Poll: Majority of voters support marijuana legalization

A majority of voters surveyed in a new national poll say marijuana should be legalized.

Fifty-four percent of voters surveyed in the Quinnipiac University poll released Monday said marijuana should be made legal in the U.S., while 41 percent said it should not.

{mosads}Men largely support legalizing marijuana, 60 percent to 37 percent, while women are divided on the issue, 48 percent to 46 percent.

More than 6 in 10 Democrats, 65 percent to 30 percent, said marijuana should be made legal, while more than 6 in 10 Republicans, 62 percent to 36 percent, said it should not be legalized.

Marijuana has been legalized for recreational use in four states — Colorado, Oregon, Alaska and Washington — as well as the District of Columbia, and advocates hope more states will join them this fall.

“This is a mainstream issue that politicians are finally starting to embrace instead of run away from, and that’s only going to intensify after voters more than double the number of states with legal marijuana at the ballot box this November,” said Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority.

Americans largely support allowing adults to use marijuana for medical purposes. Nearly 9 in 10 voters, 89 percent, support the ability to use marijuana if a doctor prescribes it, according to the new poll.

Eight-seven percent of voters also support allowing U.S. Veterans Administration doctors to prescribe medical marijuana in pill form in states where it’s legal to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The survey of 1,561 registered voters was conducted May 24–30 via landlines and cellphones with a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.