Poll: Marijuana Legalization Favored By Majority Of Americans
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Marijuana advocates have enjoyed unprecedented success in the last year, and now for the first time ever, a large majority of Americans support legalizing recreational use of marijuana.
The drug is still outlawed under federal law and in the state of Florida, though a small movement has started in the state to try to change Florida law.
In the latest Gallup Poll released Tuesday, 58 percent of Americans say the drug should be legalized. Since 1969 when Gallup first began asking the question, the share favoring legalization has grown from 12 percent to 58 percent.
At the same time, the amount of people favoring keeping the drug illegal has fallen from 84 percent in 1969 to just 39 percent in the latest polling.
Breaking down the legalization movement by party identification finds 35 percent of Republicans supporting legalizing the drug along with 65 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents.
According to Gallup, the independent acceptance of marijuana legalization has grown from 50 percent last November to 62 percent as of early October.
Gallup found that the main group still opposing legalizing marijuana was Americans 65 and older, but even in that group, support has jumped 14 percent in the last year.
