TaeYuSu 3,082 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Public opinion on pot legalization appears to have crossed a major threshold: For the first time, a Gallup poll found that a solid majority of American adults supports making marijuana legal.Fifty-eight percent of Americans say the drug should be legal, according to Gallup's latest survey, compared with 39 percent who oppose legalization. The other 3 percent had no opinion.When Gallup first asked about pot in 1969, only 12 percent favored marijuana legalization. That weed-backing minority grew to 28 percent by 1977 and then stagnated for two decades before starting to steadily pick up more supporters around the year 2000. [Trippy Tales: The History of 8 Hallucinogens]As far as Gallup's surveys go, public support for pot legalization hit a previous record high of 50 percent in 2011. Last year, 48 percent of Americans told the polling organization that they supported legalization.Pin It Data from Gallup's surveys show how Americans views on marijuana have changed since 1969. Pot politicsSelf-described Independents have driven the most recent changes in public opinion, with 62 percent now in favor of pot legalization, up from 50 percent in November last year. Democrats and Republicans remain divided on the issue; 65 percent of Democrats favor making marijuana legal, while just 35 percent of Republicans said the same.Younger Americans, ages 18 to 29, are more likely to support legalizing pot than any other age group, with 67 percent in favor. Americans 65 and older are the only age group with a majority (53 percent) opposing pot legalization.Marijuana is currently legal for medical use in more than 15 U.S. states, including California, Arizona and Maine. Most patients need to obtain a prescription for the drug from their doctors and buy the drug from dispensaries.Recreational marijuana sales, meanwhile, are set to begin in Colorado and Washington as early as January 2014 after both states passed ballot initiatives in 2012 to legalize weed. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice announced it would not challenge those laws, as long as the states follow strict sale and distribution rules.The acceptance of marijuana use over the past four decades could be attributed to changing social mores, Gallup researchers said."The increasing prevalence of medical marijuana as a socially acceptable way to alleviate symptoms of diseases such as arthritis, and as a way to mitigate side effects of chemotherapy, may have also contributed to Americans' growing support," Gallup officials wrote, adding that the changing tide in public opinion on pot will likely spur further legalization measures.The latest survey was conducted from Oct. 3 to 6, 2013, using phone interviews with a random sample of 1,028 adults, ages 18 and older, Gallup said. -------------Gallup Poll Finds Legal Marijuana Is More Popular Than Almost Anything Else A poll released today by the Gallup organization finds 58% of Americans favor legalizing marijuana. It's the first time a clear majority has favored legalization since Gallup started asking the question in 1969.The finding is remarkable because, these days, it's hard to find much of anything that 58% of Americans like.I went back and looked through some other Gallup polls this year to find questions where more than 58% of the public took the affirmative position. Legal marijuana isn't as popular as universal gun background checks (83%) or legal sodomy (64%). But it's more popular than almost everything else. More Americans want to legalize marijuana than think President Obama is doing a good job (44%), want to keep or expand Obamacare (38%), favored attacking Syria (36%), support a 20-cent gas tax increase to pay for infrastructure (29%), or like the Republican Party (28%).And legal marijuana has more than five times as many supporters as Congress does (11%). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kpopalypse 618 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 And now a word from our sponsor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rio224 300 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 i'm just worried if it does it's gonna force street sellers out of business,and force you to buy from the store.When that happens the government can charge whatever prices they want,instead of paying $10-$20 for a demon bag(bush or quality) you'll be paying $40-$50 +tax .__. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowgirlbebop 3,908 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I have long since changed my mind in favor of legalization. We have other battles to be fighting, and prosecuting and locking up people for non-violent marijuana (and other other drugs for that matter) offenses is a huge waste of judicial time and resources. If people are legally allowed to drink alcohol or smoke cigarrettes they should be allowed to smoke weed. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heuieuu 564 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I hate the smell of weed though :( People will be able reek of it more often once it becomes legal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaeYuSu 3,082 Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 i'm just worried if it does it's gonna force street sellers out of business,and force you to buy from the store.When that happens the government can charge whatever prices they want,instead of paying $10-$20 for a demon bag(bush or quality) you'll be paying $40-$50 +tax .__.the illegal street dealers would still be there tho if its gonna be that exp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rio224 300 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 the illegal street dealers would still be there tho if its gonna be that exp. how about if the street sellers lose their distributing connects like mexico,or the drug cartels..because u.s is buying all the quantities up lol just my speculation and paranioa xD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaeYuSu 3,082 Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 how about if the street sellers lose their distributing connects like mexico,or the drug cartels..because u.s is buying all the quantities up lol just my speculation and paranioa xD there are always homegrowers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rio224 300 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 there are always homegrowers ahh that's true...i hope i'm wrong. i just think if it becomes legal it's gonna be more expensive for the consumer. On the plus side no more meeting the shady character in the back alley lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punk Princess 534 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I have long since changed my mind in favor of legalization. We have other battles to be fighting, and prosecuting and locking up people for non-violent marijuana (and other other drugs for that matter) offenses is a huge waste of judicial time and resources. If people are legally allowed to drink alcohol or smoke cigarrettes they should be allowed to smoke weed. Period. Preach honey preach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanilla21 153 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 At least marijuana is not a deadly drug unlike some other drugs. I support this because marijuana can be used as medical treatment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil4life 3,270 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Good the US government could make millions off selling the drug themselves and cut off one of the drug cartel's heads off in the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaeYuSu 3,082 Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 I hate the smell of weed though :(Me too in the beginning but now im in love with the smell of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heuieuu 564 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Me too in the beginning but now im in love with the smell of it. aren't you a daily user? >.< I just hate it because my roommate smokes and his clothes sit around the dorm making it smell like pot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaeYuSu 3,082 Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 aren't you a daily user? >.< I just hate it because my roommate smokes and his clothes sit around the dorm making it smell like pot I am yes. I think it smells delicious ^.^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainStormRaider 446 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 i'm just worried if it does it's gonna force street sellers out of business,and force you to buy from the store.When that happens the government can charge whatever prices they want,instead of paying $10-$20 for a demon bag(bush or quality) you'll be paying $40-$50 +tax .__. How is that any different from tobacco sales? Also, lets not forget it was Big Tobacco that first demonized Marijuana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanzuno 45 Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 hmmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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