Support For Pot Legalization Growing

Following up on proposed California bill to legalize marijuana, Nate Silver notes that public opinion is now almost evenly divided on the issue.

We all know that Michael Phelps was on something. But perhaps he was also onto something. Three recent polls show that Americans are more sympathetic to the idea of legalizing marijuana than ever before. The first poll, conducted last week by Rasmussen Reports, has 40 percent of Americans in support of legalizing the drug and 46 percent opposed. The second, conducted in January by CBS News, has 41 percent in favor of legalization and 52 percent against. And a third poll, conducted by Zogby on behalf of the marijuana-rights advocacy group NORML, has 44 percent of Americans in support of legalized pot and 52 percent opposed.

Silver points out that there is no guarantee that support will continue to grow as during the "Just say no" years public sentiment actually turned more against legalization.