of the most contested issues in British public life — and that neither side can claim the public is already on their side.
Source: YouGov, “Where does the British public stand on cannabis in 2026?” (20 April 2026)
