Photo: Ryan Bushby, Wikimedia Commons

Photo: Ryan Bushby, Wikimedia Commons

A Gallup poll conducted at the beginning of October shows that more Americans support the legalization of marijuana than ever before — even if the majority still think it should be illegal.

Forty-four percent of Americans said they think marijuana should be legal, while 54 percent said it should stay illegal. The number who support legalization has doubled in the last 20 years, whereas in the late 1980s only 23 percent supporting legalization.

A majority of respondents living in the West said they would approve of marijuana being legal in their state (53 percent to 46 percent) while the Midwest residents showed the largest disapproval of having marijuana legal in their state with 64 percent rejecting it.