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Discussion => Philosophy, Economics and Justice => Topic started by: ruby123 on April 04, 2013, 10:01 pm

Title: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: ruby123 on April 04, 2013, 10:01 pm
(Clearnet) http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/04/04/legalize-it-poll-shows/?hpid=z4


Legalize it, poll shows

Posted by Scott Clement on April 4, 2013 at 2:25 pm

A majority of Americans now say marijuana should be made legal, with far fewer viewing it as a gateway to harder drugs or as morally wrong, according to a poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.
By 52 to 45 percent more say marijuana should be made legal than not, with support for legalization jumping seven points in two years and 20 points since the 2002 General Social Survey. Last November, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found the public split 48 to 50 percent on whether to legalize small amounts of marijuana for personal use. And 51 percent of registered voters supported legalization in a December Quinnipiac University poll.

The rapid change matches an increase in usage – in the new poll, nearly half of Americans report trying marijuana at some point in their lifetime (48 percent), up eight points since 2010 and also a record high. More people who have smoked in the past year say it was “just for fun” than any medical issue (47 vs. 30 percent), while 23 percent say they smoked for both reasons.

The overall shift in support is driven by younger Americans who overwhelmingly support legalization, with nearly two-thirds of people born since 1980 (between ages 18 and 32) saying marijuana should be legal (65 percent). Baby Boomers and Generation Xers have become far more supportive than in the early 1990s, with at least half of each now supporting legalization.

As public opinion has shifted, the politics of marijuana have become more complicated. Laws legalizing recreational marijuana use passed in Washington State and Colorado last year remain in limbo with the federal government’s ban on production, possession and sale of the drug unchanged. Six in 10 Americans say federal laws should not be enforced in states that have decided to allow marijuana use.
Enforcement of federal laws has also been drawn into question, with Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) saying in March that people shouldn’t go to jail for non-violent drug crimes such as marijuana. Wide majorities of Democrats and Republicans agree that government efforts to enforce marijuana laws cost more than they are worth.Most Republicans remain opposed to legalizing marijuana, while about six in 10 Democrats and independents say it should be legal.

Stigma and fear of marijuana have dropped sharply. Far fewer people see marijuana leading to harder drugs today (38 percent) than in the 1970s (60 percent), and only one in three say smoking marijuana is morally wrong (32 percent), down 18 points from 2006.

The poll was conducted March 13 to 17 among a random national sample of 1,501 adults ages 18 and over. The margin of error for overall results is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. Results for the share of Americans smoking marijuana were based on a separate survey conducted in January.

Clement is a pollster with Capital Insight, the independent polling group of Washington Post Media. Capital Insight pollster Peyton M. Craighill contributed to this report.
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: ruby123 on April 04, 2013, 10:02 pm
Marijuana has won the Drug War   8)
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: surmer on April 05, 2013, 03:13 am
The War on Ignorance and propaganda is a long and arduous journey. This is one more battle won for those who stand behind democracy.
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: maple on April 05, 2013, 03:51 am
I predict 5 years tops for national weed legalization!

Although the UN is not happy with what has been done already...
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: KintaroBC on April 05, 2013, 05:01 am
I don't care about legalizing "it." If idiots want to inhale a hydrophobic chemical into a body that is 90% water go ahead, but meth should be first for legalization.
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: iLegalBusinessConsultant on April 05, 2013, 06:00 am
+1 America!
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: kmfkewm on April 05, 2013, 12:07 pm
+1 America!

Sweet now they are at only -99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: Lucius Luv on April 05, 2013, 01:52 pm
Legalization will be a loooonnnggggg process.  Too many industries are dependent on weed prohibition.  And with that said, the way they are going about legalization is completely idiotic, many are still scared of weed. lol
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: jackofspades on April 05, 2013, 02:32 pm
Itll take at least a decade for EVERY state...if that ever even happens...
Lets hope MDMA is next to be legalized!

A 'Turning point' for the good guys in the war on drugs!
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: maple on April 05, 2013, 03:05 pm
Itll take at least a decade for EVERY state...if that ever even happens...
Lets hope MDMA is next to be legalized!

A 'Turning point' for the good guys in the war on drugs!

I think the psychedelics might be before MDMA, there is a lot more stigma associated with MDMA because deaths from OD are more common with it, or at least the pills their pusher CLAIMS are MDMA. I would expect shrooms, then LSD, then maybe MDMA.
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: cowpie34 on April 05, 2013, 05:35 pm
I hate to be pessimistic but there are too many deaths. violent crimes, and psychoses associated with psychedelics for them to be legalized anytime soon.  MDMA on the other hand might stand a chance to be available by prescription!
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: maple on April 05, 2013, 07:15 pm
I hate to be pessimistic but there are too many deaths. violent crimes, and psychoses associated with psychedelics for them to be legalized anytime soon.  MDMA on the other hand might stand a chance to be available by prescription!

Whichever series gets legalized first, I think it is quite a ways away.
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: davidthegnome on April 05, 2013, 07:50 pm
I hate to be pessimistic but there are too many deaths. violent crimes, and psychoses associated with psychedelics for them to be legalized anytime soon.  MDMA on the other hand might stand a chance to be available by prescription!

It would be nice to legalize MDMA for sure. That way we can put to bed the issue of neuro-toxicity. And we wouldn't have all of this speculation going on.
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: Barbijuana on April 05, 2013, 08:10 pm
Legalization will not be done by legislation at the Federal Level -- State's, yes. Nullification, yes.

Like a previous poster said, there are way too many conglomerate interests vested in keeping Marijuana illegal. A product that can be so abundant, resourceful, applicable and medicinal but be able to be grown by the average layman like a row of fuckin' tomatoes will strip profits from the greedy industries in the following:

Police Unions: Police departments across the country have become dependent on federal drug war grants to finance their budget. In March, a story revealing that a police union lobbyist in California coordinated the effort to defeat Prop 19, a ballot measure in 2010 to legalize marijuana, while helping his police department clients collect tens of millions in federal marijuana-eradication grants. Federal lobbying disclosures[/size][/color] show that other police union lobbyists have pushed for stiffer penalties for marijuana-related crimes nationwide.

Private Prisons Corporations: Private prison corporations make millions by incarcerating people who have been imprisoned for drug crimes, including marijuana.

Alcohol and Beer Companies: Fearing competition for the dollars Americans spend on leisure, alcohol and tobacco interests have lobbied to keep marijuana out of reach. For instance, the California Beer & Beverage Distributors contributed[/size][/color] campaign contributions to a committee set up to prevent marijuana from being legalized and taxed.

Pharmaceutical Corporations: Like the sin industries listed above, pharmaceutical interests would like to keep marijuana illegal so American don’t have the option of cheap medical alternatives to their products.

Prison Guard Unions: Prison guard unions have a vested interest in keeping people behind bars just like for-profit prison companies. In 2008, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association spent 1M$ [/size][/color]to defeat a measure that would have “reduced sentences and parole times for nonviolent drug offenders while emphasizing drug treatment over prison.”

Those are just interests that are influenced by the legality of "recreational" marijuana. When you branch into the sub-industry of Hemp; it's a whole nother shit storm.

Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: divinechemicals on April 06, 2013, 03:54 pm
Sure some companies have interests in keeping it illegal (and fuck those companies for thinking that their wealth is more important than people's lives getting ruined), but there are other companies that have a vested interest in making it legal. It may sound silly, but even companies like Doritos have lobbyists, and they're not stupid, they know that marijuana being legal means their profits go up. There's a large lobby on both sides of the debate, it's just a matter of Americans slowly coming to realize that marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol, which they themselves probably drink weekly.
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: curiositymatrix on April 06, 2013, 05:42 pm
Man, what makes me furious is that weed and a number of other drugs are kept illegal by ignorance.

It's not just our governments keeping it illegal, but the indoctrinated generations they've convinced of untruths.

So many people I've met would benefit so much from a single toke, or acid trip, yet are so scared of drugs; so convinced that there's some spiritual evil, not just chemical interactions with the brain. I've tried to discuss, exactly, what they think it's wrong with it. Addiction? Mental damage? Even if we get past that, what I keep running into is just this moral conviction, "drugs are bad"

And yet they shovel in their prescription antidepressants, focus meds, and suffer lists of side effects horrifyingly worse than the drugs they condemn.

And we're still doing it! We're still just lying to generations of kids, out of a righteous motive that isn't even relevant anymore; the irrational fears and bigotry of generations past becomes our cultural belief.
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: ruby123 on April 07, 2013, 05:45 am
Legalization will not be done by legislation at the Federal Level -- State's, yes. Nullification, yes.

Like a previous poster said, there are way too many conglomerate interests vested in keeping Marijuana illegal. A product that can be so abundant, resourceful, applicable and medicinal but be able to be grown by the average layman like a row of fuckin' tomatoes will strip profits from the greedy industries in the following:

Police Unions: Police departments across the country have become dependent on federal drug war grants to finance their budget. In March, a story revealing that a police union lobbyist in California coordinated the effort to defeat Prop 19, a ballot measure in 2010 to legalize marijuana, while helping his police department clients collect tens of millions in federal marijuana-eradication grants. Federal lobbying disclosures[/size][/color] show that other police union lobbyists have pushed for stiffer penalties for marijuana-related crimes nationwide.

Private Prisons Corporations: Private prison corporations make millions by incarcerating people who have been imprisoned for drug crimes, including marijuana.

Alcohol and Beer Companies: Fearing competition for the dollars Americans spend on leisure, alcohol and tobacco interests have lobbied to keep marijuana out of reach. For instance, the California Beer & Beverage Distributors contributed[/size][/color] campaign contributions to a committee set up to prevent marijuana from being legalized and taxed.

Pharmaceutical Corporations: Like the sin industries listed above, pharmaceutical interests would like to keep marijuana illegal so American don’t have the option of cheap medical alternatives to their products.

Prison Guard Unions: Prison guard unions have a vested interest in keeping people behind bars just like for-profit prison companies. In 2008, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association spent 1M$ [/size][/color]to defeat a measure that would have “reduced sentences and parole times for nonviolent drug offenders while emphasizing drug treatment over prison.”

Those are just interests that are influenced by the legality of "recreational" marijuana. When you branch into the sub-industry of Hemp; it's a whole nother shit storm.

I disagree with your assertions pertaining to the role police will play in controlling the trajectory of cannabis legalization.The reality is our Federal government is broke.The Eward Brynne grant  and other programs risk being cut.From a historical perspective, when the 18th Amendment was repealed, it was preceded by NY State's nullification of the law. The cannabis genie is out of the bottle. Big Pharma as well as the Federal government do hold patents on cannabinoids, however the people have spoken.As the article states, once the threshold of around 60% of the population agrees upon an issue the politicians will follow. Nancy Pelosi was quoted the other week supporting taxation and regulation. Just as certain states/counties are dry in terms of alcohol contemporaneously, the legality of cannabis will be left for the states to decide. We will all be able to "choom" soon  8) The entire basis of the Controlled Substances Act is utter bullshit; Commerce Clause my ass!
Title: Re: Legalize it, poll shows
Post by: aussiepp on April 08, 2013, 12:36 pm
Hopefully if everything goes well in America (which I think it will), I imagine Australia will follow America's lead and HOPEFULLY the herb will be legal here in Aus within the decade.

Pipe dreams? I don't know.