High times as majority in U.S. now want pot legalized

 Via Yahoonews

- According to the latest Gallup survey, 58 percent of Americans favor legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

Gallup says the poll culminates a year of “unprecedented success” for marijuana advocates and is almost certainly the harbinger of future legalization efforts. Support for legalization has climbed more than 10 percent in the past year alone.

“Whatever the reasons for Americans' greater acceptance of marijuana, it is likely that this momentum will spur further legalization efforts across the United States,” Gallup says in its analysis of the poll.

And as Gallup points out, the 58 percent support for legalization is a stark contrast to the group's first legalization poll in 1969, in which only 12 percent of respondents said they favored making marijuana legal.

Gallup also found that 38 percent of respondents said they had personally tried marijuana at some point.

The largest area of growth has been among independent voters, 62 percent of whom now say they support legalization. Sixty-five percent of self-identified Democrats say they also support legalization. Republicans remain the only significant voting block opposed to legalization with just 35 percent support such an effort.

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