Support For Marijuana Legalization Rises To New High

Fresh survey conducted by Pew Research indicates rising support for marijuana legalization across the United States.

According to the Pew Research Center, 57 percent of US adults say marijuana use should be legalized, while 37 percent say it should remain illegal. That's a reversal from a decade ago when 32 percent favored legalization and 60 percent were opposed. The Pennsylvania and New Jersey programs have many restrictions on accessibility, type of diseases and conditions that qualify, forms of marijuana that may be used, a ban on growing one's own marijuana, etc. They'd join the list of 25 states and the District of Columbia that have approved medical marijuana. As Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada prepare to vote on marijuana legalization next month, all eyes are on the initial outcomes of those states that have already legalized marijuana.

The study looked at drug use surveys of high school students in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, which show that both current and lifetime marijuana use among youth has remained stable after legalization.

Overall, 71 percent of millennial voters, those ages 18 to 35, support legalizing the drug, compared to 34 percent in 2006, the poll found.

Today, although support for marijuana legalization is widespread, there's a partisan difference.

The majority of the American population believes the time has come to bring down the walls of prohibition across the Land of the Free, according to the latest survey from the Pew Research Center.

It's more clear than ever which way the country is moving on marijuana. Meanwhile, baby boomers (ages 52 to 70) support increased from 17 percent in 1990 to 56 percent today.

Trump has publicly supported medical marijuana throughout his campaign, but his policy on marijuana has shifted from one of pro-legalization to something a bit more cautious. In fact, the younger generation is about twice as likely to support legalization as it was back in 2006.

Republicans are internally divided over marijuana legalization. Just 33 per cent of conservative Republicans share this view, with 62 per cent saying marijuana should be illegal.

The other group isn't defined generationally: self-identified Republicans are against legalization, 55% against to 41% in favor. Some 49 percent of Hispanics say pot should illegal while 46 percent in are in favor. Black and Latino people are arrested at vastly disproportionate rates, even though white people use and sell marijuana at similar rates.