Poll: 62 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana

More than 6 in 10 Americans support legalizing marijuana, according to a new survey released by the Pew Research Center.

The survey found that 62 percent of Americans favor legalization, a figure that represents a steady increase in support in recent years. 

{mosads}Support jumped just 1 percent from 2017 but has doubled from the 31 percent of the nation that supported marijuana legalization in 2000, according to Pew. 

Pew notes that support for legalizing marijuana splits along party lines. Sixty-nine percent of Democrats are in favor of legalizing the drug, while just 45 percent of Republicans back the idea. Fifty-one percent of Republicans oppose legalizing marijuana. 

But the 45 percent of Republicans supporting marijuana’s legalization represents a 6-point increase since 2015, Pew noted. 

The rising support for legalizing marijuana comes as more states are easing their laws on the drug. Recreational marijuana is currently legal in nine states and Washington, D.C., and medical marijuana is legal in another 29.

States like Michigan, North Dakota and Oklahoma will be voting on marijuana initiatives this November. Oklahoma residents voted to legalize medicinal marijuana in June.

Michigan and North Dakota voters will vote on whether the states should permit recreational use this November. Missouri and Utah voters will vote on whether the states can permit medical marijuana use. 

In April, support for legalization reached 63 percent in in a poll conducted by Quinnipiac University, the highest level of support recorded by the survey. 

Support for medical marijuana reached 93 percent, according to the poll. Only about 5 percent of respondents opposed it.