UK cannabis attitudes in 2026: YouGov data and what real patients experience

Yesterday, to mark April 20th, the somewhat unofficial international day of cannabis, YouGov released fresh data on how the UK feels about cannabis.

At first glance, the headline looks simple. Support for legalisation sits slightly ahead of opposition, and that is how most cannabis-focused media in the UK is reporting it. But the detail matters and once you dig into the YouGov data, a more nuanced picture starts to come through.

And with that in mind, there is another dataset that offers a useful counterpoint. In late 2025, Releaf commissioned the largest survey of active UK medical cannabis patients ever conducted. With 1,669 current patients taking part, it captured what treatment actually looks like in practice, making it a strong point of comparison against this broader snapshot of public opinion.

What do the latest surveys reveal about cannabis in the UK?

Taken on its own, the YouGov data gave a clear snapshot of how the UK public felt about cannabis at the time of the survey. On a simple two-way question, 47% of respondents said they would support legalisation, compared to 43% who would oppose it.

The Releaf patient survey looked at the same area from a different angle. It focused on people who all have experience with prescribed UK medical cannabis for a range of conditions and health concerns.

Why does cannabis still carry a strong perception of harm?

Much of the blame comes from the way that cannabis has been framed over the past century or so. Stigma and misinformation have played a central role in shaping public perception, driven in large part by long-standing media narratives and policy messaging that have consistently presented cannabis through a lens of risk, criminality, and social harm.

And even with medical cannabis being legal for more than seven years here in the UK, and the data from this new branch of legal healthcare continuing to grow, that shift has not yet fully filtered through into public understanding.

The age breakdown in the YouGov data reinforces this point, with views shifting clearly across generations:

• Among people aged 18 to 49, around 38% to 42% support legalisation, while roughly 29% favour keeping cannabis illegal

• Among those aged 50 to 64, support for legalisation falls below younger groups, sitting in the mid-range at around 25% to 35%, with support for criminalisation increasing accordingly

• Among people aged 65 and over, around 20% support legalisation, while approximately 47% favour keeping cannabis illegal

Of course, age is not the only factor shaping these views. Political alignment, personal experience, media exposure, and broader attitudes towards drugs and healthcare all play a role.

The YouGov data reflects this wider spread. 

Support for legalisation is higher among Green, Liberal Democrat, and Labour voters, while Conservative and Reform UK voters are more likely to favour keeping cannabis illegal. 

Why do people still group recreational and medical cannabis together?

The YouGov data clearly shows that cannabis is still a grey area for many people in the UK. It is viewed differently from harder drugs, but it’s not widely seen as particularly low-risk either. This isn’t overly shocking, as for the majority of UK residents, their first exposure to cannabis does not (or did not) come through a medical setting.

Instead, it tends to come through informal routes. Think a late night get-together, probably preceded by some second-hand stories about the plant, and before that media coverage that focuses on mostly the negatives. Even now, in 2026, much of the mainstream reporting still centres on a healthy amount of fearmongering, which continues to shape how cannabis is viewed.

Medical cannabis sits outside this discussion, and while that distinction is still not widely understood, a slow shift is happening culturally. It is prescribed by specialist doctors, supplied through regulated channels, and administered as part of a structured treatment plan. Products are standardised, dosing is guided, and patients are monitored as part of ongoing care.

That difference becomes clearer when looking at patient-reported data.

In our survey of 1,669 UK patients, 97% said their quality of life had improved, and over 90% reported that their treatment had been effective, including 78% who rated it as very or extremely effective. Most also reported improvements in day-to-day functioning, with 85% saying they were able to manage daily activities more easily.

If you want to go deeper into how medical cannabis is being experienced across different conditions, these breakdowns from the same patient survey offer a more detailed view:

• Neurological conditions including ADHD, MS, and epilepsy, where 91.1% of patients reported treatment as effective and 95.5% saw improvements in quality of life in this analysis

• Chronic pain, the most common reason for prescription, is covered with real patient feedback on symptom control, daily functioning, and treatment experience

• Women’s health outcomes, where 95.4% of women reported effective treatment across a range of conditions

What does this mean for accessing medical cannabis in the UK?

Public opinion on cannabis in the UK remains split, with many people still unclear on the detail.

Medical cannabis treatment in the UK is not. It already sits within a heavily regulated, clinician-led system, with patients accessing treatment every day. Those same patients are reporting overwhelmingly positive results. 

If you want to understand whether this applies to your own situation, the next step is simple. Head to our medical cannabis eligibility checker. It is totally free, takes less than 20 seconds, and gives you an clear idea of your potential eligibility.

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