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According to Gallup, American Support for Cannabis Legalization is at an All-Time High

posted by martyb on Saturday October 28 2017, @01:28AM   Printer-friendly
from the next-up?-legalize-pans! dept.

takyon writes:

64% of Americans now support the legalization of cannabis, an all-time high since Gallup first asked the question in 1969. Also for the first time, a majority of Republicans (51%) support legalization, up from 42% last year:

As efforts to legalize marijuana at the state level continue to yield successes, public opinion, too, has shifted toward greater support. The Department of Justice under the current Republican administration has been perceived as hostile to state-level legalization. But Attorney General Jeff Sessions could find himself out of step with his own party if the current trends continue. Rank-and-file Republicans' views on the issue have evolved just as Democrats' and independents' have, though Republicans remain least likely to support legalizing pot.

Also at NPR, The Hill, NORML, and Reason.

Related: New Attorney General Claims Legal Weed Drives Violent Crime; Statistics be Damned
4/20: The Third Time's Not the Charm

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Saturday October 28 2017, @02:03AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Saturday October 28 2017, @02:03AM (#588511) Journal

    When cannabis bills fail (rarely) it is because some absurd power grab was welded on.

    Here's is an example for others who read your comment:

    Why Ohio voted against legal marijuana — and what it means for the future of the pot debate [washingtonpost.com] (archive [archive.is])
    Ohio’s Marijuana Oligopoly Concerns [uclawreview.org]
    Marijuana and the Ohio Oligopoly [cannabispatientsalliance.org]
    Ohio's Legal Weed Proposal Could Create the World’s First 'Pot Grower Oligarchy' [vice.com]

    What about Arizona? [phoenixnewtimes.com]

    "It was a bad proposition. It was designed to serve the interest of business owners," says Caulkins, who's based in Pittsburgh. "I'm sort of pleased and stunned that voters were able to tell the difference."

    Caulkins refers to the provision in Prop 205 that gave preference for marijuana retail licenses to existing, nonprofit medical-marijuana dispensaries. With about 130 dispensary licenses already in play, that would have left only about 20 licenses for new entrepreneurs, at least at the outset.

    Although the license-giveaway scheme wasn't as "breathtaking" as the legalization measure Ohio voters rejected in 2014, which would have given cultivation rights to just 10 businesses, Caulkins says it was unethical nonetheless. He compares the scenario to an oil company being in charge of writing regulations on where to drill.

    By contrast, the 2012 recreational-cannabis law that passed in the state of Washington was written by the American Civil Liberties Union, Caulkins notes, "with more of an ACLU mindset: Let's stop people from being arrested."

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