Poll finds growing support for marijuana

Fifty-five percent of people say the sale of marijuana should be legal in the United States, according to a new CNN poll.

The poll released Monday night found 44 percent of people say it should be illegal. 

{mosads}Those numbers mirror a Gallup poll from October that found a majority of people for the first time believed the drug should be legalized. The Gallup poll had found 58 percent supported legalization, while 39 percent did not. 

In the CNN poll, 62 percent of Democrats and 59 percent of independents supported legalization. Only 36 percent of Republicans felt the same. 

Legalization is much more popular with young Americans. Two-thirds of people aged 18-34 support legalization, compared with 39 percent of people over the age of 65.

A majority of people in every region of the country also supports legalization, except in the South. Only 48 percent of people living in the South think the prohibition on the drug should be lifted.

The survey comes after Washington and Colorado became the first two states to legalize the recreational use of the drug through ballot measures in 2012. Colorado became the first state to begin selling the drug for recreational use earlier this year. 

The poll found 35 percent of people think using the drug is morally wrong. That number has been cut in half since the late 1980s, according to the poll. 

The poll surveyed 1,010 people and has a 3 percent margin of error.