Support for legalization of marijuana has decreased in the past year.
That’s the finding of a Gallup poll released on Thursday.
Gallup found 51 percent of Americans said they are in favor of legalizing the drug, about the same as those asked in 2011 and 2012.
But it’s a decrease from the 58 percent who said last year that they favored decriminalization.
The poll was taken in mid-October as residents of multiple states prepared to vote on ballot initiatives to legalize various uses of the drug.
Florida rejected a constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana, but Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia voted in favor of legalization.
According to Gallup, support for legal use of pot has increased during the past decade, reaching a peak of 58 percent last year as Colorado prepared to legalize the drug.
“Public support for legalizing the use of marijuana has clearly increased over the past decade,” Gallup analyst Lydia Saad wrote. “The question now is whether the momentum will continue to build or level off at a bare majority supporting it.”
Colorado’s legalization has produced millions in tax revenue but it has drawn criticism from anti-drug groups and some lawmakers.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who was re-elected Tuesday, said the state’s voters were “reckless” to legalize pot.
Gallup’s poll found that legalization is least popular among conservatives. Only a third backed decriminalization. Most liberals (78 percent) and moderates (58 percent) support legalization.
Saad concluded that legalization measures “are likely to be more viable in relatively liberal locales, including in Oregon and Washington, D.C., where they have already succeeded, than in conservative bastions like Wyoming, Utah, or Arkansas.”
