Legalizing Marijuana More Popular Than Republicans

[FourScore]

Legalizing Marijuana More Popular Than Republicans
by Chris Bowers
Fri Feb 20, 2009 at 10:56:24 AM PST

Here is a political realignment for you: legalizing marijuana is now more popular than Republicans.

Details in the extended entry.

Chris Bowers's diary :: ::
Two recent polls show that legalizing marijuana, which is not treated as a mainstream position by either the political or media establishment, to be more popular than numerous other positions that are considered mainstream. First, here are the polls:

CBS:

CBS News/New York Times Poll. Jan. 11-15, 2009. N=1,112 adults nationwide


"Do you think that the use of marijuana should be made legal or not?"

Should not 52%, Should 41%, Unsure 7%

Rasmussen, February 13-14, 1,000 adults

In a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, Americans are closely divided on the question of whether marijuana should be legalized: 40% say it should be, while 46% disagree. Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure which course is better.(...)

Americans under the age of 40 are much more supportive of legalizing the drug than are older Americans.

While legalizing marijuana is not a majority or a plurality position at this time, it is very close to becoming one. Not only do the long-term trendlines show a dramatic shift in favor of legalization, but a majority of the population under the age of 40 is already in favor of legalization. As such, despite no major political leaders advocating on behalf of it, right now it is only a matter of time--perhaps less than a decade--before legalizing marijuana becomes a majority position nationwide.

It should also be noted that, at 40-41% support, legalizing marijuana is more popular than all of the following:

--Opposing stricter gun control laws (40%)
--Congress (26-40%)
--The war in Iraq (39%)
--Decreasing immigration levels (39%)
--Privatizing Social Security (36%)
--Opposing investigating the Bush administration (34%)
--Opposing national, government run health insurance (32%)
--Vetoing stem cell research (31%)
--The Republican Party (31%)
--Dick Cheney (30%)
--George W. Bush (24-34%)
--Decreasing business regulations (28%)
--Rush Limbaugh (28%)
--Mitch McConnell (22%)
--Preventing the openly gay from serving in the military (17%)
--John Boehner (17%)

In short, legalizing marijuana is more popular than the Republican Party, most leading Republicans, and virtually the entire Republican platform.

I'm sure this is just a partial list so, in the comments, feel free to list more "mainstream" opinions that are less popular than legalizing marijuana.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/2/20/134319/463/902/699813

[MADem]

1. It's a cost-cutting measure, certainly.

And it has potential as a revenue-generator.

Cops don't have to bust people.

States can tax it.

Prisons can be emptied.

Court dockets cleared.

Wins all around, IMO.

[EndersDame]

3. It is also would be a job creating measure

Small farmers could grow it
Textile jobs would be created
There would be a boon to vitamin and health food industry
Cafes would pop up
Certainly money could go into R&D for cars to run on hemp seed oil (i heard willie's tour bus runs on it .May just be a rumor though)
The tobacco industry could expand and process different kind of cigarettes

[druidity33]

9. hemp and marijuana are different...

though i agree that legalizing MJ would necessarily imply one could then grow hemp commercially.

Most outdoor MJ growers however, would tell you legalized hemp will make their industry untenable...


:shrug:

[tridim]

13. Hemp and marijuana are both Cannabis

So technically they are the same thing.

Hemp is simply selected from the gene pool to produce more fiber, while recreational and medicinal Cannabis is selected for high resin/THC content.

[druidity33]

18. sort of

They are different because hemp has virtually no THC. It's pointless to smoke it.

Would you suggest that a beefsteak tomato and a cherry tomato are the same? A Granny Smith apple and a MacIntosh? The fact of the matter is, for growers of Marijuana, the strain of plant is very important. Cannabis has the ability to cross pollinate with plants miles away via the wind.

See similar problems relating to cross-contamination of GM corn... and you'll get my drift.

:)

[tridim]

19. I agree with that for sure.

Although IMO light pollution would be much more of a concern for outdoor growing than stray hemp pollen floating on the breeze. Cannabis has a tendency to go hermaphrodite if the dark cycle is interrupted even a tiny bit. Better turn off that patio light!

That said, I certainly wouldn't want to set up my medical Cannabis farm next-door to a hemp farm. :)

[EndersDame]

14. Why aren't the snack food corporations lobbying for legalization?

One would think it would be a boon for Doritos Cheetos Cheezits and the like.I can even see this ad in the Sunday circular $1.00 off of Camel Marijuana cigarettes when you buy Cheezy Poofs or vice versa

[Kurovski]

2. K&R.

That's a nice way to put it.

One eases pain, the other causes it.

[Uncle Joe]

4. Kicked and recommended and it looks like

Gonorrhea is more popular than John Boehner.

Thanks for the thread, FourScore.:thumbsup:

[Cheap_Trick]

5. Genital herpes is more popular than republicans.

No numbers, but c'mon....you know it's true.

[havocmom]

6. More useful than Republicans too

[Mudcat]

7. Fantastic read, thank you for posting this n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

8. Yes, but supporting the GOP is a "legitimate" political opinion. Legalizing pot is crazy-talk.

:sarcasm:

Maybe, just maybe, with our state budgets (particularly California) rapidly turning into smoldering craters of doom, we can start to (finally) have a rational discussion about the idiotic $40 Billion a year "drug war", and even consider -gasp!- legalizing, regulating, and TAXING a relatively benign product that is used recreationally by something like 60 million Americans?

maybe?

maybe?

No, you're right. Probably not. They'll find the money to cover the shortfall some other way, like by completely dismantling every apparatus of government that doesn't involve the military or locking up non-violent drug abusers. Of course.

[Occam Bandage]

10. The big number there, I think, is "opposing national, government-run health insurance."

Come on, guys.

[cherish44]

11. Anal warts are more popular than Republicans n/t

[tridim]

12. Support would be in the 70-80% range without reefer madness 2.0 in effect

I'd like the next poll to ask non-supporters why they don't support legalization.

I bet the top answer would be "It's dangerous for children to smoke it", even though legalization would obviously not include children.

[riverdeep]

15. Well, I support legalization, decrimminalization etc. of course,

but really, hooking a car battery to your genitals is more popular than Republicans.

[damntexdem]

16. I should hope so -- but when did they make Republicans illegal?

I would say that we could decriminalize Republicans -- but that seems like too much of an oxymoron.

;-)

[paulsby]

17. note also that decrim

Decriminalization is even more popular and more palatable for many people, than what this poll referenced - "legalization".

Decrim means that it will cease to be a CRIME. That means you can't have your house searched via warrant, etc. if there is PC to believe you are a user in possession of MJ, it means that people won't go to jail for MJ possession, etc. but it also means that if you are as blatant as to sit in a city park and smoke a doob, that you can get a (civil ticket iow a fine.

It's a better idea to promote because it is seen as (and is) less extreme than outright legalization but has nearly all the benefits that legalization would.

Also, people should understand that decrim or legalization does NOT mean that people will be able to sell or provide MJ to our kids. You can legalize/decrim MJ and still criminalize the supplying of MJ to minors, for instance. Many people *are* concerned about minors and MJ but could give a rat's ass if Joe Next-door wants to sit in his living smokin' a j and eating cheezy poofs.