Support for legalizing pot in California hits new high: survey

(Reuters) – A record but still narrow majority of California voters, or 54 percent, favor legalizing marijuana for personal, recreational use with restrictions like those placed on alcohol, a poll showed on Wednesday. California was the first of 19 states and the District of Columbia to legalize pot for medical use, doing so in 1996, although voters rejected efforts to legalize the drug for recreational use in 2010. But support for legalizing pot, which the federal government considers an illegal narcotic, appears to be growing in the U.S. …