Number of Americans who support legal marijuana reaches new high

The number of Americans who support the legalization of marijuana has reached a record high of 50 percent, according to Gallup's latest annual crime survey.

Fifty percent of U.S. adults surveyed Oct. 6-9 expressed support for legalization and 46 percent opposed it—the first time the percentage of supporters surpassed that of the opposed since Gallup began surveying the issue in 1969, when it saw 12 percent support.

Voters in Washington and Colorado approved the legalization of recreational marijuana on Nov. 6.

As expected, the youngest adults surveyed, liberals, Democrats and independents were all more likely to favor legalization than their counterparts. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points for all samples.