cannabisnews.com: Support for MJ Legalization Hita an All-Time High
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Support for MJ Legalization Hita an All-Time High
Posted by CN Staff on March 25, 2016 at 14:38:28 PT
By Christopher Ingraham
Source: Washington Post
USA -- A new survey released today by the the Associated Press and the University of Chicago finds that a record-high percentage of Americans -- 61 percent -- say they support marijuana legalization.The survey uses the same question wording ("Do you think the use of marijuana should be made legal, or not?") on marijuana as previous Gallup surveys, which had shown a previous high of 58 percent support for legalization last October.
However, the AP asked a follow-up question that found a considerable amount of nuance in Americans' support marijuana legalization. Twenty-four percent of legalization supporters said marijuana should be made available "only with a medical prescription." Another 43 percent said there should be "restrictions on purchase amounts." And one-third of legalization supporters said there should be "no restrictions" on purchase amounts. "This is yet another demonstration of just how ready Americans are for the end of marijuana prohibition," said Tom Angell of the Marijuana Majority, a marijuana reform group. "The growing level of support for legalization that we see in poll after poll is exactly why we're now in a situation -- for the first time in history -- where every major presidential candidate in both parties has pledged to let states set their own marijuana laws without federal interference."Marijuana legalization is particularly popular among Democrats (70 percent support) and independents (65 percent). Nearly half (47 percent) of Republican voters support legalization as well.There is a considerable age gap on the question. Eighty-two percent of 18-to-29 year olds support legalization, compared to only 44 percent of those aged 60+.The survey comes at a potential tipping point for drug reform. Next month, the United Nations will hold a special session in New York to re-evaluate the state of international drug laws. Many researchers and public health experts have been encouraging the UN to take a less-punitive approach to drug policy. Yesterday, a group of medical and public health experts urged governments to decriminalize all drug use and experiment with regulated drug markets in some cases.Here in the U.S. it's likely that voters in a number of states, including California, Nevada, Arizona and Massachusetts, will consider whether to legalize recreational marijuana at the ballot box this fall. And Vermont's legislature may opt to legalize marijuana before then.And just last week, the U.S. Supreme Court tossed out a lawsuit against Colorado's marijuana regulatory regime brought by two neighboring states. Marijuana policy reformers say the decision gives some breathing room to other states considering legalization experiments.Still, the AP survey numbers show the support for legalization is by no means uniform. Kevin Sabet of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a group that lobbies against marijuana legalization, said in an email that given that nearly a quarter of marijuana legalization supporters only want to see it authorized with a doctor's prescription, that "does not show strong support for legalization at all." He notes that even under current medical marijuana laws, doctors aren't even able to write prescriptions for medical marijuana -- they can only issue "recommendations."Previous Gallup surveys have not delved into the limits on support for legalization in the same way, so it isn't possible to compare those numbers with previous data.But the survey is still likely to put some wind at the back of reformers hoping for victories on marijuana this year. And the growing levels of public support for legal marijuana -- up from 44 percent at the start of the Obama administration -- mean that the next president and Congress may face more pressure to make changes to marijuana law at the federal level.Christopher Ingraham writes about politics, drug policy and all things data. He previously worked at the Brookings Institution and the Pew Research Center.Source: Washington Post (DC)Author: Christopher IngrahamPublished: March 25, 2016Copyright: 2016 Washington Post CompanyContact: letters washpost.com Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ URL: http://drugsense.org/url/BEHlXn0lCannabisNews  -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
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Comment #8 posted by afterburner on March 28, 2016 at 15:31:23 PT
Possible Public Health Benefits: Legal Cannabis
Marijuana sales in Colorado beginning to surpass alcohol sales - could this shift in consumption lower cancer rates?
Saturday, March 26, 2016 by: Daniel Barker.
Tags: marijuana, alcohol sales, cancer rates
http://www.naturalnews.com/053438_marijuana_alcohol_sales_cancer_rates.html
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Comment #7 posted by afterburner on March 28, 2016 at 12:14:32 PT
Even Nature Is Supporting Bernie
#BirdieSanders: Crowd goes wild when ‘dove in disguise’ joins Sanders on podium (VIDEO)
Published time: 26 Mar, 2016 15:27
Edited time: 26 Mar, 2016 16:44
https://www.rt.com/usa/337313-birdiesanders-crowd-goes-wild/
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by runruff on March 28, 2016 at 08:19:25 PT
Banks not moral but banks be greedy!
The Rogue Valley Federal Credit Union just dropped the federal from their title so they can do banking with the pot industry without federal interference. Dude, money talks, BS walks!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by FoM on March 27, 2016 at 15:23:14 PT
CDC: Doctors, Stop Testing for Marijuana
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/christinerousselle/2016/03/24/draft-n2138449
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Comment #4 posted by The GCW on March 27, 2016 at 06:00:09 PT
The rippling reinforcing truth grows.
There are so many reasons support is growing to end cannabis prohibition that it can not be covered in 1 place.Here, however, is an example of note:US OR: OPED: First Pot Tax Collections Higher Than Expected, 
Source: Mail Tribune, The (Medford, OR), Mar. 26,  2016http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n193/a05.html?397"So, in other words, the amount of money collected in taxes (3.8 million) from marijuana sales in January, just that one month, was equal to what experts were expecting for the entire year.""And, perhaps even more important, the numbers suggest that, at least for the time being, pot consumers are turning to licensed locations and not the black market.""Will that change the dynamics going into the November marijuana elections?" 
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Comment #3 posted by afterburner on March 26, 2016 at 11:13:18 PT
More Dirty Tricks from Michigan's State Government
POLITICS.
Michigan Republicans Are Trying To Change Election Law To Stop Liberal Ballot Initiatives
BY EMILY ATKIN MAR 24, 2016 10:52 AM
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/03/24/3762667/michigan-republicans-fracking-ban-legal-marijuana/Michigan State Government promoting bill to make citizens' initiatives more difficult.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on March 26, 2016 at 05:34:00 PT
John Tyler
That is the truth. Thank you for the article.
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Comment #1 posted by John Tyler on March 25, 2016 at 21:30:26 PT
Drug War a big lie
In a recent article the Drug War truth finally comes out for all to see.http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/nixon-aide-war-drugs-tool-target-black-people-article-1.2573832Top adviser to Richard Nixon admitted that ‘War on Drugs’ was policy tool to go after anti-war protesters and ‘black people’. “We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
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