Will the Economic Argument Help Legalize Marijuana? Yes.
It's been the most prominent talking point for marijuana reform in recent months, but can the promise of tax revenue really convince people to support legalization? A new poll attempted to find out:
As far as I'm concerned, if you can get 62% to approve of taxation, you're heading hard in the right direction. The AP headline pours cold water on the argument's viability, but the goal here was never to convince everyone that legalizing marijuana would end the damn recession. The point is to increase support for taxing marijuana.
Given the poor showing for the "create jobs" argument specifically, maybe we want to lean away from that and just emphasize tax revenue and savings. The whole idea of new marijuana-related jobs wouldn't impress our target demographic anyway. They are people who generally don't like marijuana and just want to hear less about it. Hopefully, we can sell them on supporting legalization in exchange for a little bit of tax revenue and a lifetime of not having to watch these massive initiatives come along every two years for the rest of their life.
Ultimately, the reality of marijuana reform messaging is that there's no silver bullet. Some arguments poll better than others, but when you actually talk to casual supporters, they're often oblivious to half the arguments anyway. There are dozens of distinct and sufficient reasons to legalize marijuana and our goal is simply to connect with swing voters one way if not another. The only arguments to really avoid are those that only make sense to people who already love the stuff.
AP-CNBC Poll: Legalizing pot won't boost economy
LOS ANGELES — Few people see legalized marijuana as a way to boost the economy and create jobs, according to an Associated Press-CNBC poll.
About a quarter of those polled said legalized pot would lead to more jobs in their communities; 57 percent said there would be no effect. About a third think the economy would improve, while 46 percent foresee no impact.
…
And while 62 percent approve of states taxing the drug, with people from the West most likely to back the idea, only a third felt the levies would make a significant contribution to state budgets.
As far as I'm concerned, if you can get 62% to approve of taxation, you're heading hard in the right direction. The AP headline pours cold water on the argument's viability, but the goal here was never to convince everyone that legalizing marijuana would end the damn recession. The point is to increase support for taxing marijuana.
Given the poor showing for the "create jobs" argument specifically, maybe we want to lean away from that and just emphasize tax revenue and savings. The whole idea of new marijuana-related jobs wouldn't impress our target demographic anyway. They are people who generally don't like marijuana and just want to hear less about it. Hopefully, we can sell them on supporting legalization in exchange for a little bit of tax revenue and a lifetime of not having to watch these massive initiatives come along every two years for the rest of their life.
Ultimately, the reality of marijuana reform messaging is that there's no silver bullet. Some arguments poll better than others, but when you actually talk to casual supporters, they're often oblivious to half the arguments anyway. There are dozens of distinct and sufficient reasons to legalize marijuana and our goal is simply to connect with swing voters one way if not another. The only arguments to really avoid are those that only make sense to people who already love the stuff.
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