Majority of Americans favor legalized pot

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HAMDEN, Conn., Dec. 5 (UPI) -- American voters favor marijuana legalization by 51 percent to 44 percent, a Quinnipiac University Polling Institute survey indicates.

The poll, released Wednesday, showed a substantial age and gender gap in its findings on the matter of marijuana legalization, said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the independent Institute.

"Men support legalization 59 percent to 36 percent, but women are opposed, 52 percent to 44 percent. Not surprisingly, voters 18-29 support legalization 67 percent to 29 percent, while voters over age 65 are opposed, 56 percent to 35 percent. Voters 30-44 like the idea 58 percent to 39 percent, while voters 45-64 are divided, 58 percent to 47 percent," Brown said.

He noted it was the first time Quinnipiac asked the question in its national poll, so there is no comparison to earlier years, but said, "It seems likely that, given a better than 2-to-1 majority among younger voters, legalization is just a matter of time."

The survey was taken by live interviewers in responses from 1,949 registered voters nationwide, calling telephone land lines and cellphones, from Nov. 28 to Dec. 3. Its margin of error is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.