AP-CNBC Poll: Most in US against legalizing pot

[cory777]

Source: AP

By GREG RISLING, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES – Most Americans still oppose legalizing marijuana but larger majorities believe pot has medical benefits and the government should allow its use for that purpose, according to an Associated Press-CNBC poll released Tuesday.

Respondents were skeptical that crime would spike if marijuana is decriminalized or that it would lead more people to harder drugs like heroin or cocaine. There also was a nearly even split on whether government spends too much or the right amount enforcing marijuana laws. Almost no one thinks too little is spent.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100420/ap_on_re_us/us_ap_poll_legalizing_marijuana

[FrenchieCat]

1. AP strikes again. They are on a roll these days.........

:crazy:

get it......rolling? :rofl:

I'm in California...and that law will pass here, if I have anything to do with it!

[Rex]

2. I believe that as much as I believe 'teabaggers' are educated

and rich. :eyes:

[SharksBreath]

24. Exactly.

If you constantly call a person an ignorant redneck I'm pretty sure that person would do all they can to prove your opinion wrong.

Like lying in a poll.

[budkin]

3. Sorry but the AP can't stop the tide now...

[NanceGreggs]

4. If everyone just toked up once in a while ...

... those numbers would change.

Oh, yeah - and the world would be a better place, too.

[Stumbler]

68. Exactly

I've yet to meet a violent pot-smoker. As for violent drunks & pill-poppers I've met plenty of each.

[Socal31]

5. You can bash AP, but they are correct.

Most of the country is just now finally seeing the benefits of medical marijuana. I fear the people pushing to legalize it completely may just cause a federal backlash that will hurt the people who need it medicinally.

Obama is against out-right legalization, and if we here in CA try to make it a legal for-profit industry, the DEA may have the leash taken off.

[IntravenousDemilo]

8. Allowing MJ for sick people and not for well people sounds vaguely unconstitutional.

What it does is set up two classes of Americans, a small one that is allowed the herb, and a large one that is denied it. All Americans should expect equal treatment under the law, and the rights of well people have been abridged.

But you can't deny sick people their medicine, so the only reasonable alternative is to let everyone have it, or even grow it if they want to. I think you might eventually see some court action based on that premise. There's currently a case wending its weary way through our court system up here in Canada, and it is due to land on the Supreme Court's doorstep fairly soon, and they'll decide on the constitutionality of denying some Canadians a substance that others are entitled to.

[Socal31]

32. We do it all the time.

Its called prescription medicine. I am not allowed to go get Opiates without a doctor saying I can. That is not unconstitutional.

[IntravenousDemilo]

41. And that situation is just plain wrong.

You should be able to put into your body whatever you damn well feel like, as long as it doesn't affect others. That includes opiates if that's your thing, or herb, or some guy's dick. It's no one else's business.

[Socal31]

43. When you find this drug utoptia that you are talking about...

let me know. It sure wont be here in the US, and I am sure it wont be in Canada.

[Threedifferentones]

72. Isn't weed decriminalized in Canada already? nt

[IntravenousDemilo]

81. It sure as hell won't be in Canada as long as Stephen Fuckhead is prime minister.

But if by chance we DO manage to achieve "this drug utopia", I'll certainly let you know. In fact, I'll probably even invite you up for a visit.

[intheflow]

49. But anyone can have a glass of wine and experience health benefits.

I think pot should be treated in the same manner. With both alcohol and marijuana, problems arise with abuse, not use. Both are naturally occurring substances. Unlike chemically manufactured prescription medicines that can fuck you up even if you use them according to prescription, if that prescription is for someone else, for a targeted condition.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/red-wine/hb00089

[krabigirl]

52. Uhhh...opiates are not on Schedule I. Cannabis is. So medical patients are NOT protected.

[tridim]

48. Yep, I have a card, but most of the benefits I've noticed are preventative in nature.

Healthy people just might want to consume Cannabis for their own HEALTH. For the same reason they eat broccoli.

[krabigirl]

51. Especially since these sick people aren't protected at all with these "medical use" laws.

Trust me, I know.

[nebenaube]

19. Yes

every dealer and gangster (and narc) is against legalization... they don't want to destroy their market.

[ShortnFiery]

69. +1000. eom

[onehandle]

28. Not just the DEA, but Congress. They would stop everything to 'do something' about this. nt

[Flaneur]

33. The DEA only has so many agents, so fuck 'em.

DEA cannot enforce marijuana prohibition by itself.

[ShortnFiery]

67. Yes, especially since the Pharmaceutical Industry can make BILLIONS off of THC ...

and charge exorbitant prices for their stash.

[aquart]

6. They didn't ask me.

[boppers]

7. "Some opponents worried legalization would lead to reefer madness."

Nice touch.

[kimmylavin]

10. I know!

Seriously, its about 65 years and a boatload of parodies too late for ANYONE to take that phrase seriously anymore.

And yet there it is, the eternal bogeyman. :eyes:

[boppers]

11. Public domain, now.

For those left out of the joke:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6696582420128930236#

[Wizard777]

14. Except that Reefer madness is actually a psychosis suffered by people that don't use marijuana.

The less you know about marijuana the more prone to Reefer Madness you are. It's really that simple.

[meow2u3]

20. Yo, Wizard: Reefer madness is for old folks

Legalizing weed would cause a peculiar of blunt force insanity :evilgrin:

[Wizard777]

25. At 78 I think I am Old Folk. I'm for legalization. If only because I can remember when it was legal.

At least for all intents a purposes it was legal. The Marijuana tax stamp act had been passed. But it wasn't really enforced at local levels. Even when they did start enforcing it at local levels. It was only enforced on the blacks. Like with opium and the chinese. Addiction was commonly believed to be an ethnic problem. Certain ethnicities were believed to have problems with certain substances. I don't really think the more modern theories of addiction are much better. There's not much you can tell me about marijuana and it's history. I've lived a lot of it. I've been smoking pot for well over half a century. In fact many thought I would quit when my pot smoking hit the legal age for retirement at 65. Boy were they WRONG! I'm just damned old and still smoking. In fact I enjoy it more now than ever before. I think it's the perfect ending to an otherwise long and productive life. It really helps to ease that natural decline.

[Dr Fate]

55. Good for you Wizard- I'd love to toke up & spin some Benny Goodman discs with ya!

;)

[Wizard777]

60. Thank you. But my musical tastes are a lil more modern.

There's been a lot of good music released since Benny Goodman and swing. Could we listen to some Led Zeppelin instead? Better yet, let's watch Shakira Belly dance to Ojo's Asi. Va-va-voooom! and a Woof woof.

[coloredbait]

64. LOL

good for you Wiz..I'm 51 and could care less about the 'good old days' I'd much rather be alive now with 21'st century women and conveniences than crapping in an outhouse.

[Wizard777]

76. I'm saving that living in the past stuff for when I have Alzheimer's.

[mitchtv]

40. wtf?

been smoking too long for some pipsqueak to pull ageist bs, 65 y/o been smoking the yerba mala since the early sixties. I was not alone.

[Wizard777]

61. Oddly enough when I first started smoking in about 1940. I smoked with an 80 y/o man.

He had smoked it all his life and swore by it.

[nebenaube]

23. bullshit

People have a tendency to hallucinate from something as simple as sleep deprivation... Spending too much time alone will make anyone psychotic. The psychosis you refer to is about as dangerous or clinically significant as a isolated nightmare.

[Wizard777]

26. Except that the delusions suffered by nonusers in full blown reefer madness has driven them to "War"

People are being killed in out the streets in that war. They started it and we're gonna finish it! So don't think the Reefer Madness suffered by people that know nothing about marijuana is a harmless psychosis. They are an extreme threat and danger to docile and somewhat spaced out while deep in thought potheads everywhere.

[fascisthunter]

47. nail meets hammer

[nebenaube]

53. I have to agree with that...

I'm referring to the DSM's flavor.

[Javaman]

62. They forgot to include the follow up question...

"how many of you tell kids, "to get off my lawn!"?"

[harry_pothead]

9. I'll say it again:

If instead old conservatives smoked weed and young hippies smoked cigars, then weed would be legal and cigars would be called a gateway drug.

[ixion]

12. legalizing it would mean LESS crime, not more

it just shows how stupid people really are.

[Jennicut]

13. Interesting data on age group preference.

"People under 30 were the only age group favoring legalization (54 percent) and opposition increased with age, topping out at 73 percent of those 65 and older. Opposition also was prevalent among women, Republicans and those in rural and suburban areas."

So older people who once smoked it are now against legalizing it?

I am 34. I would legalize it in a heartbeat.

[elocs]

15. Had this poll said the opposite, DU would be dancing and saying how accurate and insightful it is.

Since it doesn't it is obviously invalid.

So, polls which support our point of view are accurate while those which do not are trash. In that respect we line up pretty well with the freepers. Interesting.

[mojowork_n]

21. And if the poll had said, "most in agreement sun rises in west"

What's your point?

If you want to argue the accuracy of polls, do so.

If you want to debate the pot issue, then talk about that.

[elocs]

30. If you don't get my point, then it is pointless to explain it to you.

But some consistency in accepting the results of polls should be in order and not dependent upon agreement or disagreement with the poll.

I still insist that had the poll showed that Americans wanted pot to be legal, then those results would have been shouted and hailed from the rooftops here.

As in all things, good, bad, or otherwise, we cannot confuse what DU thinks and believes with what the majority of Americans think and believe.

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

36. the problem with your argument is the AP itself

You are proposing a theoretical situation -- "what if the poll had shown approval" -- which anyone who has any knowledge of Reefer Madness Propaganda going all the way back to Harry "Jazz is Satanic" Anslinger knows would never occur. NEVER.

The AP and just about every other mainstream news organization has supported the War on Cannabis since its inception with lies, manipulated statistics and bad science. That's why you have never heard that THC kills tumors, including glioma, even though it was proven at the University of Virginia in 1974 and again in Spain several times since 2000. That's why you know that we "need" to drill offshore for oil but you don't know that we could achieve fossil fuel independence simply by growing industrial hemp for bio-fuel on 6-8% of our land mass. It's why you see commercial after commercial for deadly pharmaceutical drugs that annually kill more people in my state and 15 others than traffic accidents but you don't know that cannabis was called by the DEA's own administrative judge "one of the safest, therapeutically active substances known to mankind" in the late 1980s. It's why you think you know that cannabis use "causes" schizophrenia but don't know that it has been proven effective against Alzheimer's, MS and a score of other painful conditions and serves as a neuro-protectant that can actually regrow brain cells in the hippo-campus.

So no: most of us who are actually educated on the subject don't give a rat's ass what the AP says people believe or anything at all they say on the subject of cannabis. We have good reason: they are liars.

[al bupp]

38. That's an interesting list of benefits

I've heard some of these mentioned before, but not the association w/ regrown brain cells. That really contradicts the common "knowledge" about pot and fried brains. Just out of curiosity, can you post any links which elaborate on that one in particular?

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

39. okeydokey

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051016083817.htm\
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8155-marijuana-might-cause-new-cell-growth-in-the-brain.html


Cannabis has never killed brain cells: the study you think you know was conducted in a way that suffocated monkeys with carbon monoxide:
http://www.electricemperor.com/eecdrom/HTML/EMP/15/ECH15_03.HTM

[SOS]

65. Let's use this Gallup poll and shout it from the rooftops

51% favor ending cannabis prohibition.
75% favor medical use.

http://rawstory.com/2009/2009/10/gallup-poll-finds-record-support-legalizing-marijuana/

[onehandle]

27. Yep. Same as it ever was. nt

[droidamus2]

16. Typical anti-pot person

Okay it's a generalization so don't jump on me with 'I'm anti and that's not me'.

The typical anti-pot person has bought into every piece of government propaganda ever put out about pot and
have done no independent research on the effects and after-effects of consuming marijuana. Of course that doesn't include those i.e. police, prisons, rehab people, dealers that are against legalization because it will cut into their cash flow. The typical anti-pot person has no real idea what a pot 'high' really is because they have never tried it (too afraid they might want to immediately shoot heroin after their first toke - yeah I'm being sarcastic). The typical anti-pot person is also woefully unaware of the current situation which is that pot is readily available to anyone that wants it and those that want to consume pot can and do. The only crime that relates to pot is the fact that it being illegal makes consumers criminals and, because its illegal, people trying to rip off other peoples pot or the proceeds of the illegal sell of same. I doubt too many people commit crimes to support their pot habit.

[droidamus2]

17. deleted due to double post

[pattmarty]

18. I thought I saw another poll a couple of months ago that had.........

.......a majority favoring legalization. I know with these polls it's all in the wording, but I could have sworn I saw one that was just the opposite of this one. Anyway, I believe if California legalizes this Nov that the rest of the country will follow (slowly, for sure) slowly state by state. That would be the biggest push for nationwide legalization, in my opinion.

[Flaneur]

34. A Field poll one year ago had California at 56%.

But no national polls show majority support for legalization...yet. The trend is toward it, though.

[Zhade]

42. Actually, pattmarty had it correct -- a recent Zogby poll found a NATIONAL majority in favor.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/06/majority-of-americans-wan_n_198196.html

Regardless, questions of personal liberty and human rights should never be decided by majority rule.

[sasquuatch55]

22. Most Americans know this is Bullshit propaganda!

nt

[Romulox]

29. The mouth-breathing ignorance of the American people is why we are a second rate nation.

:hi:

[pattmarty]

31. AND, falling quickly.

[Common Sense Party]

70. This should be our campaign theme for the mid-term elections.

You've got a winner there!

[azuka]

35. Benefits of decriminalizing

I'm in favor of decriminalizing it, but regulating it and licensing manufacturer's somewhat similar to tobacco and or alcohol.

In this way, the government could effectively establish some controls over its use, it's properties, whether it's laced with any surprises, strength, and so on. Instead of just whether or not people are using or obtaining it.

My wife could easily obtain and get relief for her daily migraines.

Students should be punished for being under the influence of pot at school just as they are for alcohol. I don't see much difference.

Is it bad for you? I'm convinced it is. From what I've read it's much harder on your lungs that tobacco, but maybe if it was licensed and real work was done on it, that could be mitigated.

Would this deal a huge blow against organized crime and smuggling? No doubt! I think the benefits outweigh the risks.

[Zhade]

71. You're convinced -- but wrong.

First, marijuana smoke is a bronchial dilator. It relaxes the breathing process instead of constricting it like tobacco smoke does. Second, it's been medically proven to kill tumors, and does NOT cause lung cancer.

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

37. Did Anyone Check the Sampling Method?

The AP-CNBC Poll was conducted April 7-12, 2010, by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media. It involved interviews with 1,001 adults nationwide on landline and cellular telephones. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

Oh yeah, baby: now THAT is science! Woohoo, 1001 people on the telephone! :eyes:

Seriously, where do these asshats get off telling us "most Americans" feel a certain way when they called only a thousand people? What fucking garbage.

[anigbrowl]

44. You don't know much about statistics, do you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sample_size

1000 people gives a margin of error of about 3%; for most purposes, this is quite acceptable. The magic of power laws at work - the mathematical kind, that is.

Now, the construction of the questions is worth examining to see if they're biased or otherwise flawed, but there is nothing wrong with the sample size as long as one doesn't try to draw conclusions within the MOE.

[nebenaube]

54. I do

And I know that this number will always be skewed by the fact that cannabis is illegal and advocacy for legalization is known to invite scrutiny. Polls on this topic are irrelevant; only control freaks and those profiting in the game are vocal about it.

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

74. using 1000 telephone calls to tell us what Americans "think"

is ridiculous no matter how many Wikipedia pages you feel like posting, sorry.

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

77. and actually I know statistics quite well

which is why I understand that 1000 people on telephones is not a representative sample of the entire US population.

Try again.

[provis99]

58. you really need to look into linear regression and normal curves.

If we sampled 1001 people at random, would you sneer at the finding that men average 5'9" and women average 5'4" because they didn't sample the whole world?

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

79. if you were measuring world population average height

of course it is an inadequate sampling.

Your example doesn't account for the fact that this poll measures opinion, which is much more abstract than height. The two don't match.

[fascisthunter]

78. .

[anigbrowl]

45. Interesting that a slim majority (53%) of Republicans favor MMJ

Can't say I expected that, I thought it would be in the 30-40% range.

detailed results are here: http://www.cnbc.com/id/36601126

[fascisthunter]

46. sure, sure...

I think I'll fill up a bowl, although this is amusing me already.

[krabigirl]

50. These idiots do not understand that if cannabis isn't legal, there's NO protection for medical mj.

It has to be at least decriminalized at the federal level or brought down from Schedule I.

[Dr Fate]

56. State by state is a different story though. n/t

n/t

[texastoast]

57. Follow the media money

Who runs it? Pukes. And who runs pukes (and some Dems), the corporatists.

[Ichingcarpenter]

59. CNBC is behind the poll

Gee..... they don't have an axe to grind.

[alfredo]

63. How was the poll conducted? If it was over land lines, it

would skew the results. Most of the younger generation don't have land lines.

[ShortnFiery]

66. I don't believe it. The polls are tainted. It's that the POWERS that be wish for us to be against

EITHER the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana.

There's MILLIONS to BILLIONS to be made in both the Private Prison Industry and the Pharmaceutical industry making THC part of their formulary. :thumbsdown:

[coloredbait]

73. that's streching it...

given a choice, a real choice, most people would like pot legalized and controlled (taxed) and sold just like alcohol and cigarettes. If one were to want harder refined drugs then getting a prescription from a mental health professional would not be to bad an idea..
Let's reserve prisons for the violent offenders and move the 'white collar criminal' into a program where they can work off their debt to society, say... slavery.

[bemildred]

75. The usual fearmongering bullshit push polling. nt

[Flaneur]

80. This poll appears to be regionally biased.

37% of respondents from the South
22% of respondents from the Midwest
18% of respondents from the West Coast
23% of respondents from the Northeast

The most socially conservative areas of the country get 59% of the respondents.

This poll polls about 10 points lower than a slew of similar polls in the last couple of years.