dailyviz

According to recent polls, an increasing number of Americans favor legalizing marijuana—41% (CBS/NYT), 44% (Gallup, below). This is a drastic increase from 12% in 1969 and 24% in 1979.

Nate Silver hypothesizes that the shift is due to the large number of people under 55 who have used marijuana in their lifetimes. He presents the following data from a 2007 survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration:

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