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The first national poll about marijuana legalization taken since voters in Colorado and Washington State approved legalization ballot measures, finds the country evenly split on the issue. According to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, 48 percent of American adults favor legalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana while 50 percent of adults oppose it.
The poll once again confirms that there is a significant generational divide on the issue. A majority of all voters under they age of 65 support legalizing marijuana, with voters under the age of 30 being most supportive. According to the poll, 55 percent of adults under the age of 30 believe marijuana should be legal.
The main source of opposition to changing our current marijuana laws is senior citizens. As a group they overwhelmingly oppose marijuana reform. Just 30 percent of Americans over the age of 65 think marijuana should be legalized while 67 want it to remain illegal.
What this generational divide means is that it is only a matter of time before a solid majority of Americans support marijuana legalization. The simple fact is people most opposed to marijuana reform are dying out and being replaced by a young generation that wants to end marijuana prohibition.
It will be interesting to see if opinions about marijuana legalization change dramatically in the next year or two. Once the initiatives in Colorado and Washington State have been in effect for awhile providing Americans with tangible examples of what legalization looks like, that could potentially cause many people to rethink their position on the issue.
7 Comments
Maybe if we called it “cannibis” there might be more support. The name marijuana conjures images of Cheech & Chong, yeah man. We can’t just wait for the old fogies to die off — gotta educate everybody about the many benefits (especially to older folks with chronic pain) and minimal downside compared to alcohol. Also, smoking isn’t the only way; they make these nice little gumdrops and we could offer samples…yummy!
Rather interesting about seniors. Those age 65 to 70 are directly in the mix of heavy users (Think Woodstock, etc), and they oppose it? I wonder why.
I don’t and I’m well over 70.
hey need serious reconsideration vs-a-vis the terrible penalties attached to weed.
Interesting that “ruggedly individualistic” Merkins would allow ANY government to tell them what they may or may not ingest, inhale, or inject. But drug dealers, law enforcement, and big pHarma are happy about drugs remaining illegal, that’s for sure.
youth: doobie
seniors: don’t be
Punaise! Long time, no see or hear from. Is it significant that you make your reappearance on a pot thread?
Note of historical insignificance — Do Bee and Don’t Bee where characters on “Romper Room” in the early to mid-Fifties.
And let’s not forget that stranger in the night, Old Blue Eyes: “doobie, doobie, do….”
Thats not actually true. while many were “hippies” many, many were not. As an example just look at the Boomer culture wars that they made us deal with the past 40 years. These people are still fighting over Viet Nam. Some people probably associate pot with their outdated paradigms
There are large numbers of older people who have never used. Then there are people like my parents who are slightly older than the Boomers. They have never used and it was never part of their culture. I know oldsters who have never seen pot.
When you start getting into those of us who grew up in the 70s, pot was always around. So from being exposed to it since from say junior high, you know that there is nothing “bad” about it and all those films are you have to watch are full of lies.
I would also say that you have to look at the born again/evangelical movement that is more prevelant with oldsters. Some of these people arent even OK with beer so pot is a sure no no. There are still counties in my state that are dry and have no liquour sales at all. (case in point… someone brought a bottle of wine to an evangelical branch of the family’s xmas a couple of years ago and major drama occured)
Now to Jon’s point. I dont think anyone is going to “rethink” or change a position. I would say the fors/against dont actually matter. There is probably a majority that doesnt use and just doesnt care. I would say its similar to a marriage equality vote in my state. Sadly most people just didnt care so there was no motivation to vote or desire to really vote one way or the other. So in these cases the more “fired up and ready to go” voters win. In the marriage case the righty evangelicals came out of the woodwork. I simply dont see people who are against getting that involved when it comes to ballots.
The initiatives that have failed were due IMO to the actual bills rather than the concept. Like in Oregan, it wasnt real legalization but the controlling production and distribution. LoL. I have images of Oklahoma having near bud. Tastes and smells like pot but only has 2% THC.
Pot has changed a lot since the 60s; stronger, greater variety and a far stonier buzz. The hybrid stuff costs more and seems to make the baby-boomer group tweeky and paranoid… some weed is so stony it makes folks a tad nervous.
Genetic manipulation has now created superweeds, and cultivators are now isolating medicinal attributes: mild detachment, pain deleting… what chronic pain? It doesn’t remove the pain, it allows you to transcend it!
Regardless, jailing non-violent offenders for an herb the Great One placed on earth is utter hubris. 2-faced Obama’s first act should be 2 mandate re-judging every drug conviction sans violence! Do it.