Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy
A CNN/ORC International survey released Monday has a solid majority of Americans supporting the legalization of marijuana. Some 55% agreed that marijuana should be legal, with 44% disagreeing.
The CNN poll results are similar to an October Gallup Poll that had support for legalization a record-breaking 58% nationwide. That was in line with a number of other polls since the 2012 elections that showed support either above or just below 50%, depending on the pollster. But in another survey released Monday, the conservative Rasmussen poll had support for legalization at only 41%.
"There are big differences on age, region, party ID, and gender, with senior citizens, Republicans, and Southerners the only major demographic groups who still oppose the legal use of pot," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
Regional support was strongest in the Northeast (60%), followed by the West (58%) and the Midwest (57%), with the South trailing at 48%.
Two-thirds of those under 35 supported legalization, but so did nearly as many (64%) in the 35-49 age group. Half of those 50 to 64 believe marijuana should be legal, but that number dropped to 39% for those age 65 and older.
The number of Americans who think marijuana use is immoral has also undergone a seismic shift. In 1987, 70% thought it was immoral; in the CNN poll, the number has been halved to 35%. And the number of Americans who think marijuana is a serious social problem has also declined dramatically, from 65% in 1972 (the year President Nixon declared drugs "public enemy #1") to 19% now.
"Attitudes toward the effects of marijuana and whether it is morally wrong to smoke pot have changed dramatically over time," said Holland. "That also means that marijuana use is just not all that important to Americans any longer."
The CNN poll was conducted by ORC International, from January 3-5, with 1,010 adults nationwide questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is +/-3%.
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
Drug war a Failure
In reply to Drug war a Failure by Paulpot (not verified)
  Commercial showing a shady
Commercial showing a shady drug dealer on the side of a market complaining of having a bad day selling his goods. WHY? Because most the kids figured out they can get HIGH by raiding mom and dads med cabinet. So for the kids that DIDN'T KNOW THIS INFORMATION????? Now they do. BTW, these adds were run after school on teen programing.
That Rasmussen poll asked 2 questions about legalizing
It asked about legalizing, and about legalizing and regulating. The figure for legalizing and regulating is presumably higher than 41%, likely considerably higher, but it is hidden behind a paywall, so only subscribers can get that number.
This is not first poll to show support highest in the Northeast
I hope influential reformers are taking note.
we need more support and a
we need more support and a louder voice in maryland we need to get o'mally out of here and begin opening the doors to true personal freedom witch this country was supposed to be about , what happened here we need to raise up we out number them.
In reply to we need more support and a by paulft (not verified)
Thug Bigot O'Malley will be gone after this year
The Lt. Governor is the frontrunner to succeed him. Maybe he'll pay more attention to public opinion, or to the racial discrimination aspect of this (he's black). There is a pro-legalization candidate running, Heather Mizeur, a member of the state legislature. Even if she loses, she might be able to push the debate forward.
Yes, we do outnumber them now. Their war isn't just an assault on freedom and public safety now, it's also an assault on democracy.
"Serious social problem" and "immoral"
The "immoral" number is 16 points higher than the "serious social problem" number. I don't know what to make of that. So there's people who don't think it is a serious social problem, but still think it's immoral?[well, not necessarily, but probably] I don't understand those people. And apparently, somewhere around ten percent of people neither think that it's a serious social problem nor that it's immoral, but still want it to be illegal ((45 minus 35) assuming that all those who think it's a ssp think it's immoral, and that all who think it's immoral think it should be illegal (or at least most)). Those people I don't understand either. It goes to show what strange attitudes/ideas 80 years of prohibition and propaganda can create.
0 isn't a big number
But zero is how many real arguments there are against the legalisation of cannabis.The only one they ever trot out these days is that old; "it causes schizophrenia" thing that was debunked as soon as it came out.Then there's the one about how much stronger it is.I think that's supposed to be a bad thing.The simple fact is that almost every drug available now is stronger than it was back in the day.Possible exceptions,MDA and LSD.It's just a matter of choice.The people that complain about the strength are probably the same people that complain,period.It's not a good reason to be putting people in prison and ruining their lives.The law does more damage than the cannabis ever could.
LEGALIZE MARIJUANA IN MISSOURI
AT LEAST FOR MEDICAL USE .AND DECRIMINALIZE IT 1.25 OZ IS LEGAL .NARCOTICS DO MORE DAMAGE.SURGERY CANT FIX ME IT ,WILL KILL ME!
In reply to LEGALIZE MARIJUANA IN MISSOURI by LEGALIZE MARIJ… (not verified)
They Don't Care If You Die!
The barbarian prohibitionists just don't care. Even if you were a little child in horrible pain who needed high CBD, low THC cannabis, most of these gangsters still don't care. Being against MMJ is becoming a more evil way to be every day. Even dirty rats like Cuomo and O'Malley have sort of abandoned that sinking ship.
Please Help Pennsylvania
Thanks to Dylan Leach of Montgomery County Pa. is on a path to some sort of marijuana legalization. What we need is the voice of our country behind him. I am a 46yo married father of 2 who is dependent on narcotic pain medication. I own my own home, have a dog and a white picket fence. I am now suffering the side effects from taking narcotics on a daily basis for over 7 years. Every time I have smoked GOOD marijuana strains my pain not only subsided but actually disappeared. The stress, anxiety, and sleepless nights disappear just as fast. Just a few hits off a joint can give me relief for up to 3 days. When I am able to smoke GOOD strains my use of pain meds drops to the bare minimum to keep me from getting "dope sick". Imagine that, me dope sick. I had to figure that one out for myself. Left my pain meds home when we went on vacation. Had to go to the ER. The doctor explained what was happening. I thought things like that only happened to IV drug users. So for me to be Pain free I have to jeopardize my life and the lives of my family. Not to mention my pain management doctors practice. If I were assured good pain strains as I needed them I could forgo narcotic use totally. Please help me by calling any and all Pa. State Senators, Legislatures, and even our Attorney general. I'll gather up all that info and repost in many other forums on this site. Thank You from the bottom of my Heart,
Billy, S. Scranton, Pa.
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