More Americans support cannabis legalization than ever before

More Americans support cannabis legalization than ever before

Six out of ten Americans support cannabis legalization, the highest approval rate ever recorded.

The new survey, conducted by Pew Research Center in October, found the new legalization approval rate of 61 percent is nearly double what it was in 17 years ago, when it was 31 percent in 2000. Seventy percent of Millennials are in favor of legalization, while 66 percent of Gen Xers and 56 percent of Baby Boomers support abolishing cannabis prohibition.

Along the party lines, nearly 69 percent of Democrats, 65 percent of independents and 43 percent of Republicans support legalization. Republicans younger than 40 years old support legalization by 62 percent.

In terms of race, black Americans favor legalization at 71 percent, while their white and hispanic counterparts favor by 62 percent and 52 percent, respectively.

Both college graduates and those with some college experience support legalization at 65 percent, and those with a high school education or less support it at a lower rate of 54 percent.

The study sampled 1,504 Americans living in all 50 states.