A majority of California voters support Proposition 19, the state's Tax and Regulate Cannabis marijuana legalization initiative, according to a poll released Tuesday by Public Policy Polling. The poll has support at 52%, with 36% opposed and 12% undecided.
November 2nd, 2010
The poll was an automated phone sampling of 641 people who voted in the last election. As Nate Silver of the polling analysis web site 538.com has noted, this is the sixth California legalization poll released in recent months. Automated call polls like this one have consistently shown Prop 19 winning, while human operator polls have shown in losing narrowly. Silver suggests that people are less likely to take a possibly controversial position (such as legalizing marijuana) with a human operator, thus introducing a possible downward bias in the human operator polls.
The Public Policy poll found that 62% of Democrats supported the proposition, as did 55% of independents, but only 37% of Republicans. Among ethnic groups, support was highest among African-Americans (68%), followed by whites (53%), and Hispanics (47%). Only among Asians was there more opposition to the measure (43%) than support (29%).
Levels of African-American support for the measure have been all over the map in the recent polls, and so the numbers should be viewed with a grain of caution. Blacks make up only slightly more than 6% of the electorate, and the small number of actual black people being polled means the numbers are not very reliable.
Nearly two out of five (38%) of Californians said they had used marijuana, but even among those who said they had never tried it, 44% still support Prop 19.
"Marijuana continues to be a hot button issue in California," said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. "Voters seemed to be convinced that is about more than simply dispensing marijuana, but that such a change could have huge impacts on the state."
Repubicans in favor of the nanny state?
I'm surprised Republicans, the party for small government, is against Proposition 19. Republicans are supposed to favor small government and free markets. They are opposed to the nanny state. Except, that is, when it comes to cannabis. Where cannabis is concerned, Republicans are in favor big government and opposed to free enterprise.
William F. Buckley, Jr., wrote an article called "The war on drugs is a socialist enterprise". When it comes to cannabis, Republicans are socialists.
To find out more about Proposition 19 and why you should support it, please visit http://yes19.org
Republicans
After 25 years as a Republican i switched to Libertarian,small government low taxes and more freedom!
Republicans
Quite frankly, I am a republican (for the most part). However, the republicans have lost their way in the years since Regan. They have become so fixated on fighting the democrats they have lost sight of what their true mandate is. In short they have become the very thing they most abhor. However, many of us are switching to a more libertarian stance and encourage everyone to stop voting along party lines.
Republicans focused on fighting democrats
I agree 100% but I would also have to contest that this is, unfortunately, the basis of politics in the modern day. I won't even classify myself as either due to the current stereotype and stigmas of many Americans and also what you have initiated here. I agree with you that people have been and will be voting outside of their political parties guidelines but in the end this is a toss up. We have no idea what is going to happen in the next 3 months. I believe that beyond party limitations people, the general public, are starting to comprehend, and care about, what is going on in this country. People are starting to understand that they can venture out of preset principals and broaden the future of our nation with many viable resources that have had moral conflict surrounding them for years. I do not see Prop. 19 passing this year. I hope I am wrong but at the same time I really think that the Republican stance in this state, although dominated by democrats, will rein. Although you and your friends have found it within yourself to open your minds to economic possibilities outside the current box I do not believer that the state as a whole has the ability to step outside themselves. But we will see.
mari legal
what folks are missing is that federal law must be uniform. you can"t have the feds enforcing a law in one state and not in another. uniformity they call it. once cali. legalizes the cannabis, its all over, nationwide. the feds have no other choice. cannabis prohibition is not a constitutional amendment. to say that the dea has the funds to enforce cannabis prohibition in cali. is a joke. much less the rest of the country. cannabis legalization is here now. vote.
Legalize but no on 19!!!
We might want legalization right now BUT if you look at prop 19 its filled with a whole lot of loopholes and downsides for the courts and medical patients. It will basicly make it illegal for someone who is sick and on a fixed income to grow meds. Prop 19 will superseed prop 215 leaving a lot of patients without meds for the sake of recreational users. Prop 19 also puts the power of growing, selling and regulating in the hands of the government, not the people. I think we are better off now than with prop 19. Just take a look at whats going on in Oakland (the city where 19 was drafted) the city is looking at developing a single large grow site and outlawing all small grows placing power soley in the citys hands. Not good
Yes on 19, even if it's not perfect
Medical patients will have a great advantage with 19. All adults can grow up to 25 square feet or possess up to an ounce. That's not hurting anyone and it is a big step forward overall because it gives so much more flexibility. More people can be involved in helping patients secure their meds that can't or wouldn't not because they don't have a doctor's recommendation or fear arrest. Some people are still afraid of arrest because many police are hostile to the idea of medical marijuana. Making it legal across the board to possess will help everyone deal more normally with medical marijuana.
There will likely be more growers because most cities and counties will probably approve marijuana in their locality. Even if Oakland wants a megafarm, that doesn't mean that every place will become one. It's like micro-brews with beer. You can always find them in the store even if Bud and Bud light are the most popular across the nation. With prop 19, everyone is better off even if there are some imperfections in the measure. Please cast your vote wisely, helping us all move away from arrests, jails, and prisons.
yes to Cali Bill and the California bill Prop 19
In case anyone here doesn't know, I am on Cali Bill's and Prop 19's side on this. We are not going to get perfection the first time around; that is just the reality of our politics and the way politics goes in general. As Prop 215 has abundantly demonstrated, expanding the means of legal access to marijuana has and will continue to shift the political reality by creating a new reality on the ground. There will be steps backward and forward, but this is a good thing.
If you are considering or planning to vote against this initiative because of some of its details that you find offensive, I strongly urge you to reconsider -- think about the hundreds of thousands of nonviolent drug offenders who are incarcerated, or who will be in the future if the policies don't change, and ask yourself if making your statement of "principle" is really worth leaving them behind bars or in control of the system in other ways, for years more to come than could be the case.
(That said, it's your vote, and you have the right to make your own choice on it. But that's what I think about this.)
Republicans! Don't Miss This Chance
Though we do not have a perfect law in prop 19 we must seize this opportunity. Its the human cost of prohibition that must be considered most. The fact is that prohibition has done far more harm than good. It has ruined the lives of countless good people through the stigmatization and economic deprivation that comes with a drug conviction. Over 800,000 convictions for marijuana in the US per year. Most of these people will be unlikely to find work at burger king much less find true gainful employment. The sky will not fall by freeing the people!
yes you can have the feds enforce a law in one state+not another
That's what they're doing with MMJ, enforcing the federal prohibition against all non MMJ marijuana use everywhere, but (except for what appear to be a small number of rogue DEA operations) making an exemption for MMJ use + distribution when it is in compliance with state laws.
MJ legalization
I think we should have a hard look at this prop 19, ! ounce? 25sq ft? What about people who need the medication and can't afford to buy it or live too far from a dispencery? I wonder if we are so ready to legalize that we are having our hands tied a little too tight.
Laws can always be amended
Laws can always be amended and loosened, which is WAY easier than actually putting one in. DON'T SHOOT YOURSELF IN THE FOOT. opportunity doesn't knock when you want her to.
One could grow many Kilos of
One could grow many Kilos of pot in 25 square feet (depending on the lighting). But as soon as you harvest it, you break the first rule, by having more than one ounce. Much more.
Legalize it & Reform prophets must appear
Stop the waste of money on the dug war as it relates to marijuana. Legalize it, tax it, balance the budgets and reform prophets will soon appear regarding its proper use.
mj legalisation
As a European citizen and living only 15 min drive from the border with Holland with its - have once been - free druglaws I support strongly the fight of you Americans Pro MJ. You know why ? Simply, what happens in the US determines the drug politics of the EU. And until now, we got only a lot of shit over our heads like the shadows I notice that endanger our previous " libertarian attitude towards MJ and phenetylamines . all that liberty seems to melt. It simply cannot stand the heat of your 2005 Epedemic Methamphetamine act.
I can see a new America on the horizon, and I do hope to live long enough to share the benefits of its freedom and not to be a victim of its restricions.. So say yes to tha 19 thing brothers and 10 years from now no one but the real patients will smoke MJ because after all, killing pain is all it is effective for, those who think it enlightens the mind are those who have not yet smoked enough of that stuff or blew away the remains of their brain cells using alcohol before discovering MJ. So far, this was my personal thinking - the freedom of speech I can do in the US so to say. And oh yes, after all you guys are the actual rulers of this world - so take your responsibility and vote 19 or whatever that results in more freedom for all of us. Thank you in advance. Lucy van Temse - Belgium
BobCrocus, stop the rumors!
Bob, under Prop 19, you can grow and harvest all you want, provided that the live garden area is no more than 25 square feet in size. Now, if you happen to LEAVE your home, you may only carry up to 1 oz. of cannabis with you. By leaving the rest at home, you are in full compliance with the statute.
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