A full 61 percent of likely voters in Colorado support legalizing marijuana if it is regulated in a manner similar to the way alcohol and cigarettes are currently regulated, according to a Rasmussen poll published this weekend. The poll found only 27 percent of voters are firmly opposed to marijuana legalization, even with tough government regulation, while the remaining 12 percent are undecided.

This is extremely good news for the the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol which succeeded this year in getting Amendment 64 on the November ballot in Colorado. Their ballot initiative would do exactly what the polling question asked: it would legalize marijuana for adults over the age of 21, while regulating and taxing it similar to how alcohol is regulated

Compare that to Proposition 19, a marijuana legalization ballot measure that was narrowly defeated in California in 2010.  Support for that measure never broke the 60 percent support mark in any public polling before November 2010. The best marijuana legalization ever did in a non-partisan public poll of California leading into the 2010 election was to get 56 percent support, and that poll was of all adults. Likely voters on average tend to be more conservative and less supportive of marijuana reform than the general population.

While this is only a single poll months out from the election, it is encouraging news. There is a real chance Colorado this year could become the first state to embrace marijuana legalization by approving Amendment 64.