New Gallup Poll: 64% of U.S. Adults Support Legalizing Marijuana
A new Gallup poll has found that 64% of adults in the United States support legalizing marijuana, up from 60% last year, and 50% in 2011.
This is this the highest level of support at the national level ever recorded by Gallup, which has been asking the question since 1969. It’s also the first time that a majority of Republicans support legalization (51%).
“It makes sense that support for ending marijuana prohibition is increasing”, says Morgan Fox, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project. “Americans are tired of wasting resources arresting hundreds of thousands of individuals every year for using a substance that is safer than alcohol. In the five years since the first states made marijuana legal for adults, it has become increasingly clear that — unlike prohibition — regulation works.”
Fox continues; “Adult-use marijuana laws create jobs, generate tax revenue, and protect consumers while taking the marijuana market out of the hands of criminals.”
When Gallup first asked U.S. adults whether or not they support marijuana legalization in 1969, only 12% of respondents stated that they do.
