Support For Legal Pot Is High. But It Might Not Stay There

Hundreds of advocates for marijuana legalization rally and smoke pot outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on April 02, 2016.

Public opinion on marijuana has risen dramatically over the last couple of decades. In the mid-1990s, only around 25 percent of Americans thought pot should be legal, according to Gallup.

Today, it’s around 58 percent.

That’s a really fast change in opinion. In fact, it’s about as fast as Americans’ about-face on same-sex marriage — a change of opinion that was itself remarkably fast. As of 1996, 27 percent of Americans thought same-sex marriages should be recognized the same as different-sex marriages.