A record 62 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization

Support for legalized marijuana keeps climbing to record highs. A Pew Research Center survey published Monday found that 62 percent of Americans say marijuana use should be made legal, the highest number ever recorded since the study began in 1969.

Most millennials (74 percent), Gen Xers (63 percent), and baby boomers (54 percent) support legalized cannabis. Only members of the Silent Generation, those born between 1928-1945, are not yet on board, with just 39 percent in favor.

Just a few other demographic groups don't share wide support for marijuana legalization — Republicans are split, with 45 percent in favor and 51 percent opposed. White evangelicals are also conflicted, with 43 percent supporting legalization and 52 percent saying it should remain illegal. Forty-eight percent of Hispanic Americans say it should be legal, while 50 percent say it should be illegal.

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More men (68 percent) support legalization than women (56 percent), and more white Americans (66 percent) support it than black Americans (56 percent). Most Democrats (69 percent) are ready for federal legalization, and a wide majority of Democratic-leaning independents (75 percent) are as well. Overall, approval has doubled since 2000, when 31 percent of Americans supported recreational pot.

The survey was conducted Sept. 18-24, reaching 1,754 adults by phone. The margin of error is 2.7 percentage points. See more results at Pew Research Center.