Support
for marijuana legalization in the US continues to climb, with the
Gallup Poll reporting that a record high 50% of Americans now approve of
freeing the weed. That’s up from 30% in 2000, 40% in 2009, and 46% last
year. But pot legalization remains a divisive subject – 46% of
respondents oppose legalization, with only 4% either undecided or not
answering the question. When Gallup first began asking the marijuana
legalization question in 1969, only 12% approved and 84% opposed.
Approval figures hovered in the mid-twenties from the late 1970s to the
mid-1990s before beginning the current upward climb. The demographic
groups least like to favor marijuana legalization were people over 65
(31%), conservatives (34%), Republicans (35%), and women (46%).
