About 70% of Americans think marijuana use should be legal, after holding steady at 68% for three years, according to Gallup polling data released Wednesday. Since crossing the 30% mark in 2000, support for legal cannabis accelerated after 2010 to more than half of Americans in 2013. In the latest figures, 29% of Americans think marijuana should be illegal and 1% are unsure. A July survey by Gallup showed that 17% of Americans say they personally smoke marijuana, up by 10% since 2013. Republicans first gave majority backing to cannabis legalization in 2017. Eighty-seven percent of Democrats favor legal cannabis and 52% of conservatives are in favor of it. The Gallup survey came after 57% of Ohio voters on Tuesday approved a state referendum legalizing cannabis for people over 21. Ohio is the 24th state to do so. With Ohio, more than half of the U.S. population now resides in states where pot is legal.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.