Almost half of Britons support the legalization of cannabis, according to a survey commissioned by a group associated with the ruling Conservative Party.

Legalization is backed by 48 percent with only 24 percent opposed, based on a YouGov poll carried out for the Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group. Support is highest among 18-24 year-olds at 54 percent and lowest among people 65 or older at 39 percent. A separate YouGov poll last year found 43 percent support and 41 percent opposed.

The latest result “illustrates the widening gulf between the stubborn, decades-old policies of blanket prohibition and the developing attitude of millions of voters,” Rob Wilson, a former Tory minister and now-chief executive officer of the CDPRG, wrote in an online article for the Sunday Times cited by the newspaper.