cannabisnews.com: Support for Legal Marijuana Reached Tipping Point
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Support for Legal Marijuana Reached Tipping Point
Posted by CN Staff on April 04, 2013 at 15:34:48 PT
By Linda Feldmann, Staff Writer
Source: Christian Science Monitor
Washington, D.C. -- For the first time, a major US poll has found that a majority of Americans support legalization of marijuana. The Pew Research Center announced Thursday that 52 percent of Americans say that marijuana use should be made legal, versus 45 percent who say it should not. The trend line has been moving gradually in the direction of majority support for more than 20 years. In 1991, only 17 percent supported legalization, while 78 percent opposed.
As with gay marriage, which has also seen a sharp rise in support in the past few years, the Pew poll found major generational differences in views on marijuana. Among Millennials – those now aged 18 to 32 – support is at 65 percent, up from just 36 percent in 2008. Among Generation X, those born between 1965 and 1980, support has risen dramatically, from 28 percent in 1994 to 54 percent today.Half of Baby Boomers support legalized marijuana today, and among the over-65 Silent Generation support has doubled since 2002 – from 17 percent to 32 percent.Among other noteworthy findings in the Pew poll:Nearly three in four Americans (72 percent) say government efforts to enforce marijuana laws cost more than they are worth.Sixty percent say the federal government should not enforce federal laws prohibiting marijuana use in states that have legalized it. Last November, voters in Colorado and Washington state approved the personal use of small amounts of marijuana.Some 48 percent of Americans say they have tried marijuana, up from 38 percent a decade ago.Republicans oppose legalization, while Democrats support it. Among Republicans, it’s 37 percent favoring legalization to 60 percent opposing. Among Democrats, 59 percent say legalize it and 39 percent say don’t.Marijuana’s image as a “gateway” drug is fading. Today, 38 percent of Americans agree that “for most people the use of marijuana leads to the use of hard drugs.” In 1977, 60 percent felt that way.Despite the trends, those opposed to legalization are not giving up. In a column in the Washington Post, former Bush administration official Peter Wehner writes that as Republicans search for new issues to champion, fighting drug use and legalization should be one. “Today, many parents rightly believe the culture is against them. Government policies should stand with responsible parents – and under no circumstances actively undermine them,” writes Mr. Wehner, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington.“Drug legalization would do exactly that. It would send an unmistakable signal to everyone, including the young: Drug use is not a big deal.”But in fact, Wehner writes, “the law is a moral teacher,” and government can play a role in the shaping of character. Therefore, “Republicans should prefer that it be a constructive one, which is why they should speak out forcefully and intelligently against drug legalization.”Source: Christian Science Monitor (US)Author:  Linda Feldmann, Staff WriterPublished: April 4, 2013Copyright: 2013 The Christian Science Publishing SocietyContact: letters csmonitor.comWebsite: http://www.csmonitor.com/ URL: http://drugsense.org/url/vO6MvLBHCannabisNews  -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
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Comment #14 posted by HempWorld on April 06, 2013 at 14:06:20 PT
Sorry, better link:
http://www.beyondthc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Michelle-BTHC.pdf
O'Shaugnessy's
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #13 posted by HempWorld on April 06, 2013 at 14:03:04 PT
Only A Matter Of Time...
until the public at large, get the news that cannabis heals cancers and prevents them...Then, it is all over! I am going to work on this in the next couple of months. I also want to ask all fellow activists to join in. Will give more detail when available here on CNews.Thank you FoM for all that you have done! Thank you fellow activists and thank you God/YahWeh!For more detail please read:
http://www.beyondthc.com/michelle-healing/
Cannabinoids Cure Cancers!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #12 posted by HempWorld on April 06, 2013 at 13:38:52 PT
Pro Legalization 60% Against 40%
This is what the numbers currently are, IMHO. As soon as the Pro crowd hits 65%, politicians will turn on a dime and the whole thing will be over, for good!How did I get to 60%? From last Pew Poll, 3% was undecided, but now have decided to join a winner! 52+ 3 = 57%And, from the 45% Against crowd, a full 5%, if not 6 has since the news broke, jumped ship because they too want to join a winner.When will it hit 65% fall of this year? Moving fast now...
Legalize it!
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Comment #11 posted by kaptinemo on April 06, 2013 at 04:55:04 PT:
Canis, 'this, too, shall pass'...as will the 
obstructionists...literally as well as figuratively.Ask yourself this question: why is it that after decades of being unable to even speak about cutting Social Security, this is all over the news, with pols talking about it so blithely, when before they were pee-their-pants scared of riling up the old folks? Why is it, for example, that Social Security used to be the 'Third Rail' in politics, and now the pols are practically sticking their tongues on it?Because they know that a generational shift has occurred, and that those the pols used to fear are dying off...and those left are becoming too enfeebled by their infirmities to be able to mount the kind of political counterattack that would have spelled the doom of their careers as pols. Sad but true: the political vultures are circling the old folks, waiting for them to die off so they can finally have their way with SS.Whether this is good or bad I leave to the readers. But the very same dynamic is at work when it comes to cannabis law reform.The Grim Reaper is stalking the (reactionary) drug prohibition-supporting Know-Nothings. Every day his scythe cuts down more and more of those were able to stand in the way of a rational policy regarding cannabis law. Fewer and fewer of those remaining are well enough to get to a voting center and pull a lever or push a button...and fewer still are mentally able to.So, what does that man? It means that the younger voters of FL, who share our views, will, within a few years, be able to reverse the previous status quo of drug prohibition...because they will make it abundantly clear at the voting booth that they will NOT elect pols who want to maintain that status quo with their taxes.The man who rents the music hall and hires the band gets to decide what tunes are played. And with the younger voters shouldering more and more of the tax burden that no longer falls upon their departing elders, they will want a different tune played from now on.
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Comment #10 posted by MikeEEEEE on April 05, 2013 at 19:56:58 PT
Florida
Because many elderly people are still migrating to Florida to escape the cold, the generational shift will probably take longer there. The prohibitionist old farts should learn, if they still can, that they can grow their own medicine--what the pharm companies/lobby/pill pushers fear.
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Comment #9 posted by Canis420 on April 05, 2013 at 18:58:28 PT:
52%
I fear that it is going to take much more than 52% to change politicians minds on this issue. We have medical Cannabis legislation introduced that wont even get discussed here in Florida and it is polling at 70%. On a better note the manatee county sheriffs office is declining to prosecute Kathy Jordan, who our legislation is named for, after raiding her house about a month ago with guns drawn and in ski masks. They took her plants though, so now she will be out of medicine, but she wont be prosecuted.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on April 05, 2013 at 16:27:14 PT
Seattle Police Return Marijuana 
April 5, 2013Attitudes about marijuana are changing rapidly in the U.S., so much so that even law enforcement is coming up with some unique ways of dealing with those who consume or even sell the drug.In what the Seattle Police Department described as its “first time ever” event, authorities returned small amounts of marijuana confiscated from street dealers as part of a police investigation.Since voters decided to legalize marijuana in November 2012, Washington state authorities have attempted to navigate the unfamiliar waters of drug legalization. For the most part, that has involved figuring out how to deal with individuals smoking or attempting to purchase pot.URL: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/seattle-police-return-marijuana-taken-street-dealers-220156062.html
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Comment #7 posted by ekim on April 05, 2013 at 07:33:15 PT
this Sat. is the 42 year for the Hash Bash
some info on States making cannabis laws.http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/topic/42960-on-mj-laws-respect-states-rights/#entry441073
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on April 04, 2013 at 21:43:14 PT
I do not want the government to play a role in the
shaping of the citizen's character. That is wrong on so many levels. There is no role for government as parent to the citizenry. That is impossible in a society of equals.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by HempWorld on April 04, 2013 at 20:58:49 PT
DEA = Rockefeller Goons!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/dea-marijuana-report_n_3016220.html
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Comment #4 posted by HempWorld on April 04, 2013 at 20:40:38 PT
Huffpo:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/marijuana-legalization-poll-2013_n_3015813.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/marijuana-legalization-poll-2013_n_3015
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by Hope on April 04, 2013 at 20:08:19 PT
Finally!
More: Survey: 52 percent of Americans in favor of legalizing marijuanahttp://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/04/17603170-survey-52-percent-of-americans-in-favor-of-legalizing-marijuana?liteThat's a major goal reached. I remember when the polls were thirty seven percent. Hallelujah!
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Comment #2 posted by John Tyler on April 04, 2013 at 19:42:31 PT
Drug use is not a big deal
“Drug legalization would do exactly that. It would send an unmistakable signal to everyone, including the young: Drug use is not a big deal.” 
Therefore, Republicans should speak out forcefully and intelligently against drug legalization.The only true part about this is that “Drug use is not a big deal”. The rest is BS. It is crazy talk and another losing position for the Republicans. The Republicans do not have an intelligent position on anything. Recently, they are an embarrassment to intelligence. They lost on gay marriage. They lost on Obamacare, which was a Republican idea. They lost the White House twice in a row. They have lost the minority vote. They have lost the women’s vote. The list goes on and on. They are not cool at all. Reince Prebus, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee said, “Stop being the stupid party”.This must gall CSM to print this article.
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Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on April 04, 2013 at 16:40:45 PT
Thank you CSM!
Truth last the longest!
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