2009 Gallup Poll shows young Western Liberal Democrats to be most in favor of legalization. Please try to act surprised.

PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup’s October Crime poll finds 44% of Americans in favor of making marijuana legal and 54% opposed. U.S. public support for legalizing marijuana was fixed in the 25% range from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, but acceptance jumped to 31% in 2000 and has continued to grow throughout this decade.

The highest level of support for decriminalizing the use of marijuana today is seen with self-described liberals, among whom 78% are in favor. In contrast, 72% of conservatives are opposed. Moderates are about evenly divided on whether the use of marijuana should be legal, although they tilt against it (51% vs. 46%).

Gallup also finds a generational rift on the issue, as 50% of those under 50 and 45% of those 50 to 64 say it should be legal, compared with 28% of seniors.

Public mores on legalization of marijuana have been changing this decade, and are now at their most tolerant in at least 40 years. If public support were to continue growing at a rate of 1% to 2% per year, as it has since 2000, the majority of Americans could favor legalization of the drug in as little as four years.

Americans are no more — and no less — in favor of legalizing marijuana when the issue is framed as a revenue-enhancement tool for state governments. Regardless of how the question is asked, 53% of Americans living in the West — encompassing California, where the issue could be on the ballot in 2010 — support legalization.

It’s not a question of if cannabis will be re-legalized; it is a question of when, where, and how.  Stats guru Nate Silver has opined that overall support for re-legalization should top 60% by 2022/2023 independent of any other factors but the continuing movement of Baby Boomers into retirement age.  However, we here at NORML don’t really want to see another 11 million arrests between now and then, so we urge all of you to contact your elected officials to help us prove Mr. Silver to be too pessimistic.

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San Francisco, CA: A majority of west coast voters support regulating the sale of marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol, according to national poll of 1,053 likely voters by Zogby International and commissioned by California NORML and Oaksterdam University.

Fifty-eight percent of respondents residing on the west coast agree that cannabis should be “taxed and legally regulated like alcohol and cigarettes.” Only thirty-six percent of west coast respondents oppose regulating the sale of marijuana for adults.

Nationally, support for taxing and regulating cannabis stands at 44 percent. Among likely voters on the east coast, 48 percent endorse legalizing marijuana. Respondents’ support fell to approximately 37 percent in the southern and central regions of the United States.

Earlier this month, a national CBS/New York Times poll reported that 41 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana – up from just 27 percent in 1979.

Responding to the latest Zogby poll, NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said, “Public support for replacing the illicit marijuana market with a legally regulated, controlled market similar to alcohol, complete with age restrictions and quality controls, continues to grow, and appears to have achieved majority support on the west coast – where many voters are already familiar with the state-licensed use and, in some cases, sale of medical cannabis.”

He added, “As voters and legislators continue to look for alternative ways to raise tax revenue for public services and reduce law enforcement costs in this troubled economy, we expect the public’s support for taxing and regulating cannabis to continue to grow — not just on the west coast, but nationwide.”

Nationally, younger voters age 18 to 29 are most likely (55 percent) to support regulating pot. Older voters age 50 to 64 are nearly evenly divided (48 percent) in their support for legalization.

The poll found that a majority of registered Democrat voters (53 percent) back taxing cannabis, versus only 32 percent of Republicans.

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500 or Dale Gieringer, California NORML Coordinator, at (415) 563-5858.

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(CBS) So far, there hasn’t been much negative reaction to the photo showing Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps smoking what appeared to be marijuana. 

A few years ago, it might have ruined his career, but so far it hasn’t — perhaps a sign of changing attitudes.

The seeming lack of outrage… may reflect America’s changing attitudes towards marijuana – an estimated $30 billion dollar industry in the United States alone.

While a majority of Americans still oppose the legalization of marijuana use, a new CBS News poll shows a big swing in opinion in recent years.

Twenty-seven percent supported legalization in 1979; 41 percent support it today.

Understand that when you get “41% support legalization”, that’s over 2 out of 5 people when asked, “Should marijuana be legalized” who will say “yes.”  That’s without any explanation of how, where, when, or for whom it will be legalized, so that includes the spectrum from “fine-only possession, jail for sales, cultivation, and trafficking” to “pre-rolled joints at the convenience store”.

When you change the question to actually define what you mean by “legalization”, the numbers rise.  In a 2001 Zogby poll, ten weeks after 9/11, we found:

Read the rest of this entry by clicking here

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Zogby International
Three in four likely voters (76%) believe the U.S. war on drugs is failing, a sentiment that cuts across the political spectrum – including the vast majority of Democrats (86%), political independents (81%), and most Republicans (61%). There is also a strong belief that the anti-drug effort is failing among those who intend to vote for Barack Obama (89%) for president, as well as most supporters of John McCain (61%).

When asked what they believe is the single best way to combat international drug trafficking and illicit use, 27% of likely voters said legalizing some drugs would be the best approach — 34% of Obama supporters and 20% of McCain backers agreed.

One in four likely voters (25%) believe stopping the drugs at the border is the best tactic to battle drugs — 39% of McCain supporters, but just 12% of Obama backers agree.

Overall, 19% of likely voters said reducing demand through treatment and education should be the top focus of the war on drugs.

13% believe that the best way to fight the war on drugs is to prevent production of narcotics in the country of origin.

89% of the people who will vote for Barack Obama – almost 9 in 10! – believe the War on (Certain American Citizens Using Non-Pharmaceutical, Non-Alcoholic, Tobacco-Free) Drugs is a failure.  And yet, when I was in Denver for the Democratic convention, not ONE panel, speech, flier, talking point, or memo even mentioned anything about our failed drug policies.

One third of those Obama supporters back the idea of legalizing some drugs, a number I believe would be much higher if it were asked as, “do you support the taxation and regulation of cannabis for adults so more effort may be redirected toward controlling hard drugs?”

It’s clear the people know the Drug War is lost, but it’s not so clear what alternative should replace it.  Here is an opportunity for a true leader who chants the “change” mantra to put his money where his mouth is.  The support is there for a leader to change the vision of our punitive drug policies.  

If only some of those 89% had an “Inc.” or a “Corp.” behind their names, I’d have more faith that a true leader will actually pick up on the issue.  76% of us know the Drug War has failed, but 100% of the corporations that depend on the Drug War for their livelihood (private prisons, drug rehabs, pharmaceutical companies, breweries, and industries that couldn’t compete with legal hemp, for example) think the Drug War is going just fine… and they have lobbyists and give big campaign donations.

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