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WASHINGTON — Legalize weed?

Yeah, bring it on, say six in 10 U.S. voters.

That’s the result of a poll released Wednesday as New Jersey debates whether to approve marijuana for recreational use.

In a Quinnipiac University poll, 60 percent said they supported legalization, while 33 percent opposed it. The survey has shown increasing support for legal weed since 2012, when 51 percent backed it and 44 percent did not.

An even larger majority, 63 percent, supported erasing criminal records for those convicted of marijuana possession with 29 percent in opposition.

And support for medical marijuana was even more overwhelming, with 93 percent in favor if it was prescribed by a doctor and just 5 percent opposed.

When Quinnipiac last asked the question in April 2018, 63 percent supported legal marijuana and 33 percent did not.

In his state budget proposal on Tuesday, Gov. Phil Murphy projected that the state would get $80 million in tax revenue from legal weed, even though the measure to allow recreational use of the drug has yet to pass.

While Murphy and legislative leaders have agreed to move forward on a bill, actual legislation has not been written and there are no assurances that state lawmakers will go along.

On the federal level, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., has reintroduced his Marijuana Justice Act, which would remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances, where it has been since 1970, alongside heroin, ecstasy and LSD.

In the Quinnipiac poll, every age group except those over 65, which now includes much of the baby boom generation, supported legalization, with those under 35 most in favor, 85 percent to 12 percent.

“The baby boomers say no to the drug that helped define an era, while the millennials say bring it on,” said Tim Malloy, the poll’s assistant director. “In between are enough voters to rubber stamp legalizing marijuana for recreation as well as medical reasons.”

The poll of 1,120 voters was conducted March 1–4 with a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

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Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

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