Much like views on divorce, birth control, and so-called “inter-racial” marriage, when you stretch the polling data on marijuana usage back into the 20th century, the social shift is remarkable.
Through this entire timeframe has been a controversial “Drug War” that has imprisoned or penalized thousands to millions of people, much of it based on the notion of marijuana as a “gateway drug.”
In the meantime, the country has seen incarceration rates explode, as well as the rise of epidemics of methamphetamine and opiate drug abuse.
And still, in 2016, here’s where Americans have finally arrived on marijuana: 60% say legalize it.