For First Time, Majority Backs Legal Marijuana

Pew survey finds 52% in favor

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 4, 2013 3:30 PM CDT

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For First Time, Majority Backs Legal Marijuana — This file photo shows marijuana plants flourishing under the lights at a grow house in Denver. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)

The Pew Research Center has a marijuana milestone to report: Most Americans support legalizing pot for the first time in the group's 40 years of polling on the issue. The final tally was 52% to 48%, with the pro-legalization total rising 11 points in just two years. Not surprisingly, the younger the age bracket, the higher the support: About 65% of millennials favor legalization, 54% of Gen X-ers, 50% of baby boomers, and 32% of boomers' elders. All those percentages have increased since 2010.

Other tidbits:

48% say they have tried pot at least once, up from 38% a decade ago.
12% have used it in the last year, with 27% of those younger than 30 leading the way.
32% say it's morally wrong to smoke marijuana, down 18 points from 2006.

Click for the full results. (More marijuana stories.)

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