Public Opinion

Less than six months from election day, the California "tax and regulate" initiative to legalize marijuana has the support of half the voters, according to two polls this week. But just barely, and it has to get those numbers up to be sure of a November win.

In a series of public opinion polls last year in Latin America, the Gallup organization looked at perceptions of drug trafficking. The results may be surprising.

Bent on flexing their "tough on crime" muscles and impervious to polls showing a majority of Canadians want to legalize pot, Canada's Conservatives have reintroduced a bill creating mandatory minimum prison sentences for growing as few as 6 pot plants or making any amount of hash. That's so last century, Ottawa!

Two national polls on marijuana legalization came out this week. One lowballs support levels at 33%, while the other is in line with other recent polls at 44%. In either case, we're not over the top yet, except maybe out West.

A majority of Canadians think marijuana should be legalized, according to a new poll. They also approve of harm reduction -- even if the Conservative government doesn't.

Can that legalization initiative in California really pull it off? A new poll has some encouraging numbers.

Support for medical marijuana is broad and deep among the American public, and support for general pot legalization continues to trend upward, although we're not quite over the top nationally, a new poll finds.

Canadians who support marijuana decriminalization outnumber opponents by 20 percentage points, according to a new poll. 20% aren't sure.

Motherhood, apple pie, and... medical marijuana? A new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that acceptance of medical marijuana is approaching near unanimity -- and support for legalization is rising, too. Politicians, take heed!

What a year! A lot happened in 2009 when it comes to drug policy, much of it good. Last issue we reviewed the international developments. This last week of the year, we take a look at what we see as the ten most important domestic drug policy stories the year brought us.