Yes, it's true: the majority of Americans want pot legalized.
For the past couple of years, the number of pro-pot voters has
lingered around the halfway mark, but this year’s results indicate that the
majority of adults, including politicians, support the legalization of
marijuana in the US. 38% of those asked even admitted to smoking pot.
Gallup started running the poll in 1969. Despite it being
the period of ‘PEACE, MAN!’ and tie-dyed hippies running with flowers, only 12%
of the Americans asked were in favour of making the green stuff legal. Numbers
of advocates increased slowly, nearing 30% at the end of the 1970s, but failed to
show a significant change of opinion until the 2000s.
Recent political progresses indicate that the thoughts of many
members of the US government are in line with the results of the Gallup poll. For
example, only last week did an elected official in California propose state
legalisation of pot within the next year or so.
The Obama administration has been pretty lenient on the
matter, too, compared to past political opposition of legalization. They said
that as long as the law is obeyed surrounding sale and distribution of weed,
then they are okay with the current legalization in two states.
Statistically, there was a small increase in the number of yes
votes from Republicans (from 33% to 35%) and Democrats (from 61% to 65%), and a
massive surge in yes votes amongst the Independent parties (from 50% to 62%)
While the Gallup poll itself won’t cause any immediate
changes to the law, there’s a good chance that it will influence the decisions
of the government over the coming year. Two states, Washington and Colorado, recently legalized recreational use of marijuana; it may not be long until other states share
a legal smoke with them.
Words by Amy Pay
[Photo credits: www.gallup.com]
