Polling data company CivicScience has released the results of a new poll that show that Americans are more supportive than ever of the idea of legalizing marijuana. In fact, the majority of Americans are behind the idea, and the margin has grown since the last polling three months ago.
Respondents were asked the question: “Would you support or oppose a law in your state that would legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana like alcohol?”
Over the past two years, the question has been asked multiple times, with average results of: 58% of respondents support legalization; 35% oppose it; 7% have no strong opinion.
But the more interesting tidbit of info mined from the poll is that there was a spike in support within the past three months: support bumps up to 61%, while 30% oppose, and 8% have no strong opinion.
As for a further breakdown of the data, further revealing factoids include that men favor legalization only slightly more than women (60% vs. 55%). Young people between the ages of 25 and 34 were most likely to support legalization (67%), while folks over 65 oppose legalization by a margin of 50% oppose to 43% support.
Also, 77% of people who polled as “loving reggae” music were legalization supporters. They also love Haagen-Dasz ice cream and Comedy Central.
This seemingly stereotypical response did not concern the pollsters. But they also mentioned that legalization opponents claim to love Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter, shop at Walmart, and eat at Cracker Barrel.
But one critical bit of data for the number crunchers to consider is that of voting involvement. According to the survey, 58% of supporters say they always vote in political elections, while 68% of non-supporters do.
Of course, percentages are tricky things. What that means is that 58% of respondents support legalization, and 58% of that number vote. While only 35% oppose, and 68% of that number vote. That’s 33 out of 100 respondents voting for; and almost 24 out of 100 respondents actively voting against.
At that rate, the trend toward legalization is not likely to reverse.