Zogby Poll Says Both Coasts Favor Letting States Legalize Marijuana
Advocates of ending marijuana prohibition have been wandering the desert of American politics for forty years and have yet to find the Promised Land, but a new poll provides the latest evidence that at least in some parts of the country, the public is ready to say “legalize it,” or more benignly, “regulate and control it.” The new Zogby International poll of registered US voters finds that a majority of voters contacted on both the West Coast and the East Coast would support amending federal law “to let states legally regulate and tax marijuana the way they do liquor and gambling.”
Nationwide, 46% supported making marijuana policy a state option, while 53% did on the East Coast and 55% on the West Coast. In the South and Midwest, by contrast, 55% opposed it. In partisan terms, support was strongest among Democrats, with 59% in favor, while only 33% of Republicans favored letting states set their own marijuana laws. Independents split, with 44% in favor and 49% against.
Support for letting states tax and regulate marijuana also divides along religious and age group lines, sometimes in a surprising fashion. Protestants were least likely to support state marijuana reform (38%)—and only 26% of “born again” people—while 48% of Catholics, 60% of non-believers, and 70% of Jews approved.
More unexpected were the differences among age groups. While 18-29 year-olds unsurprisingly strongly favored state regulation (66%), the opinion of 30-49 year-olds was the reverse, with 58% opposed. Favorable opinion rose again in the 50-65 group before declining in the post-65 group. Commissioned by the NORML Foundation, the Zogby poll is based on interviews with 1,004 registered voters. It has a margin of error of 3.2%.
The Zogby poll is the latest to suggest that support for marijuana law reform is approaching critical mass, at least in some parts of the country. A Gallup poll released in November showed 36% of adults nationwide supporting marijuana legalization, an all-time high, with 47% of Westerners agreeing with freeing the weed. Support for reform can reach even higher, if the right question is asked. A 2001 Zogby poll asked respondents if they favored “arresting and jailing marijuana law offenders,” and 61% answered no. In its soundings in Nevada, where it is backing an initiative to legalize the adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and create a system of regulated distribution, the Marijuana Policy Project reports a substantial difference in favorable responses when potential voters are asked if they support “legalizing marijuana” or “regulating and controlling marijuana.”
read the rest here:
http://www.zogby.com/templates/printsb.cfm?id=12917
Read the whole thing. Support is widespread and favorable in most demographic catagories, the big exception being people over 70. Reefer Madness(the movie) is still burned into their memory banks. Can you blame them?
Its just a matter of time. The repeal of Federal prohibition of pot is inevitable. States will decide for themselves, as it should be.
