Thirty years ago it's estimated that support for cannabis legalization with Americans was only around 24 percent.

But things have sure changed in a short amount of time. You can now find a growing number of states that are embracing cannabis legalization for either recreational or medicinal purposes. Some even hold onto the hope that perhaps soon we will see a federal effort to legalize as well.

By 2018, it was estimated that more than 60 percent of residents in the United States were in favor of cannabis legalization.

What was the reason for the change? There are many. Researchers have suggested that the rise could possibly be related to a growing number of people disaffiliating with religion, but that wouldn't account for much of the change in views. Researchers have also suggested that what has likely had the greatest impact on changing views is how the media has covered cannabis over the years.

It is also people from a myriad of political trenches that are changing their minds on cannabis as well, not just liberals and not just conservatives or independents. People are embracing cannabis from across the political spectrum.

The more that the media has started to frame the discussion of cannabis as a medical one, support for legalization has been on the rise, researchers suggest. They note that mainstream news organizations used to focus more on talking about crime and other drug-related problems but now there is more mention for medicinal issues with cannabis use.

This chart above details the change over time in media coverage, and while there is still a great deal of media content out there fearmongering over cannabis, it's true that there are many stories over the years that have tried to honestly highlight the potential benefit that can be reaped with cannabis.

The failure of the war on drugs has also prompted many to reconsider the approach.

The United States is known to have the largest prison population in the world, many of those individuals sitting behind bars never committed any crime against the property of another individual. It's cruel and unjust to insist that violence be inflicted upon someone for their life choices and what they choose to consume, whether it be alcohol, sugar, fast food, or cannabis etc. We should respect the freedom and the liberty of others to make their own choices for their lives.

Along with the increase in support for legalization there has also been a rise in criticism for the justice system in general.

People can see the inhumane nature that the system operates with when they stop to consider the peaceful nature of addicts (in their use alone) or cannabis users, they see the tyranny in harassing or detaining those individuals over the simple matter of a controversial plant.

No doubt the ongoing "opioid epidemic" that the media has told us so much about has also prompted many to consider the possibility that cannabis could provide some relief to this problem. And researchers have discovered that the majority of patients do prefer cannabis to opioids for their pain management.

Hopefully these numbers will continue to climb and more people will opt to stand up for the liberty of the minority, in embracing a cannabis market, rather than clutching onto the misguided and failed promises of prohibition.

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