An incredible three-fourths of American voters want President Obama to stop using federal resources to crack down on state medical marijuana programs, according to a new Mason-Dixon poll sponsored by the Marijuana Policy Project.

Mason-Dixon 5/10-14
Do you feel President Obama should: (ORDER ROTATED)
- Respect the medical marijuana laws in these states, or
- Use federal resources to arrest and prosecute individuals who  are acting in compliance with state medical marijuana laws?
74% Respect State Laws
15% Prosecute Fed Law
11% Not Sure

The desire for the federal government to leaves states alone when it comes to medical marijuana is strong across the political spectrum, with a solid majority of Democrats (75%), Independents (79%) and Republicans (67%) all feeling President Obama should respect state laws.  In addition, a solid majority of every age group, race and gender think state medical marijuana laws should be respected by the federal government.

Not surprisingly, national support for the federal government leaving state medical marijuana programs alone closely matches the national support for medical marijuana in general. Clearly the American people think medical marijuana has value and the government shouldn’t stop sick people from obtaining it.

Unfortunately since Obama took office the executive branch has waged an aggressive multi-agency war on medical marijuana. Most observers have concluded that the federal crackdown on state medical marijuana programs under Obama has been worse than any other recent president, including George W. Bush.

Obama has claimed that his administration must go after any state medical marijuana system because it is against federal law.  But in reality the Controlled Substance Act gives the executive branch the authority to unilaterally reschedule cannabis to make it legal for medical purposes. This action would not require Congressional approval and would finally bring federal law on medical marijuana in accordance with the overwhelming wishes of the electorate.

A strong majority of registered voters in New York want their legislature to legalize the use of medical marijuana in the state, according to a new poll by Siena College. Nearly twice as many voters support medical marijuana as oppose it.

Siena College 5/6-10
Do you support or oppose legalizing the use of medical marijuana in New York State?
57% support
33% Oppose
8% Don’t have enough information
2% Don’t Know/No opinion

Looking at the crosstabs, medical marijuana has broad support from the entire population of the state. A majority of every age group, gender, geographic region, religious group and income bracket supports the state legalizing medical marijuana. The only group with a plurality opposed is Republicans with 46 percent against and 44 percent for.

Currently there is a bipartisan effort underway in the state capital to approve medical marijuana before this legislative session ends, but Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo has been rather dismissive of the bill.   One can only hope this new poll showing that the voters overwhelming support medical marijuana will spur the state government to finally act on this issue and provide relief to those in need.

A new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that medical marijuana helps relieve some of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. The study found that marijuana helped reduce muscle pain and spasticity. From the Canadian Medical Association Journal:

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, conducted a randomized, double-blinded controlled trial with 30 participants to understand whether smoked cannabis can have an effect on muscle spasticity in people whose spasticity does not respond well to existing treatment. The average age of participants was 50 years, and 63% were female. More than half of the participants needed walking aids, and 20% used wheelchairs.

Most trials have focused on the effect of oral cannabis rather than smoked cannabis.

Rather than rely on self-reporting by patients regarding their muscle spasticity — a subjective measure — health professionals rated the spasticity of each participant’s joints on the modified Ashworth scale, a common objective tool to evaluate intensity of muscle tone. The researchers found that participants in the smoked cannabis group experienced an almost one-third decrease on the Ashworth scale — 2.74 points — from a baseline score of 9.3, meaning spasticity improved, compared with the placebo group. As well, pain scores decreased by about 50%.

The study is just more confirmation about the medical potential of cannabis, and the results aren’t in any way surprising. It has long been known that medical marijuana can help individuals suffering from sclerosis. In fact Sativex, which is just a combination of cannabis extracts, has been approved for the treatment of MS in the United Kingdom and Spain.

Yet despite the large and growing body of research proving the medical benefits of cannabis, the United States federal government still classifies it as schedule I, which means it has no legally accepted medical use.

While in Colorado, local CBS Denver reporter Shaun Boyd asked Mitt Romney about his position on medical marijuana and the candidate was not happy. Romney became visibly upset about the question. He repeatedly interrupted the reporter and chided her for even asking him about it.

(exchange starts at 2:13)

Reporter: Should marijuana be legalized for medical use and taxed?

Romney: Aren’t there issue of significance that you want like to talk about?

Reporter: This is a significance issue in Colorado.

When Romney did finally get around to answering the question he said that he does think marijuana shouldn’t be legal in this country and that he believes it is a gateway drug.

Romney’s position on medical marijuana is terrible. The small solace you can take from his hostility to being asked a basic question about medical marijuana is that it could be a sign Romney is at least aware how incredibly unpopular his stance on medical marijuana is.

With 77 percent of the country believing medical marijuana should be allowed Romney is in a tiny minority on this issue. If I were a politician and my position on a particular issue was extremely unpopular, I, too, would hate being asked about it.

Yesterday something historic happened. A sitting president and current candidate for the office stated his support for same-sex marriage. This is monumental because as little as ten years ago a president making such a statement was almost unthinkable.

It was, after all, only 16 years ago that the Democratic President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act, which codifies the federal non-recognition of same-sex marriage. The law easily won approval in Congress with broad bipartisan support. At the time Gallup found only 27% of Americans thought same-sex marriage should be valid while 68% of the country opposed it.

Same-sex marriage was once a fringe idea supported by only a tiny minority of the population and almost no politicians, yet in less than a generation things have completely changed. It now has the support of half the population and the de facto leader of one of the two major political parties.

Marriage equality is a fascinating example of how a country can rather quickly undergo a paradigm shift — an example of how, through activists, efforts to build public acceptance in the popular culture and demographic changes a fringe idea can become part of the political mainstream.

It is a particularly useful example for the marijuana legalization movement, which is experiencing an almost identical trend of rapidly growing support driven by a younger generation. As with marriage equality, less than 20 years ago marijuana legalization was an incredibly fringe issue with little popular or political support. In 1995, just 25% of Americans thought it should be legal, with 73% thinking it should be illegal.

Yet just 16 years later in 2011, Gallup found 50% thought marijuana should be legal and only 46% thought it should be illegal — putting popular support for marijuana legalization right on par with that for same-sex marriage

As with both marriage equality and marijuana legalization, much of the change in popular support is generational, thanks to a young, highly accepting generation replacing an older more conservative one. In 2011, 62% of adults under 30 thought marijuana should be legal but just 31% of those over 65 thought it should. An almost equal generational divide exists for marriage equality. That same year 68% of those under 30 supported it but only 33% of senior citizens thought that it should be allowed. For both issues, the nature of demographics should continue to push public support up for years to come.

The support of a sitting president for marriage equality is a powerful tipping point for the issue. It clearly signaled that this once highly fringe position is now firmly in the political mainstream. Looking at the similar polling and demographic trends for marijuana legalization, it might not be long before it experiences a similar symbolic victory publicly signaling its emergence as a mainstream political stance.