Most Want Legal Recreational Use of Marijuana in Their State

With New York becoming the sixteenth state to fully legalize the use of cannabis, and two more states - Virginia and New Mexico - set to join them later this year, legalizing recreational marijuana use finds favor with a majority of Americans. 55% say they would personally like the recreational use of marijuana to be legal in their state.

Most Americans would go even further. Nearly six in 10 think people who have been convicted of nonviolent marijuana offenses in states where marijuana is now legal should have those convictions removed. Just 37% think they should have those convictions stay on their criminal records.  Though most younger adults support it, legalizing recreational marijuana use still hasn't found favor among many older Americans:  those between 55 and 64 are evenly divided on this issue, while most seniors 65 and older oppose it. Legalizing recreational marijuana use is more popular in states where full legalization is already in place:  60% of Americans who reside in states where marijuana use is fully legal say they like it that way. 53% of Americans in states where recreational marijuana use isn't legal would like it to become so in their states as well.