California voters don't back marijuana legalization, poll finds

Discussion in 'Marijuana Legalization' started by xdog, May 31, 2012.

  1. California voters don't back marijuana legalization, poll finds

    May 31, 2012

    [​IMG]A majority of California voters remain opposed to legalizing marijuana, according to results of a new poll.

    Eighty percent of respondents said they support doctor-recommended use of marijuana to help deal with severe illness, a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll found. But only 46% said they support legalization of "general or recreational use by adults," while 50% said they oppose it. Those against using pot were more adamant in their position, with 42% saying they felt "strongly" about it, compared with 33% for proponents.

    The Bay Area was the only region of the state where a majority -- 55% -- favored legalization, compared with 41% in Southern California and 49% of voters in Los Angeles County. There was a pronounced drop-off in support with age, with 58% support among those in their late teens and 20s, 51% for those between 50 and 64, and 28% of respondents older than 64.

    As for political affiliation, 28% of Republican and 50% of Democratic respondents said they favored the idea of legalization. Independents gave the idea a boost, with 60% saying they favored it.

    The survey indicated opinions have not measurably changed since voters defeated the Proposition 19 legalization initiative in 2010 by similar margins. And oddly, given the state's long role as a leader in marijuana decriminalization and cultivation, support for sanctioning its general use here appears to lag behind the sentiment in the rest of the country.

    Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC, said the poll numbers suggest that California voters are concerned about the way the Compassionate Use Act, passed in 1996 to permit use of medical marijuana, has been carried out.

    "They like the idea of providing marijuana for medical use, but they're worried that the law is being abused," he said.

    The new poll of about 1,000 registered voters taken May 17-21 statewide indicated that many more voters used marijuana "recreationally" than the 3% who said they used it as medicine. Just less than 38% said they had used pot for pleasure at least once in their lives -- and 9% said they had done so in the last year. The questioners did not ask whether those who used the drug recreationally acquired it on the street or with a doctor's recommendation from a dispensary. The poll's margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.See more on the poll here.
     
  2. Meh, there's lies, damn lies and statistics. I'm convinced that ANY poll can be skewed in any direction given enough prodding. So what only 46% of people believe that MJ should be 100% legal. Hell I'm not even sure I believe that to be honest.
     
  3. A lot of people fail to realize that the people making an illegal living off of cannabis don't want it legal. They'll lose money if you can buy it at 7-11 or Safeway.
     
  4. the poll says it only asked 1k people... what a joke..
     
  5. Well, their poll was almost dead nuts on the Prop 19 results so they could be reasonably accurate, but given that CA doesn't even have an initiative to vote on in 2012 and I believe 2014, I'm not sure why that article was put out...........unless it's one of those beat down reminders.
     

  6. If the poll were reversed and 50% approved of legalization and 46% disapproved would you still say that?

    A properly conducted poll using a sample size of 1,000 people can be used to represent the views of a much larger population.

    We need to be careful to apply the same standards of objectivity to statistics that we agree with AND those we do not agree with.

    Example:
    Marijuana Legalization Hits 56% Support in Rasmussen Poll | StoptheDrugWar.org
     
  7. yes...do you not know why people think the two party system is bullshit? just go look at the gop voter turnouts

    something like 1-3 % of a states population actually voted, so 1-3% of a states population gets to say who is gop candidate or not? polls are rather worthless. It all depends on where the polls are taken as well. 1000 people speaking for a state with 38 million people? like that makes any sense...
     
  8. If they dont let you sell and grow your own.noone is going to vote for it that actually grows for themselves.
     
  9. To be fair, unless you've had a formal statistics class with all the means, averages, population sizes, samples sizes, bell curves, standard deviation, confidence intervals, etc. it's pretty hard to grasp the math behind it and understand that it does work if done with a proper random sampling. The amount of samples taken was likely appropriate for the margin of error specified and the population size.
     
  10. I have taken stats and understand how polls work. Do I trust them, no...
     
  11. Old people and republicans. Same old problem...
    (no offense if you're an old republican who actually favors legalization)
     

  12. Actually, taking a stats class will show you just how easy it is to skew results one way or the other. It's retardly simple.
     
  13. Really? Enlighten me and show how that can be done, assuming of course the random sampling is done correctly and their is no bias by the statistician. Show me math, formulas and numbers if you would please because that's probably the only way I'll understand what you're talking about.
     
  14. #14 rain dancer, Jun 2, 2012
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2012
    First, prove to me that this poll was done correctly, and that there's no bias. Since you cant prove that the statistician isn't biased, since most, if not all are, how can you say definitely that the results are accurate? Bias alone can skew results, you should know that, and I assume you do since you went ahead and listed a few possible ways it could be done.

    Secondly, a sample of 1000 out of a population of nearly 38 million people is not a fair representation of the population.

    Third, sampling a poplulation as mixed as california will have a huge bias because california is so culturally mixed. Sampling one part of the state that is liberal will yield entirely different results that sampling say a predominently white, rich, conservative population such as susanville, janesville, etc.

    Fourth, california's population is completely misrepresented. How do you represent the huge population of illegals who vote? You didn't know illegals could vote?

    Consider yourself enlightened.

    http://articles.latimes.com/1994-12-27/local/me-13338_1_voter-fraud

     
  15. Why would I try to disprove something that is stated in the footnotes of the poll results? It's biased as all hell. Let me try this again - wheres the math that shows that the sample size is not adequate for the calculated margin of error and information shown? As you should know, this is a mathmatical calculation for a yes/no opinion poll, it doesn't have anything to do with a voter fraud or election results.
     
  16. 1,000 people = 37,691,912
     
  17. Wow, a 5 year old could put together something like that without any knowledge of statistic too.
     
  18. You are an adult? If so, what gives? Don't spread negative vibes man.:)
     
  19. I found it interesting that only 37% of the sample were working full time. Also an unusually high number of participants aged 65+ and retired too. Also 56% of the sample have never tried marijuana, they clearly don't know what they're missing :p.
     
  20. You "like" a childish post and then you ask that question? Fuck your vibes - grow up.

    I was hoping we would discuss why an article like this is being put out when CA doesn't have a legalization initiative in sight. Why not polls in WA or CO or news about OR? Is it a beatdown that goes along with all the raids, etc? The poll was legit for the parameters listed - you guys are chasing the wrong conspiracy. It's a psychological thing, not a numbers game.
     

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