Poll Shows 58 Percent of Americans Favor Marijuana Legalization

A Gallup poll has found a majority of Americans say marijuana should be legalized. The poll found 58 percent favor legalization, a 10 percent increase since last year.

Those who favor legalization are more likely to be young and liberal, NBC News reports. The largest increase in support came from people who said there were independents. The poll found 62 percent of independents support legalization, up 12 percent from 2012. Among Democrats, 65 percent favored legalization, compared with 35 percent of Republicans.

The first time Gallup started asking Americans about their view of legalization was in 1969, when just 12 percent supported the idea. In the 1970s, support reached 28 percent. In 2011, half of Americans said they favored legalization.

Americans 65 and older are the only age group still opposed to marijuana legalization, according to a Gallup news release. In that age group, 45 percent support the idea. Among those 18 to 29, the poll found 67 percent favor legalization.

In April, a survey by the Pew Research Center found 52 percent of Americans favor the legalization of marijuana. It was the first time in more than four decades of polling on the issue that a majority of Americans said they favored legalizing marijuana, according to the Pew Research Center. The survey found 45 percent of Americans said they opposed legalization.