Half of Americans Want to Legalize Pot

Poll of the Day: The numbers for legalizing marijuana in the U.S. have never been higher.

A full 50 per cent of Americans think marijuana should be legalized, according to a Gallup poll. That's the most amount of support for legalization that the polling company has seen since first asking the question way back in 1970, when just 12 per cent of Americans thought weed should be legalized. In the new Gallup poll, 46 per cent of respondents said pot should stay illegal, and another four per cent were unable to come to an answer one way or the other (our guess is that they were probably high). With this much support for legalization, it might finally break into mainstream political conversation (in the U.S., at least. Canada's kinda headed in the opposite direction). Part of the reason for the rise in support has to be the economics of legalization, as some reports figure legal, taxed marijuana would bring the U.S. around $8.7 billion in new tax revenue every year. Plus, the savings that local, state, and federal governments would make in not having to investigate, arrest, prosecute, and imprison pot smokers, growers, and dealers is sure to add a few billion more to that pot. "Liberals" and people under the age of 30 were the most likely to support legalization (69 per cent, 62 per cent), while "conservatives" and those over the age of 65 were the least likely (34 per cent, 31 per cent).