Poll: 58% of Americans Support Legalizing Cannabis

For the third year in a row, a Gallup poll has found that the majority of Americans favor legalizing cannabis.

The latest study, which included a random sample of just over 1,000 Americans, found that 58% support the legalization of marijuana, tying the mark set in 2013. Support dropped to 51% in last year’s poll but rebounded in 2015, possibly because of relatively few problems in states that have legalized thus far.

“People can see that legalizing and regulating marijuana is going quite well in states like Colorado and Washington,” Mason Tvert, communications director for Marijuana Policy Project, said in a statement. “They see the sky hasn’t fallen and that regulation works, and they want to take similar steps forward in their states.”

The study also found – likely to no one’s surprise – that younger voters are much more likely to back cannabis reforms than older voters, with 71% of 18-to-34-year-olds supporting legalization, and only 35% of those 65 and older in support.

Recreational marijuana legalization is on the ballot this year in Ohio and is expected to be on the ballot in at least half a dozen other states next year, including California, Arizona, Nevada, Massachusetts, Maine and Michigan.