The drumbeat of national polls with majorities for marijuana legalization continues, one Ohio legalization effort gives up the ghost while another vows to continue, Brazil opens its doors to ibogaine, and more.

[image:1 align:left]Marijuana Policy

Another Poll Has a National Majority for Marijuana Legalization. A new YouGov poll has support for marijuana legalization at 52%, up four points from the last YouGov poll in March 2015. The numbers are in line with other national opinion polls showing support for legalization consistently above 50%. Majorities of independents (66%) and Democrats (51%) support legalization, but only 36% of Republicans do.

Arizona Initiative Campaign Getting Close to Making Ballot. The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol reports that has gathered nearly 150,000 raw signatures. It needs 150,000 valid voter signatures to qualify for the November ballot and says it aims to collect 225,000 raw signatures to have a safety cushion.

ResponsibleOhio Calls It Quits. The group behind last year's failed "monopoly" marijuana legalization initiative is giving up the ghost. ResponsibleOhio founder Jimmy Gould said Thursday the group will not be back with another constitutional amendment and that it is also giving up efforts to pass the Fresh Start Act initiative, which would have allowed for the removal of previous marijuana convictions. Gould said the best route forward was for the legislature to enact medical marijuana. He and another ResponsibleOhio organizer are among the appointees to a state legislative task force on medical marijuana supported by the Republican House speaker.

But Another Ohio Legalization Initiative Campaign Presses Ahead. Ohioans to End Prohibition co-founder Jacob Wagner said today that it is moving forward with signature gathering for its legalization initiative. The group has some 60,000 to 70,000 raw signatures at this point and is looking for funding to continue. The group will need some 305,000 valid voter signatures by July to qualify for the November ballot.

International

Brazil Approves Use of Ibogaine. The head of the National Association of the Study of Drug Policy in Sao Paulo has approved the use of ibogaine "in a hospital environment, with medical supervision and control, meeting the exercise of the profession and the recommendations of good clinical practice, including rigorous clinical and psychiatric examinations and psychological assessment and psychotherapeutic monitoring." The move currently only applies to the state of Sao Paulo, but will be extended to the rest of the country in coming months. Ibogaine is used in the treatment of various addictions.