Older voters more likely to back legalisation of cannabis for medical use than the young

Older voters more likely to back legalisation of cannabis for medical use than the young

The Sajid Javid move is in line with public opinion

The big news from Westminster this afternoon is that the Home Secretary has announced a review on the legalisation of cannabis for medical use – something that has become a big issue because of the Billy Caldwell case.

The main recent poll on this comes from a YouGov survey last month and I illustrate the age splits in the chart above.

What I find really interesting is that the older age groups are more likely to back such a move than the youngest segment. I put this down to older people having more experience of relatives and friends going through the pain and misery of debilitating conditions.

What is extraordinary is that Britain seems to have a harsher regime of cannabis outlawing than other countries.

I think that Sajid Javid has read the public mood well and could get the political benefit. Proposing major policy changes at the Home Office, where Theresa May was for 7 years, is in many ways an implied criticism of the Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party.

Mike Smithson


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