As greater numbers of Californians favor legalizing weed, and after Colorado and Washington have actually done so, the nation is following suit.

See also: Marijuana: “Record High” Numbers of Californians Want Legalization.

The latest Gallup poll says that, for the first time since it started asking about marijuana in 1969, a “clear majority” of Americans favor the legalization of recreational pot:

About 58 percent of Americans say let it be legit. That compares to a 50 percent approval rate in 2011, says Gallup.

The organization says a “sizable” 38 percent of Americans admitted trying cannabis, a possible factor in our increasing acceptance of weed. Another possible factor: Legalization in Colorado and Washington.

Gallup:

Support for legalization has jumped 10 percentage points since last November and the legal momentum shows no sign of abating. Last week, California's second-highest elected official, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, said that pot should be legal in the Golden State, and advocates of legalization are poised to introduce a statewide referendum in 2014 to legalize the drug.

See also: Marijuana Legalization Campaign Gets Serious.

Only 35 percent of Republicans support legalization, versus 65 percent of Democrats, Gallup says.

The rate of support for legitimizing it among 18- to 49-year-olds is 62 percent and above, the poll says. Only the 65-and-older bracket said no at a majority rate (53 percent).

Pollsters asked more than 1,000 American adults about weed from Oct. 3 to 6, according to Gallup, which concludes:

It has been a long path toward majority acceptance of marijuana over the past 44 years, but Americans' support for legalization accelerated as the new millennium began. This acceptance of a substance that most people might have considered forbidden in the late 1960s and 1970s may be attributed to changing social mores and growing social acceptance …

Whatever the reasons for Americans' greater acceptance of marijuana, it is likely that this momentum will spur further legalization efforts across the United States.

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