A new YouGov poll conducted for the Huffington Post has found that a whopping 59% of respondents nationwide support legalizing marijuana, with 51% saying they want it legalized, taxed, and regulated, and another 8% saying they it legalized -- period.Only 26% opposed legalization, while another 15% were uncertain.
Some of the polling difference may be the result of the question structure. The YouGov poll gave respondents the option of supporting either legalization with taxation and regulation or without, possibly garnering support from respondents concerned about wide-open legalization.
Another difference is that the YouGov poll was conducted online instead of using live interviewers over the phone. This relatively new polling method used a 1,000-person "sample drawn from YouGov's opt-in online panel that was selected to match the demographics and other characteristics of the adult US population." The poll has a margin of error slightly larger than most other polls, at +/- 4.2%.
Breaking down the demographics, support for taxed and regulated legalization was remarkably consistent across age groups, from a low of 49% among 45-to-64-year-olds to a high of 53% among those 65 and older, with other age groups coming in between. But support for untaxed and unregulated legalization was more age specific, with the highest levels of support coming from the 45-to-64 age group (13%) and those under age 29 (9%).
By political affiliation, 69% of Democrats supported legalization (either regulated and taxed or not), as did 58% of independents and 47% of Republicans. That latter figure is higher than the figure for Republicans who opposed legalization (44%).
Only 38% of respondents said they had used marijuana, although another 8% refused to answer.
Somewhat surprisingly, support for medical marijuana was only slightly higher than support for legalization, with some 64% saying they supported it and 23% saying they were opposed.
Whether the YouGov poll is an outlier because of its relatively new polling methods remains to be seen, but it appears to be yet another in an increasingly long line of polls showing support for marijuana legalization trending upward.
might say more about people who are online than general public
Whether someone goes online or not is an important demographic in itself, that can't be adjusted for in an online only poll. It would be interesting to see a poll of people who don't use computers. Aside from the direct effect of all the non-defamatory information about cannabis available online, I suspect that people who go online tend to be more tolerant and open minded than those who don't.
Still an encouraging poll! Lot of undecided, potentially persuadable people, as well as supporters
marijuana
i support to marijuana legalization movement !
The first domino
The first domino
If any one of the three
And the Wall Comes Down.
It looks as if the drug war is about to collapse and the naked emperor at last will be carted of to the loony bin where he belongs.
The only thing that holds the drug war together is the fact that no one nation has yet legalized, so no one can prove that it will work.
So when one state or nation does legalize it will become painfully obvious that prohibition always was a total lie and in fact a stand over protection racket cooked up by the world's number one police state.
So when these people are revealed before the world to be criminally corrupt, there will be nothing left to protect them and we will put them on trial for crimes against humanity and genocide.
Vote yes to legalize marijuana and bring on the drug war trials.
I can not wait for this
I can not wait for this illusionary war to end. We will go through an excellent rejuvination period that will be like a breath of fresh air. We are so close to a true civilization, this is so exciting!!
Most useful plant on the planet
Marijuana is the most useful plant on the planet. To make it illegal in the first place was evil and based on lies.
Food, clothing, shelter, energy, medicine, insight.
support for medical
support for medical marijuana has always been at or around these figure for several decades as it is a 'compassion' issue.
Support of MJ recreational use is the only change.
This is why the Fed is 'down' on medicinal use as that use shows citizens that there is no "Reefer Madness " or "Assassin of Youth". The phrases "daring drug expose" and "shame, horror, despair" appear above the subheading "WEED with ROOTS In HELL" and the promise of "Weird Orgies, Wild Parties" and "Unleashed Passions".
With this in mind, outlandish pot-plots and other propagandist politicking are losing the ability to sway the populace as a whole. Thus, only the more widespread use of MJ as a medicine, will change things back to where they were for 3000 years,,,, MJ is medicinal, and recreational use is just that, a recreation... not a madness.
Legalize like wine
We keep hearing about "legalizing marijuana for recreational use", but what it really appears to be is an attempt to legalize marijuana as a far safer alternative to alcohol. According to the CDC, alcohol kills 80,000 people every year in the U.S. while marijuana kills none, and marijuana's addiction potential is only about that of coffee. Since marijuana is far safer and far less addictive than alcohol, we could GREATLY reduce the amount of harm and addiction in society by giving people the right to switch from the more harmful drug, alcohol, to the less harmful drug, marijuana. Paranoid old men in the federal government keep marijuana illegal and make your children LESS safe.Post new comment