Google – AFP, 23 October 2013
A bud of
Maui Afghooey medical marijuana is displayed at the PureLife Alternative
Wellness Center on July 27, 2012 in Los Angeles, California (AFP/File, Frederic
J. Brown)
|
Washington
— For the second time this year, a public opinion poll has indicated that a
majority of Americans favor the legalization of marijuana.
Fifty-eight
percent replied yes when asked if they thought the use of marijuana should be
made legal -- compared to 50 percent two years ago and just 12 percent in 1969,
the Gallup polling institute said Tuesday.
Thirty-nine
percent said no, and three percent held no opinion.
Support for
legalization was predictably stronger among Americans aged 18 through 49, and
among Democrats and those who described themselves as independents on the
political spectrum, Gallup said.
Its
findings mirrored a Pew Research Center poll, released in April, in which 52
percent of Americans said the use of marijuana should be made legal, a rise of
11 percentage points since 2010.
Gallup's
findings follow the legalization of marijuana in the western states of Colorado
and Washington -- even though possession remains a crime under federal statutes
which rank marijuana on a par with heroin.
Other
factors behind the trend, Gallup said, include the growing medicinal use of
marijuana and a pledge from President Barack Obama's administration not to
challenge the sale of marijuana in states that have made it legal.
"Whatever
the reasons for Americans' greater acceptance of marijuana, it is likely that
this momentum will spur further legalization efforts across the United
States," Gallup said.
Supporters
of legalization cheered the results, which Gallup said were based on a random
sample of 1,028 adults interviewed by telephone on October 3-6, giving a margin
of error of plus or minus four percentage points.
"The
news of such widespread support for ending marijuana prohibition bodes well for
efforts under way to change state laws around the nation," said Rob Kampia
of the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group.
"Now,
it's time for Congress (in Washington) to act on this clear public mandate by
taking action to end the failed experiment of federal marijuana
prohibition," added Aaron Smith of the National Cannabis Industry
Association.
But Carla
Lowe of the California-based Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana, quoted by
NBC News, said she was concerned that poll respondents who favor legalization
"are really not aware or knowledgeable about the marijuana that?s out
there today."
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