New Poll: 52% Say Marijuana Should Be Legal, Taxed, Regulated

[kpete]

May-06-2009
New Poll: 52% Say Marijuana Should Be Legal, Taxed, Regulated
Salem-News.com


(WASHINGTON D.C.) - A new Zogby poll commissioned by the conservative-leaning O'Leary Report has found 52 percent voter support for treating marijuana as a legal, taxed, regulated substance.

The survey, published as a full-page ad in today's issue of the political newspaper The Hill, polled a sample of 3,937 voters weighted to match the 2008 presidential outcome -- 54 percent Obama voters and 46 percent McCain supporters.

"This new survey continues the recent trend of strong and growing support for taxing and regulating marijuana and ending the disastrously failed policy of prohibition," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C.

Voters were asked: "Scarce law enforcement and prison resources, a desire to neutralize drug cartels and the need for new sources of revenue have resurrected the topic of legalizing marijuana. Proponents say it makes sense to tax and regulate the drug while opponents say that legalization would lead marijuana users to use other illegal drugs. Would you favor or oppose the government's effort to legalize marijuana?"

more:
http://salem-news.com/articles/may062009/mj_zogby_5-6-09.php

[RandomKoolzip]

1. The government's attitude towards marijuana reminds me of those

weird rules my parents and other kids' parents used to make up and enforce for seemingly no reason - like "no grape juice in this house - ever!" or "no video games with monkeys in them - ever!" It's just so stupid and arbitrary, the regulatory equivalent of busywork. I guess the pot laws are still around because they keep the prison industry in business or something.

There's just simply no fucking reason why marijuana should be illegal.

[RaleighNCDUer]

74. Well, the 'no grape juice' rule is neither weird nor arbitrary, for families

with any number of kids - grape juice stains NEVER come out.

[harmonicon]

82. it is to keep the prison industry flush with cash

Having private prisons ought to be outlawed, but those in power often have a large stake in the success of these massive companies. The people are being robbed blind by this union of government/political campaigns and the private prison industry. Do away with private prisons, and do away with private contributions to political campaigns, and marijuana use would be decriminalized in a heartbeat.

[ixion]

2. so, can we PLEASE stop talking about it and do it?

Every day that we waste talking about it simply means more destroyed lives and wasted money.

[Beetwasher]

3. I Can't Fucking Believe This

There's really a concerted push for this and it's gaining momentum. I'm stunned. I never thought I'd see the day.

I think it's going to happen, like gay marriage, state to state to state. What a beautiful thing!

Something like this is infectious and the attitude "trickles down" as it were. Once several states make it legal (or decriminalize) even in other states where it's not decriminalized the attitude of enforcement will almost certainly become lax to the point of null, effectively decriminalizing it anyway.

[TahitiNut]

47. Never underestimate the power of the Snack Food lobby.

:silly:

[Beetwasher]

49. Ha!

Honestly though, I would think the cigarette lobbby would be all over this w/ funding. They've been wanting to get into the pot growing business forever.

[pattmarty]

62. Touche'. I can see the ads now.........................

[RoadRage]

4. I think its a good idea... but

like gambling.. let it be a state decision. I see California hopping on this quickly if it becomes legal.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

5. North Carolina wants in on that action.

Even my wingnuttiest of wingnut neighbors from this tobacco state supports it.

[tekisui]

8. NC has passed some decriminalizing legislation.

For small amounts.

[HillWilliam]

9. I live in NC and wasn't aware of that.

See whatcha learn on DU!

[tekisui]

13. Simple possession is like a traffic ticket, now.

Growing, intent to distribute and large quantities are still serious charges, but a joint or under half an ounce won't even get you arrested, unless its by a jackass cop.

[HillWilliam]

16. Lord knows we've got plenty of THOSE

depending on the county. I live in Caswell which is pretty rural and live-and-let-live, but I commute through Rockingham (aka little Klanland) whose sheriff, Sam Paige, is dying to be another Arpaio. As a wedding officiant, I travel all over the Piedmont.

I don't smoke anyway, but it is an interesting trivium. But if anyone does, KNOW the county you're in or passing through. NC is a patchwork of cultures and LEO attitudes.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

30. Is Paige the one who said he's so "American" that he doesn't even eat spaghetti?

Hmm, maybe it was the one from Johnston County.

[HillWilliam]

38. I hadn't heard that, but I wouldn't be surprised

I spend no money and conduct no business whatsoever in Rockingham County. It's the land of the nutbars: rebel flags, McFailin' signs, and junk cars in a goodly percentage of the front yards there. If I didn't have to traverse it to get to work, I'd never set foot there. Going through Alamance is out of the question; that would add about 20 miles to my trip.

It would be surprising that something so gawdawful freeper-red could be right beside Caswell's bright blue if one didn't know the history of the klan-wars around the turn of the last century and how the klan got run out of Caswell. They fled to Rockingham and Alamance Counties where there are still infestations to this day. (I stay out of Reidsville and Graham for good reason.)

Rockingham County foreplay: "hey sis, you 'wake?"

Derrrr.

[RoadRage]

14. alaska has too, i think.

That crazy state! I think the states that are more libertarian conservative and less bible thumper conservative are more likly to go down this path.

[JonLP24]

20. Marijuana is a Schedule VIA substance in Alaska

Schedule VIA is the lowest classification of a controlled substance under Alaska law. Possession of less then an ounce is a low misdeamonor.

[Bluenorthwest]

22. The state's decisions are still shadowed by Fed law

CA can not tax what they legalize unless the Feds make it legal to do so. The Fed law is the whole problem yet again, just as it is with marriage equality.
I ask you, is the sale of alchohol a state by state thing? And I invite everyone in your state to buy in mine and pay taxes to us! That sounds fine to me!
CA estimates the first year's tax take at 1.3 Billion dollars. Hard to yawn at, really.

[JonLP24]

24. The fed law is screwy

Marijuana is a schedule I substance meaning it has a high potential for abuse and has no acceptable medical use. Marijuana has the same classification as Heroin and LSD.

[pattmarty]

63. Hell yes, just for the much needed revenue alone.

[fascisthunter]

6. About Fricking Time

I hate feeling like a criminal for smoking something so damn benign.

[suede1]

7. Finally moving in the right direction.

[azul]

10. Hey, look over here. Bright shiny deal.

They give the populace drugs legally, if, we don't pay attention and let the big-shot torturers and murderers slide and the rule of law be trashed?

A big movie star was trotted out to get the discussion going. I guess I'm buying it?

This is getting too weird and spooky.

[Bluenorthwest]

31. I'd put it this way

A Gov. who is a well known pot consumer in a state where pot is the largest cash crop, a state that faces huge financial problems, suddenly understands that instead of spending piles of money to enforce and imprison, they could generate, according to his state auditors, 1.3 Billion tax dollars in the first year alone. He knows the vast majority of the state favors legalization, and that many counties are dependent on that crop for survival, legal or not.
Californians have spent years and millions to reform marijuana laws and to educate other Californians. Because of that fact, already when my CA pals want some pot, here is what they say: let's go to the pot store and buy some pot...which pot store will we go to and shall we also buy some hash? That is today and the state gets nada.
Most of the people in Arnold's showbiz world smoke pot. Of those who do not, precious few give a rip about those who do. Arnold himself is more documented as a smoker than any politician in the history of this nation, and also more than all but a handful of his showbiz peers. Tommy Chong has been more upfront, but not many others. Bill Maher of course, Woody. But none of them are in office, now are they?
So a man hears what he wants to hear, I guess. But Arnold has been puffing away without much concern for secrecy all over LA for decades. It is not much of a suprise to some of us.
But it could be the other thing too, I guess.

[azul]

50. I a majority of people are breaking the law, do they consider themselves criminals?

Like making the speed limit 55 an then letting drivers zoom around at 70+ by not enforcing the rules. Or like making tax cheating easy enough to be a telling character test, when just about every one else cheats if they can, and low enforcement and small penalties make it worth the try.

And so if many people in a nation are law breakers, do they have more tolerance for those breaking laws representing them in office?

Do they that get legalized in their criminality get to then throw the stones, is that what pot smokers are waiting for? The authority to prosecute their wayward reps without fear of hypocrisy?

[Uben]

11. When pigs fly!

I know, I know. Swine flu. Damn, that got way too much attention. Everyone thought they were the one's who came up with the joke.

[tridim]

12. Hallelujah, we hit the magic number!

No more debate, no more drug war talk, no more excuses, just legalize it NOW like the majority of people want.

At the very least remove it from Schedule I and let the states make the call.

[marshall]

15. A huge tax on pot would help lower its use

Far better than the current randomly enforced laws. Just make it extremely expensive and it would be as infrequent as injecting gold in your veins for arthritis.

[montanto]

17. lol nt

[tritsofme]

18. Why should it be a goal of the state to reduce cannabis use

to that point?

I have not partaken in many years, but it always seemed liked a harmless weed to me.

[jacksonian]

19. not really, maybe a little

but make it too expensive and the black market just operates again.

[Bluenorthwest]

25. Costs more than gold now

and always has...how funny some people are in their attitudes! Are you in a cloister, or are you a lay nun?

[no limit]

32. Gold currently costs about $900 /oz. Where are you buying your weed? Must be some killer shit

[Bluenorthwest]

34. oops! gold has gone up since I looked

But many in urban areas pay $400 and more for an oz of the best. Now that is not me, oh no. But it has been! And that ounce o' gold burns so much slower than the other!
I guess I should have let Tom Hartmann talk me into buying gold! Geez!

[fascisthunter]

28. wouldn't work.... weed would sell on the street cheaper

it will be very interesting to see how this all pans out.

[droidamus2]

58. Its not exactly cheap right now

At $50.00 an eighth ounce for the good stuff its not like it real cheap right now. With commercial level production they could charge $200.00 an ounce with $200.00 tax and still not be more than current prices. If you push the price too high you'll just create a black market and you'll be right back to the police busting into peoples houses for that. There is always the dichotomy of some people wanting to tax for the revenue and others wanting to push the taxes high to discourage use.

[pattmarty]

65. Then what's the fucking point? Your thesis doesn't hold water...........

.............Just look at liquor and cigarette industries. Higher and higher taxes did cut down SOME on use (mainly on cigarettes), but it didn't stop it. Pot is really a weed, it'll grow almost anywhere (although quality varies widely) and for really cheap too. What can be done is to tax the shit out of it (for much needed revenues)and regulate it just like cigarettes and alcohol. There has been more studies on marijuana over many years and NONE have found any harmful effects. I think everyone at DU knows that alcohol is far more harmful than marijuana.

[marshall]

69. If it's that easy to grow why buy it? Just plant your own.

Who knows, maybe there will be a patch of pot in the White House garden one day.

[pattmarty]

72. Because, if it were to become "legalized" companies would...............

................beginning growing it for a lot cheaper and better/more consistent quality. Think growing your own vegetables, you can, but how many people do. Also it would be easier to tax that way.

[KG]

21. fuck legalization, taxation, and regulation.

decriminalize marijuana. no laws. make it same as any other weed growing in the fields. not a way for corps to make money and gov't to collect revenue.

[tridim]

23. legalization IS decriminalization and then some

I think the terms get confused. Decrim only would mean it would continue to be sold on the black market.

I don't have a problem with taxing a plant that can easily be grown for personal use, since taxes can only be applied upon sale.

[pattmarty]

66. That's a nice thought, but ya know it ain't gonna happen................

...........Be pragmatic (that's an Obamism), because you know business will get involved (who knows, maybe Bill Maher and Woody Harrelson will form one) and the government will want to get the needed revenue, so while I like what you are saying, it's really impractical in the USA.

[RaleighNCDUer]

77. Because not everybody CAN grow their own.

If you're going to put out a couple hundred bucks per oz it's good to know the quality of what you're getting, and its provenance if possible. Was it grown organically or in some kind of toxic chemical stew of pesticides and herbicides? Is the product clean, or did someone in the line dust it to pump it up a little because it was shitweed to start with?

Just like you can get high quality shine, if you know who to go to, you can also get crap that will make you go blind. I accept regulation and taxing of the whiskey I drink for the assurance that it won't put me in the hospital - why shouldn't I get the same assurance with what I smoke?

[droidamus2]

79. Problem

Since legalizing pot would also legalize the growing of hemp you would just open up a big problem by taxing one (hemp) and not the other (pot). I support as part of any legalization the right to grow your own which would not be taxed. On the other hand, if it is being commercially grown and sold then like alcohol or tabacco it should be taxed.

[Echo In Light]

26. The People, the majority, on one side. Power on the other, and a minority. Yet they win everytime

Funny, eh?

[tridim]

29. Not this time.

Lots of the Dems in power agree with the people on this issue, but the big difference is people like Jim Webb are actually doing something about it with real legislation.

This train can't be stopped now.

[Echo In Light]

35. Too much $ being made on the phony "war on drugs."

What will all those cops do w/o busting harmless pot smokers and running them through the $ystem?

Can you imagine the deluge of TV propaganda ad campaigns that would go into motion concerning scores of small town cops and administrative types being laid off - and because of what? Decriminalization or legalization of weed? Fundies would immediately go into full tilt "teabaging" mode over the notion of no criminal consequences for those "dirty hippies!"

And as always, the loudest, right-wing minority, and the massive throngs of on-the-fence "moderates" who are closely aligned w/certain rightward "values," and can often be counted upon to rally and champion the right-wing position, will continue to dictate American "reality." ...irrespective of poll numbers that favor what would be a sensible, humane change in our country.

In spirit I'm with you, but given the current sociopolitical framework of the corporate/state nexus I'm disinclined to think that in the immediate sense this is anything more than one of the numerous, important baby steps involved/required in matters of change when their is such deep, institutional opposition to what The People want.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

36. They'd be freed up to go after the meth crowd. (n/t)

[Echo In Light]

40. “Marijuana Arrests Set New Record for Fourth Year in a Row”

Marijuana Arrests Set New Record

in Top 25 Censored Stories for 2009

Sources:
Marijuana Policy Project, September 27, 2007
Title: “Marijuana Arrests Set New Record for Fourth Year in a Row”
Author: Bruce Mirken

National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, September 24, 2007
Title: “Marijuana Arrests for Year 2006—829,625 Tops Record High”
Author: Paul Armentano

Student Researchers: Ben Herzfeldt and Caitlyn Ioli

Faculty Advisor: Pat Jackson, PhD

For the fourth year in a row, US marijuana arrests set an all-time record, according to 2006 FBI Uniform Crime Reports. Marijuana arrests in 2006 totaled 829,627, an increase from 786,545 in 2005. At current rates, a marijuana smoker is arrested every thirty-eight seconds, with marijuana arrests comprising nearly 44 percent of all drug arrests in the United States. According to Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), over 8 million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges during the past decade, while arrests for cocaine and heroine have declined sharply.

The number of arrests in 2006 increased more than 5.5 percent from 2005. Of the 829,627 arrests, 89 percent were for possession, not sale or manufacture. Possession arrests exceeded arrests for all violent crimes combined, as they have for years. The remaining offenders, including those growing for personal or medical use, were charged with sale and/or manufacturing.

A study of New York City marijuana arrests conducted by Queens College, released in April 2008, reports that between 1998 and 2007 the New York police arrested 374,900 people whose most serious crime was the lowest-level misdemeanor marijuana offense. That number is eight times higher than the number of arrests (45,300) from 1988 to 1997. Nearly 90 percent arrested between 1998 and 2007 were male, despite the fact that national studies show marijuana use roughly equal between men and women. And while national surveys show Whites are more likely to use marijuana than Blacks and Latinos, the New York study reported that 83 percent of those arrested were Black or Latino. Blacks accounted for 52 percent of the arrests, Latinos and other people of color accounted for 33 percent, while Whites accounted for only 15 percent.1

Over the years, roughly 30 percent of those arrested nationally have been under the age of twenty. The Midwest accounts for 57 percent of all marijuana-related arrests, while the region with the fewest arrests is the West, with 30 percent. This is possibly a result of the decriminalization of marijuana in western states, such as California, on the state and local level over the past several years.

“Enforcing marijuana prohibition . . . has led to the arrests of nearly 20 million Americans, regardless of the fact that some 94 million Americans acknowledge having used marijuana during their lives,” says St. Pierre.

In the last fifteen years, marijuana arrests have increased 188 percent, while public opinion is increasingly one of tolerance, and self-reported usage is basically unchanged. “The steady escalation of marijuana arrests is happening in direct defiance of public opinion,” according to Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, DC, “Voters in communities all over the country—from Denver to Seattle, from Eureka Springs, Arkansas to Missoula County, Montana—have passed measures saying they don’t want marijuana arrests to be priority. Yet marijuana arrests have set an all-time record for four years running . . .”

Meanwhile, enforcing marijuana laws costs between $10 and $12 billion a year.

Citation

1. Jim Dwyer, “On Arrests, Demographics, and Marijuana,” New York Times, April 30, 2008.

UPDATE BY BRUCE MIRKEN

This story was essentially a subset of a larger annual story, the FBI’s yearly Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), and the 2006 report, released in September 2007, marked the fourth year in a row that marijuana arrests set a new record. While the UCR, as usual, got wide mainstream coverage, the only major mainstream outlet to note the marijuana arrest record was the Reuters wire service. Marijuana Policy Project staffers also did two or three local radio interviews, and the story was picked up in one form or another by a handful of other outlets—most notably Bill Steigerwald’s column in the conservative Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, an article on AlterNet, and Andrew Sullivan’s blog, The Daily Dish.

This is typical of the mass media tendency to view marijuana policy through the lens of Cheech-and-Chong stereotypes—as a trivial story of minor importance, more a curiosity than serious news. But the sheer numbers suggest it deserves more attention. Nearly 830,000 marijuana arrests are made annually, about 89 percent of them for simple possession, not sales or trafficking. That’s one marijuana arrest every thirty-eight seconds, and more arrests for marijuana possession than for all violent crimes combined. Put another way, it’s the equivalent of arresting every man, woman, and child in the state of North Dakota plus every man, woman, and child in Des Moines, Iowa, in one year—and doing the same thing every year, year after year. All of this comes at a total cost to taxpayers estimated at anywhere from $14 billion to $42 billion per year.

New national arrest statistics won’t be out until about the time this book is published, but scientific data continue to emerge that demolish the intellectual underpinnings of marijuana prohibition. Studies continue to find marijuana far less toxic or addictive than such legal drugs as alcohol and tobacco, while in Britain, where most marijuana possession arrests were discontinued in January 2004, marijuana use has steadily declined since arrests stopped, according to official government surveys. Sadly, even though the British government’s scientific advisors urge continuation of the no-arrest policy, as of this writing in May 2008, Prime Minister Gordon Brown appears determined to launch a new crackdown.

In the US, the clearest signs of progress have come from efforts to permit medical use of marijuana. Twelve states now have medical marijuana laws, and a medical marijuana initiative on Michigan’s November 2008 ballot was ahead by nearly two to one in the only public poll released so far. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has indicated he would end the federal war on these state medical marijuana laws, and fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton has also indicated some willingness to rethink federal policy. Republican John McCain has expressed support for current federal law.

Extensive information about marijuana policy and efforts to change our current laws is available from the Marijuana Policy Project, http://www.mpp.org or [phone]. A more wide-ranging newsletter on drug policy issues is the Drug War Chronicle, at stopthedrugwar.org.

UPDATE BY PAUL ARMENTANO

Since beginning my tenure at NORML in the mid-1990s, I’ve observed the growth of the annual number of Americans arrested for minor marijuana violations from a low of 288,000 in 1991 to a record 830,000 in 2006. Yet despite this nearly 300 percent increase in minor pot busts (nearly 90 percent of all marijuana arrests are for possession offenses), mainstream media coverage of these skyrocketing arrest rates remains nominal.

The media’s disinterest in this subject is uniquely troubling, given that the arrest data is derived from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, and that other aspects of this report (for example: has the violent crime rate risen or fallen?) traditionally generate hundreds of major news stories each year. Equally troubling is the media’s habit of improperly attributing these marijuana arrest figures to NORML rather than to the FBI, the law enforcement organization that actually tracks and reports said data.

Arguably, the most disturbing result of these rising arrests is that record numbers of Americans are now being ordered by the courts to attend ‘drug treatment’ programs for marijuana—regardless of whether they require treatment (most don’t) or not.

According to the most recent state and national statistics, up to 70 percent of all individuals in drug treatment for pot are now placed there by the criminal justice system. Of those enrolled in treatment, more than one in three hadn’t even used marijuana in the thirty days prior to their admission. Yet, disingenuously, the White House argues that these rising admission rates justify the need to continue arresting cannabis users—despite the fact that it is the policy, not the drug itself—that is actually fueling the spike in drug treatment.

Finally, it must be emphasized that criminal marijuana enforcement disproportionately impacts citizens by age—an all too often overlooked fact that has serious implications for those of us who work in drug policy reform. According to a 2005 study commissioned by the NORML Foundation, 74 percent of all Americans busted for pot are under age thirty, and one out of four are age eighteen or younger. Though these young people suffer the most under our current laws, they lack the financial means and political capital to effectively influence politicians to challenge them. Young people also lack the money to adequately fund the drug law reform movement at a level necessary to adequately represent and protect their interests. As a result, marijuana arrests continue to climb unabated, and few in the press—and even fewer lawmakers—feel any need or sufficient political pressure to address it.

(Paul Armentano is the deputy director of NORML and the NORML Foundation in Washington, DC.)

http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/20-marijuana-arrests-set-new-record/

[Echo In Light]

42. ...and from that:

This is typical of the mass media tendency to view marijuana policy through the lens of Cheech-and-Chong stereotypes—as a trivial story of minor importance, more a curiosity than serious news. But the sheer numbers suggest it deserves more attention. Nearly 830,000 marijuana arrests are made annually, about 89 percent of them for simple possession, not sales or trafficking. That’s one marijuana arrest every thirty-eight seconds, and more arrests for marijuana possession than for all violent crimes combined. Put another way, it’s the equivalent of arresting every man, woman, and child in the state of North Dakota plus every man, woman, and child in Des Moines, Iowa, in one year—and doing the same thing every year, year after year. All of this comes at a total cost to taxpayers estimated at anywhere from $14 billion to $42 billion per year.

[JonLP24]

43. They already targeted them

Through the Meth Combat Act which is a provision of the Patriot Act. It makes it illegal to buy more then 3.5 grams of psuedeophedrine among other things. It appears to be working, I tried some last August and it was garbage, I feel asleep later that night.

[tridim]

37. The cops can help put out wildfires in CA

and go after serious drugs like Meth and opioids. There will be PLENTY of work for them to do.

Screw the fundies, they're a minor minority now. The majority makes the rules.

[pattmarty]

68. Yep. I hate to agree with you, but I think you nailed it.

[Junkdrawer]

27. Probably a generation away....

I can't see a politician going for this with older/religious voters not behind it.

...

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%.

...

http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/entry/zogby_poll_says_both_coasts_favor_letting_states_legalize_marijuana

[krabigirl]

44. Maybe, maybe not. Not surprised that the "born agains" wouldn't like it.

Especially since so many of them are former drug addicts, and wrongly lump marijuana in with the hard drugs of their past.

[Initech]

33. Make it completely legal and readily available like the Netherlands or not at all,

I'm tired of this "marijuana should only be legal under these circumstances" bullshit. Either completely legalize and decriminalize it or shut the fuck up.

[JonLP24]

39. It's not quite legal in Netherlands

It is a misdemeanor but only punishable by fine and rarely enforced because of pressure from their treaty with United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. That group also criticized Canada for it's decriminalisation approach. Also coffee 'pot' shops are always being closed down due to complaints of local residents complaining of drug tourists. It has laws on the books to make the other countries happy but the way they enforce the laws is liberal. Interesting enough, their rates of drug use is lower then that of the US.

[montanto]

41. Its not legal in the Netherlands either. nt

[DireStrike]

45. And the government continues to thwart the will of the majority on yet ANOTHER issue.

I wonder when people are finally gonna be sick of this shit?

[tridim]

46. I think they're already sick of this shit

That's what the poll says. :)

Let's give the admin at least a few days to respond before trashing them wholesale. The poll was just released today and the MSM hasn't even reported it yet.

[mtnester]

48. The day it is legal, I will sit on my front porch and smoke it

to Rush 2112. Hubs and I have chosen this album together. We have new chairs ready for just this purpose.

We should also probably put a bar fridge and some Fritos out there too.

[Fly by night]

60. Until then, you're always welcome on my front porch.

I live so deep in the woods that you wouldn't be seen by anyone but the wild turkeys and the tree frogs. All y'all come.

[mtnester]

80. As long as you don't have any of them country booby traps

I visit Meigs county regularly, so I know all about dem dere "places you need an escort"

:)

[Wednesdays]

51. K&R

:kick:

[Octafish]

52. Wonder if 48-percent of those polled haven't tried it?

Just sayin', man.

[iris27]

53. nah, I've never tried it but am all for legalisation. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

54. Wow. And imagine if everyone were EDUCATED on marijuana

The dubious circumstances of it's prohibition in the first place. The lack of serious side effects. ALL the potential health benefits.

Marijuana has been the most propagandized recreational substance ever.

Legalize it. Regulate it. Tax it.

[recoveringrepublican]

55. How many of that 48% think it shoudl still be legal but not taxed? nt

[ExPatLeftist]

56. While I support legalization...

...this poll question is very leading. I would like to see the results of a poll that simply asks the question without making the case first. I suspect that the support would be lower, simply for reasons of historical prejudice against marijuana. If there is a poll that is straight forward and gets similar results, then I will be optimistic - but I do not like leading polls - in any direction.

[DFW]

57. GOP response to the coming legalization:

"Cut the marijuana tax!"

You think I'm kidding?

[Grinchie]

59. How come they never include me or my friends in these polls?

If they did, they would have a lot more than 52%.

In fact, I've lived a really long time, and have never participated in a poll, unless it was on the web, which is suspect.

Every cop I've ever spoken to has lamented about the futility of the War of Drugs, and legalization would be their preferred choice if they had a say in it, but they don't. It always surprised me that they could still enforce the laws they didn't agree with.

[Oldenuff]

61. 52%

Finally people are waking up,so that is encouraging...but....the taxing and regulating troubles me to be honest.


I guess personal freedoms have to be doled out a little at a time,so as not to overwhelm the system,or something.(as long as you are willing to pay a tax):sarcasm:

[Stump]

64. Oh what a day that will be...

when we can all toke in peace.

[mdmc]

67. I really hope the R.Paul wing of the GOP moves on this

and leads the nation toward ending Prohibition. The corporatist will follow if they think it is safe to do so.

[get the red out]

70. The only reason 52% of people want it legalized

is that it is completely logical to do so.

[Deep13]

71. I know! When will this plague of reasonableness end?

:shrug:

[Jackpine Radical]

78. Not only is this good news on the face of it. but I take some deeper significance

from this poll result.

52% want to legalize pot despite a decades-long, intensive propaganda campaign to keep it illegal.

65 or 70% support Obama and/or his policies, despite a concentrated effort by the M$M media to sink him.

57% would be willing to pay higher taxes in exchange for universal health care.



People just aren't drinking the Kool Ade any more. The cat's out of the bottle. The genie's out of the bag. There ain't no goin' back now. We have the power, we have the popular will on our side. There's a new game in town, and the politicians had better learn it.

[get the red out]

81. I see that too!

The "Republican Moral/Economical Way" so obviously hasn't worked. The "no taxes" theme falls short when people don't have jobs and health care. The cries to save the riches of the rich while people's meager retirement funds get flushed down the Wall Street toilet is too idiotic to put into a cartoon. The "Family Values" crap is just that when we find out people were tortured to death by this crowd. People are waking up because they just don't have an alternative!

Boy is it time!

[grahamhgreen]

73. But, when people get drunk they think like a Republican...

[Festivito]

75. How sad. Our reasons are not to free people, save lives, only money.

Decriminalize it all.
Let people be free.

Punish the impaired driver for impaired driving.

Punish the repeat offender for repeat offending.

Punish the corruptors of youth for corrupting youth.

Punish the abusers of the elderly for abusing the elderly.

Etcetera.

Offer free treatments if persons want treatment as it will cost less than keeping it illegal, but offer it more because we should offer it.

[Ganja Ninja]

76. Marijuana should be legalized because it is a gateway drug.

That's right you heard me. Pot is a gateway drug. Let me explain.

Some times people looking for pot will go to their dealer and find he's out. So he says "I'm all out but I've got some coke." And so with money in hand and a desire to get high they decide to buy some coke instead. This is how a lot of people were introduced to coke.

If Marijuana were legal many people would never even come in contact with the dealers of other recreational drugs. Keeping Marijuana illegal makes it a gateway drug because it brings people into contact with dealers that are selling other truly harmful drugs.

Many small time dealers sell more to support their habit rather than for profit. If half of their customer base no longer has a need for them they too would likely quit. Legalizing Marijuana will cut the sale of other drugs because the size of the dealer networks will likely be reduced. When people don't have to search for a buzz because they can't find their drug of choice they likely won't consider other choices.