in more than four decades of polling on the issue,"
reports the Pew Research Center, "a majority of Americans favor
legalizing the use of marijuana. A national survey finds that 52%
say that the use of marijuana should be made legal while 45% say it
should not." 
Here's the demographic breakdown: 
The survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted March 13-17
among 1,501 adults, finds that young people are the most supportive
of marijuana legalization. Fully 65% of Millennials –born since
1980 and now between 18 and 32 – favor legalizing the use of
marijuana, up from just 36% in 2008. Yet there also has been a
striking change in long-term attitudes among older generations,
particularly Baby Boomers.Half (50%) of Boomers now favor legalizing marijuana, among the
highest percentages ever. In 1978, 47% of Boomers favored
legalizing marijuana, but support plummeted during the 1980s,
reaching a low of 17% in 1990. Since 1994, however, the percentage
of Boomers favoring marijuana legalization has doubled, from 24% to
50%.Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980, came of age in the
1990s when there was widespread opposition to legalizing marijuana.
Support for marijuana legalization among Gen X also has risen
dramatically – from just 28% in 1994 to 42% a decade later and 54%
currently.The Silent Generation continues to be less supportive of
marijuana legalization than younger age cohorts. But the percentage
of Silents who favor legalization has nearly doubled –from 17% to
32% – since 2002.
H/t Tom Angell
