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Another Poll Shows Majority Supports Legalizing Marijuana

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #737)

An Angus-Reid Public Opinion poll released Wednesday is just the latest to show majority support for marijuana legalization. The poll had support for legalization at 52%, with 44% opposed.

That's in line with a Rasmussen poll released a couple of weeks ago that had support for legalizing and regulating marijuana at 56%, and also in line with other recent polls that show legalizing gaining majority support and trending upward.

In the Angus-Reid poll, majorities of men (60%), independents (57%), people under 55 (54%) and Democrats (54%) supported pot legalization, while people over 55 (48%), women (45%), and Republicans (43%) were less likely to support it.

Marijuana legalization is on the ballot this year in Colorado and Washington, with signature-gathering campaigns for more legalization initiatives still underway in Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, and Oregon. The West has generally shown higher levels of support for legalization than the rest of the country, but Angus-Reid has not made a geographic breakdown of support available for this poll.

While a majority supports marijuana legalization, that's not the case for other drugs. Only 10% would support legalizing ecstasy, 9% cocaine, 8% heroin or crack cocaine, and 7% methamphetamine.

But two-thirds (66%) think the war on drugs is a failure, while only 10% think it has been a success. That opinion cuts across the political spectrum, with majorities of independents (69%), Republicans (63%), and Democrats (63%) saying the drug war is a failure.

Still, 68% thought America has a serious drug problem that affects the whole country. One-fifth (20%) thought drug problems were limited to specific areas and people, while 5% thought America doesn't have a drug problem.

The poll was an online survey of a representative sample of 1,017 American adults with a margin of error of +/-3.1%.

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

Will G (not verified)

Well now they have MJ w/ 0% thc it doesnt even get you high. So now they have to legalize MJ. Why? Bc its safer than Alcohol and Tobacco combined, thats why! All anyone truley needs is only 1-4 % thc levels with high CBD, and of course no seeds and stems please!

Wed, 06/06/2012 - 11:09pm Permalink
Jeff Brown (not verified)

Cannabis aka. Marijuana, hemp, pot is the most useful plant on the planet and it needs to be free for all its uses. It has clothed , fed, sheltered, medicated and enlightened mankind for thousands of years. It is only special interest that have lied about this plant. The people have awakened and the politicians have to follow. The voice of the People is the Voice of god. 

Thu, 06/07/2012 - 5:55pm Permalink
Bongstar420 (not verified)

This means that support is %49-55 and opposition is %41-47. Support in the west is likely to be closer to %55 though I do not believe that is enough to get anything done. There has to be +%60 for anything to get done.

Sat, 06/09/2012 - 2:40pm Permalink

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