Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Americans for First Time Support Legalizing Marijuana Use

Like same sex marriage, notice the generational difference in views toward the legalization of marijuana.  Legalization is coming.  Gallup reports:
PRINCETON, NJ -- A record-high 50% of Americans now say the use of marijuana should be made legal, up from 46% last year. Forty-six percent say marijuana use should remain illegal.

When Gallup first asked about legalizing marijuana, in 1969, 12% of Americans favored it, while 84% were opposed. Support remained in the mid-20s in Gallup measures from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, but has crept up since, passing 30% in 2000 and 40% in 2009 before reaching the 50% level in this year's Oct. 6-9 annual Crime survey.

...

Support for legalizing marijuana is directly and inversely proportional to age, ranging from 62% approval among those 18 to 29 down to 31% among those 65 and older. Liberals are twice as likely as conservatives to favor legalizing marijuana. And Democrats and independents are more likely to be in favor than are Republicans.

More men than women support legalizing the drug. Those in the West and Midwest are more likely to favor it than those in the South.

Percent of Subgroups That Support Legalizing Use of Marijuana

Liberals 69%
18-29   62%
Moderates  57%
Independents  57%
Democrats  57%
30-49  56%
West  55%
Men  55%
Midwest  54%
East  51%
50-64  49%
Women  46%
South  44%
Republicans  35%
Conservatives  34%
65+  31%

6 comments:

Nicolas Martin said...

So much for the idea that conservatives embrace small government and liberty.

Cato said...

Which is why I despise Southerners, Republicans and Conservatives, the most anti-freedom scum on the planet.

Paul K. Ogden said...

When it comes to civil liberties issues, like eliminating or restraining civil forfeiture, I get more support from conservatives than it I ever do from so called liberals.

Nicolas Martin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nicolas Martin said...

Liberals and conservatives selectively support some civil liberties, but more often they share the instinct for repression. Only libertarians have a cohesive and thorough ideology of freedom.

M Theory said...

I am a conservative and support marijuana legalization.