Record-High 50% of Americans Favor Legalizing Marijuana Use

[garbon]

http://www.gallup.com/poll/150149/Record-High-Americans-Favor-Legalizing-Marijuana.aspx

A record-high 50% of Americans now say the use of marijuana should be made legal, up from 46% last year. Forty-six percent say marijuana use should remain illegal.

When Gallup first asked about legalizing marijuana, in 1969, 12% of Americans favored it, while 84% were opposed. Support remained in the mid-20s in Gallup measures from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, but has crept up since, passing 30% in 2000 and 40% in 2009 before reaching the 50% level in this year's Oct. 6-9 annual Crime survey.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, "Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States." The National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2009 found that "16.7 million Americans aged 12 or older used marijuana at least once in the month prior to being surveyed, an increase over the rates reported in all years between 2002 and 2008."

The advocacy group National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws claims that marijuana is the third-most-popular recreational drug in America, behind only alcohol and tobacco. Some states have decriminalized marijuana's use, some have made it legal for medicinal use, and some officials, including former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, have called for legalizing its use.

A Gallup survey last year found that 70% favored making it legal for doctors to prescribe marijuana in order to reduce pain and suffering. Americans have consistently been more likely to favor the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes than to favor its legalization generally.

Younger Americans Most in Favor of Legalizing Marijuana

Support for legalizing marijuana is directly and inversely proportional to age, ranging from 62% approval among those 18 to 29 down to 31% among those 65 and older. Liberals are twice as likely as conservatives to favor legalizing marijuana. And Democrats and independents are more likely to be in favor than are Republicans.

More men than women support legalizing the drug. Those in the West and Midwest are more likely to favor it than those in the South.

Bottom Line

Support for legalizing marijuana has been increasing over the past several years, rising to 50% today -- the highest on record. If this current trend on legalizing marijuana continues, pressure may build to bring the nation's laws into compliance with the people's wishes.

[Barrister]

[HVC]

Probably higher in canada

But you know ain't nothing gonna change.

[crazy canuck]

Probably higher in canada

But you know ain't nothing gonna change.

If the US voted the legalize Canada would do it in a heartbeat.  The main reason we dont do it now is because it would complicate relations with the US.

[Barrister]

Probably higher in canada

But you know ain't nothing gonna change.

If the US voted the legalize Canada would do it in a heartbeat.  The main reason we dont do it now is because it would complicate relations with the US.

If the US legalized (not decriminalized, but legalized) marijuana we'd have no choice but to give up - it would flow across the border (this time in the opposite direction) like a tsunami.

[MadImmortalMan]

I wonder what the percentage is for "I don't give a fuck if it's legalized".

[crazy canuck]

If the US legalized (not decriminalized, but legalized) marijuana we'd have no choice but to give up - it would flow across the border (this time in the opposite direction) like a tsunami.

Meh, I suspect local producers already have the local market cornered.  The issue would be whether Canadian producers would be able to compete for market share in the US. 

[crazy canuck]

I wonder what the percentage is for "I don't give a fuck if it's legalized".

Probably a lot of that would be in the yes camp if they dont want their tax dollars used to enforce a law they dont care about.

[garbon]

I wonder what the percentage is for "I don't give a fuck if it's legalized".

Probably 4%. There was 46 against and 50 for.

[DGuller]

Unfortunately 90% of those 50% are going to not bother showing up to vote when the time comes. 

[garbon]

Unfortunately 90% of those 50% are going to not bother showing up to vote when the time comes. 

They'll be too high.

[Malthus]

If the US legalized (not decriminalized, but legalized) marijuana we'd have no choice but to give up - it would flow across the border (this time in the opposite direction) like a tsunami.

Meh, I suspect local producers already have the local market cornered.  The issue would be whether Canadian producers would be able to compete for market share in the US.

The main effect would be to force the price down, which would probably ruin the small-timers. You can't make a one-house grow-op pay unless the product is very expensive.

[crazy canuck]

The main effect would be to force the price down, which would probably ruin the small-timers. You can't make a one-house grow-op pay unless the product is very expensive.

I assume most of the cost and risk is currently related to avoiding detection and getting the product over the border.  If the product is legalized I am not sure what the price point would have to be to make a profit.  In any event I suspect the grow ops in BC are substantially larger then one house operations.

[Barrister]

The main effect would be to force the price down, which would probably ruin the small-timers. You can't make a one-house grow-op pay unless the product is very expensive.

I assume most of the cost and risk is currently related to avoiding detection and getting the product over the border.  If the product is legalized I am not sure what the price point would have to be to make a profit.  In any event I suspect the grow ops in BC are substantially larger then one house operations.

They're only larger in that they are multiple houses.

Converting a private residence into an indoor farm is incredibly expensive.  If Americans could simply plant the stuff in the ground by the acre-full it would completely destroy the economics of the indoor grow-op.

[Malthus]

The main effect would be to force the price down, which would probably ruin the small-timers. You can't make a one-house grow-op pay unless the product is very expensive.

I assume most of the cost and risk is currently related to avoiding detection and getting the product over the border.  If the product is legalized I am not sure what the price point would have to be to make a profit.  In any event I suspect the grow ops in BC are substantially larger then one house operations.

They're only larger in that they are multiple houses.

Converting a private residence into an indoor farm is incredibly expensive.  If Americans could simply plant the stuff in the ground by the acre-full it would completely destroy the economics of the indoor grow-op.

I agree, but you can grow outdoor crops in Canada as well.

I dunno how the economics would shake down, but the household grow-op for profit would surely be a thing of the past - and considering how dangerous those ops are, and how they ruin properties, that's a positive advantage of legalization.