Though public attitudes toward legalizing marijuana have remained fairly stable over the past few years years, the long-term shift in opinion is dramatic.
Fifty-three percent of Americans now favor the legal use of marijuana, compared to 44 percent who are opposed, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. As recently as 2006, 32 percent supported marijuana legalization, compared to 60 percent who opposed it.
Millennials (those aged 18 to 34) favor legalizing marijuana by 68 percent, the highest percentage of any generation. All generations except for the Silent Generation (those aged 70 to 87) have shown growing support for marijuana legalization over the years.
Below is how support for legalizing marijuana has changed over the years:
Opinion on Legalizing Marijuana: 1969-2015
The telephone survey of 1,500 U.S. adults was conducted March 25-29 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
