According to the latest Gallup survey, 58 percent of Americans favor legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

Gallup says the poll culminates a year of “unprecedented success” for marijuana advocates and is almost certainly the harbinger of future legalization efforts. Support for legalization has climbed more than 10 percent in the past year alone。

“Whatever the reasons for Americans' greater acceptance of marijuana, it is likely that this momentum will spur further legalization efforts across the United States,” Gallup says in its analysis of the poll。

And as Gallup points out, the 58 percent support for legalization is a stark contrast to the group's first legalization poll in 1969, in which only 12 percent of respondents said they favored making marijuana legal。

Gallup also found that 38 percent of respondents said they had personally tried marijuana at some point。

The largest area of growth has been among independent voters, 62 percent of whom now say they support legalization. Sixty-five percent of self-identified Democrats say they also support legalization. Republicans remain the only significant voting block opposed to legalization with just 35 percent support such an effort。

There is a also a direct correlation between legalization support and age, with voters over 65 representing the only age block opposed to legalization. Fifty-three percent of voters 65 and older say they oppose legalization, compared with just 31 percent of voters aged 18 to 29.

An August memo from US Deputy Attorney General James Cole stated that the federal government will not attempt to interfere with Washington and Colorado’s efforts to implement marijuana legalization laws passed by state voters。

Currently, 20 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws legalizing medicinal marijuana use for patients who receive written permission from a doctor。

Several states are planning legalization ballot initiatives set for 2014, including California, Alaska, Arizona and Oregon. Other states, including Rhode Island and Hawaii, are planning legalization initiatives for 2016 to coincide with the next presidential election。

“Because of Colorado and Washington, it’s created a cannabis tidal wave across the country,” marijuana activist Mike Jolson said in an interview with Bloomberg. “We want to capitalize on this wave。”

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据美国媒体10月22日报道，权威调查机构盖洛普公司发布的一份最新民调结果显示，高达58%的美国民众支持将休闲娱乐用大麻合法化。

仅在过去一年，美国民众对大麻合法化的支持率就攀升了超过10个百分点。盖洛普公司认为，这一民调结果证明大麻倡导者取得了“空前的成功”，并预示着他们将为大麻合法化继续不懈努力，“不论是什么原因导致美国人对大麻的接受度提高，这都将成为一种动力、在全美范围内激起更广泛的倡导大麻合法化运动”。

1969年，盖洛普公司首次就大麻是否应该合法化展开民意调查，当时只有12%的受访者表示支持。“40多年过去了，这一数值增长至58%，实在是显著的对比，”盖洛普公司称。

民调结果显示，38%的受访者承认他们曾经尝试过吸食大麻。在大麻合法化支持民众的数量增长中，贡献最大的是独立选民，他们中的62%认为美国人应该被准许吸食大麻。自称为民主党人的受访者中，有65%表示支持。相较于此，共和党人似乎仍旧是美国大麻合法化进程的最大阻碍，仅有35%对此表示赞同。

此外，美国民众是否支持大麻合法化与其年龄直接相关。53%的65岁及以上的受访者称他们反对大麻合法化，而在年龄介于18岁至29岁之间的受访者中，仅有31%表示反对。

今年8月，美国司法部副部长詹姆斯·科尔发表声明称，联邦政府无意干涉华盛顿州和科罗拉多州通过允许大麻合法化的法律一事。

目前，美国已有20个州和联邦直辖区哥伦比亚特区通过了医用大麻合法化的法律，允许病人在获得医生书面许可的情况下购买医用大麻。还有包括加利福尼亚、阿拉斯加、亚利桑那、俄勒冈等部分州计划在2014年就大麻合法化举行公投，而罗德岛和夏威夷等州则把投票的时间初定在2016年。

“得益于华盛顿州和科罗拉多州，他们在美国掀起了一股大麻浪潮。”大麻倡导者麦克·乔尔森说，“我们想要利用这股浪潮。”