Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy
In November, voters in Colorado will decide whether to approve Amendment 64, a state-wide ballot initiative to end marijuana prohibition and regulate marijuana like alcohol. A new Rasmussen poll released Monday suggests the initiative could be well on the way to victory.
Amendment 64 billboard (regulatemarijuana.org)
In its June 6 survey of likely voters, Rasmussen found support for marijuana legalization at 61%. More strikingly, only 27% opposed legalization, with 12% undecided. Respondents were asked whether they supported "legalizing marijuana and regulating it in a way similar to the way alcohol and tobacco cigarettes are regulated today."
The conventional wisdom among initiative watchers is that initiatives need to be polling at 60% or above at the beginning of the campaign to have a chance of winning. Veteran observers note that opponents of an initiative are always able to peel away some support with negative campaigning late in the game.
But in Colorado, not only is support for pot legalization strong, it is trending upward. A December 2011 Public Policy Polling survey had support at 49%, with 40% saying it should remain illegal.
Marijuana legalization also had more support than either major party presidential candidate. Both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney garnered 45% support. How the politics of marijuana in Colorado will affect the presidential race there remains to be seen.
Rasmussen conducted phone interviews with 500 likely Colorado voters. The poll's margin of error is +/-4.5%.
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Comments
Rasmussen and PPP
This is especially significant given the consistent conservative lean of Rasmussen polls. Incidentally, PPP is very likely to poll Colorado again soon.
Why must the copy writers alway try to be funny about marijuana?
PLEASE, stop. I hope it gets over 70%. A blowout win is the best kind!
Freedom
This is about freedom and the will of the people. The people have seen thru all the lies that have been told about marijuana. It is the number one most useful plant on the planet. Food , clothing, shelter, energy, medicine, insight, recreation. Once one or two states legalize marijuana hopefully the federal government will wake up to the will of the people and allow this plant to be free for all its wonderful uses. It is only a matter of time. The sooner the better.
In reply to Freedom by Jeff Brown (not verified)
Freedom
You nailed it right on the head. Legalize Freedom.
Legalizing and REGULATING marijuana
The key wording in this poll is the word REGULATING. Legalizing without regulation loses. Legalizing with
REGULATION wins big time.
Question?
As long as the Federal Government continues the War on Drugs, What difference will it make if this passes? For example, many work where random drug tests are done. Currently even if using legal medical marijuanna the person testing positive can and will be fired without recourse and denied unemployment. So even though within the letter of the law, with out a job what good does this do?
In reply to Question? by Rookie (not verified)
I've wondered the same thing,
I've wondered the same thing, but to me it's reassuring that state governments are going up against the federal government. I'm not even American and I'm touched by how American it is to stand up to bigger governments.
I don't know exactly what will happen as a result of this resistance. I personally hope it doesn't become a civil war, but I could imagine some kind of shift in power away from the federal level. It's not just the war on drugs where state governments are going against the feds. It just looks to me like they're starting to get "fed up" with the federal government.
So maybe certain aspects of the system will leave people out, like mandatory tests, but it doesn't have to be a smooth transition for one step in the right direction to be worth it. It doesn't even have to be sure to work... Better to try than to bend over and take it without a fight.
Marijuana Offense vs Armed Bank Robbery
I spent 5 years in Federal Prison for a marijuana offense. I watched armed bank robbers come and go in as little as 20 months.
After 3 years, I pointed this out to the parole board. Their response: "You must understand, yours was a very serious offense."
I laughed about that for 2 more years (as I still sat in prison), then wrote my book:
Shoulda Robbed a Bank
That's my contribution to helping point out just how ludicrous our pot laws truly are.
I hope you check it out.
In reply to Marijuana Offense vs Armed Bank Robbery by UndertheRadar (not verified)
What a waste of a jail cell. In a similar grotesque way...
Many states consider marijuana possession to be as serious or more serious a crime than drunk driving. Many states consider cannabis dealing to be as serious or more serious a crime than drunk driving murder. Such laws are sheer unadulterated evil. And they kill, not just by creating prohibition related violence, but also by forcing people to use alcohol to get a buzz, even if alcohol is a physical/psychological poison to them.
PPP Poll
The PPP poll released on the 20th has support of Amendment 64 at 46% and opposition at 42%, but the poll also shows 49% support for legal marijuana in general with 43% opposed. It's odd that Rasmussen shows more support than PPP, though... Rasmussen is typically so right-leaning.
I think voter turnout among young people is going to determine this one, and that's always higher in election years.
Dominos
The first domino(or two?) will fall this November, and the reaction will be stunning and spectacular, as other states start to see that the sky did not fall. The thing they will see falling most precipitously will be their tourism dollars as people flock to the only place they can feel free. After these realities sink in the dominos will fall FAST. This is America, money talks.
In reply to Dominos by JWLaberdee (not verified)
This isn't Portugal
JWL's prediction appears to make a lot of sense. Critics of marijuana legalization often dismiss other countries attempts to implement sensible drug policies claiming "that such nonsense would never work here in America". Well, when the change is right on our own soil, it will easy to see if the sky doesn't fall and those critics will lose credibility when their doomsday predictions doesn't come to fruition. There's no doubt that the mainstream will pay attention to this story when the first legalization initiative passes in this country. I can't wait to see the outcome wherever the first state legalizes and legitimizes recreational pot use. It's been a long time coming since President Nixon declared this war 40 years ago.
It's about time...
I saw this article last night and just about jumped outta my chair. I live in Ohio but needless to say I'm against prohibition for many reasons. This absolutely will cause a domino effect. People will come to Colorado and just dump money into the economy. Crime will drop, the infrastructure everywhere will improve with the extra funding. The school systems and parks will receive funds. The absence of high people causing havoc will be noticed while the drunks continue to be a problem. Don't get me wrong. I like my beer just as much as the next guy, but I've learned that weed is better and I'm thankful that I drink less now. But back to the topic at hand. I am so hoping at least 1 of the 3 states pass as it really will be a beautiful thing. Other states will follow suit after they see what happens. And I'll take every opportunity to say... "Well, this is what we've been trying to tell you all along folks." I am so ready for November!!! Make us proud Colorado!!!
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