New Zogby poll: majority of Americans (52%) now in favor of legalization

[Set_it_off]

Nice! Shit needs to happen now!! Even though I'm on a different continent than the US im people will notice and rethink it around the world.

Also I am actually quite surprised any African countries dont have it legalized most of them are so fucking corrupt and just plain stupid they wont care its just more $$$$ they cant put in there pockets.

[breedtheweed]

Originally Posted by DanBoone

One reason why it will continue to be illegal is that the government is going to have to publicly state that they were wrong the entire time.

Absolutly correct

[RebelINS]

The first reason that the government claimed to make it illegal "It was making blacks and mexicans violent"

second reason, "It was making people pacifists"

contradictory in itself.

[SlipperyPete]

Originally Posted by DanBoone

One reason why it will continue to be illegal is that the government is going to have to publicly state that they were wrong the entire time.

Didn't they apologized for slavery a couple years ago? We just have to wait 150 years and Marijuana will be legal.

[Highku Warrior]

The Marijuana Law Tipping Point — MPP Blog

thats a link to the MPP blog...good stats on the zogby poll.

[baked4now]

nice post, glad to hear the majority of people think it is better then worse. thanks for the post

[masterh]

While I'd normally be insanely excited, I'd strongly suggest everyone take this with a grain of salt. Long buzzkill post, with enormous apologies.

First, because Zogby just isn't a good poller. Nate from fivethirtyeight.com doesn't bother giving their polls much weight, because they're usually... how to put this... sometimes inaccurate.

Second: their polling method on this one. They polled a sample based on the number who voted for Obama and the number who voted for McCain - that is, 54% Obama voters and 46% McCain voters - or supporters, as it says in the article. There's a big difference. McCain supporters didn't get to the polls, especially in the West Coast - many of them figured it was a foregone conclusion. In contrast, Obama's supporters showed up in droves to vote. They were highly motivated.

Third, and most importantly, the wording on the question. The wording of a question makes or breaks the poll. Honestly, it does. If a pollster calls a citizen - someone who doesn't care one way or another about legalization - and asks them, say:

"Scarce law enforcement and prison resources, a desire to neutralize drug cartels and the need for new sources of revenue have resurrected the topic of legalizing marijuana. Proponents say it makes sense to tax and regulate the drug while opponents say that legalization would lead marijuana users to use other illegal drugs. Would you favor or oppose the government's effort to legalize marijuana?"

They're going to give a different answer than:

"The DEA says that marijuana is a gateway drug. It tends to bring out schizophrenic behavior and has been linked to several chronic illnesses. There's also a strong correlation between marijuana abusers and gang violence. Their opponents say that marijuana is harmless. Would you favor or oppose a non-profit organization's support of legalizing marijuana?"

Not that I'm not very, very happy to see those numbers, guys; I'd love to think that change is right around the corner. But poll numbers don't jump 6-10 points in two months, for the most part. There's still a lot of work to be done.

[Matticus]

Originally Posted by masterh

While I'd normally be insanely excited, I'd strongly suggest everyone take this with a grain of salt. Long buzzkill post, with enormous apologies.

First, because Zogby just isn't a good poller. Nate from fivethirtyeight.com doesn't bother giving their polls much weight, because they're usually... how to put this... sometimes inaccurate.

Second: their polling method on this one. They polled a sample based on the number who voted for Obama and the number who voted for McCain - that is, 54% Obama voters and 46% McCain voters - or supporters, as it says in the article. There's a big difference. McCain supporters didn't get to the polls, especially in the West Coast - many of them figured it was a foregone conclusion. In contrast, Obama's supporters showed up in droves to vote. They were highly motivated.

Third, and most importantly, the wording on the question. The wording of a question makes or breaks the poll. Honestly, it does. If a pollster calls a citizen - someone who doesn't care one way or another about legalization - and asks them, say:

"Scarce law enforcement and prison resources, a desire to neutralize drug cartels and the need for new sources of revenue have resurrected the topic of legalizing marijuana. Proponents say it makes sense to tax and regulate the drug while opponents say that legalization would lead marijuana users to use other illegal drugs. Would you favor or oppose the government's effort to legalize marijuana?"

They're going to give a different answer than:

"The DEA says that marijuana is a gateway drug. It tends to bring out schizophrenic behavior and has been linked to several chronic illnesses. There's also a strong correlation between marijuana abusers and gang violence. Their opponents say that marijuana is harmless. Would you favor or oppose a non-profit organization's support of legalizing marijuana?"

Not that I'm not very, very happy to see those numbers, guys; I'd love to think that change is right around the corner. But poll numbers don't jump 6-10 points in two months, for the most part. There's still a lot of work to be done.

There's a real funny thing about polls. Often times, the results of the poll influence those on the fence who view them. Those "undecided" voters who usually go with the norm are the ones who usually swing the vote from one side to the other, and once they start seeing legal MJ as socially acceptable, the snowball gets that much bigger.

[ThePhantom]

This is very good, seeing this kind of support. It doesn't really matter, though. The amount of support will not affect when or how legalization occurs, but still, it's nice to see.

[zoolander]

It won't? So you're saying if there was 0% support for legalization, or if there was 100% support, neither would affect the timeline of legalization one bit? Sorry, that's just dumb. As the previous poster said, the results of polls tend to influence those on the fence, and you know what? They influence some of the people who already made their mind up, too.