Gallup Poll: Support for Legalization on the Rise

By Ron Crumpton

According to a new Gallup Poll, more Americans now support the legalization of marijuana than ever before.

The results of Gallup’s annual crime polls show that 46 percent of Americans now support the legalization of marijuana. This equates to a rise of 15 percent over the last 10 years. If the current trend continues, the majority of Americans will be in support of the outright legalization of marijuana by 2013.

The poll shows that liberals are by far the largest group with 72 percent in favor of legalization. The majority of young people (18- to 29-year-olds, 61%), Democrats (55%), independents (54%), political moderates (51%) and Men (51%) support legalization. On the other hand, Republicans (29%) are the least supportive followed by conservatives (30%), older Americans (over 65, 32%), southerners (40%) and women (41%).

In a separate question, Gallup found that 70 percent of Americans support the use of medical marijuana, but unlike the numbers for legalization, that number is falling.

In 2005, 75 percent of Americans supported medical marijuana. Most experts, including the one writing this, believe that the fall in support for medical marijuana can be attributed to those who once supported it, but have now bought in to the back door to legalization propaganda.