---
title: "Legalizing Marijuana"
description: "Fully eight-in-ten adults younger than age 30 favor legalizing marijuana for medical use."
date: "2010-10-08"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2010/10/08/legalizing-marijuana/"
---

# Legalizing Marijuana

Younger Americans are more likely than their older counterparts to favor legalizing marijuana for medical use, but a 73%-majority across all age groups supports this. Among those younger than age 30, fully 80% favor allowing medical marijuana compared with 63% of adults ages 65 and older. Further, a majority (58%) of those younger than age 30 think that the use of marijuana should be made legal without condition. That compares with 42% of those ages 30 to 49, 40% of those 50 to 64 and just 22% of those ages 65 and older. Overall, 41% of the public favors full legalization of marijuana but opinions differ greatly among partisan groups. Fully 71% of Republicans oppose legalization. By contrast, Democrats are evenly divided, with a majority of liberal Democrats (57%) in favor of legalizing the use of marijuana. About half of independents (49%) favor legalizing the use of marijuana while 44% are opposed. [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/pubs/1548/broad-public-support-for-legalizing-medical-marijuana)