Thread: New poll: Americans want Feds to respect state marijuana laws

New poll: Americans want Feds to respect state marijuana laws

Jenny Kane , jkane@rgj.com Published 11:20 a.m. PT Feb. 23, 2017 | Updated 24 hours ago

The vast majority of U.S. voters support making marijuana legal and think the federal government should respect state marijuana laws, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released Thursday morning.

Ninety-three percent of Americans support medical marijuana use and 59 percent support legalizing recreational marijuana, according to the poll.

Five out of seven Americans — including majorities of Republicans, Democrats, independents, and all age groups — are opposed to the government enforcing federal prohibition laws in states where marijuana is legal for medical or adult use.

Nevada legalized recreational marijuana use during the November election; they legalized medical marijuana in 2000, although the first medical marijuana dispensaries did not open until more than a decade later.

The nationwide survey included 1,323 voters and the results reflected trends similar to those indicated in national polls released by Gallup and the Pew Research Center in October. The Gallup and Pew polls found support for ending marijuana prohibition at 60% and 57%, respectively.

The entirety of the Quinnipiac poll is posted here.

“Americans of all ages and political persuasions can agree that the federal government has no business interfering in state marijuana laws. People do not want federal prohibition laws to be enforced in states that have rejected them," said Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project. "There appears to be near universal support for allowing the use of medical marijuana, and the majority in favor of broader reform is growing quickly. Our country might be divided on some issues, but more and more it is looking like marijuana policy is not one of them."

Some investors in the marijuana industry have been concerned about where President Donald Trump's administration will stand on marijuana. The new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has expressed in the past that he considered marijuana a dangerous drug, though no efforts have been made as of yet to rescind the existing Cole Memorandum.

The Cole Memorandum establishes an agreement between the Federal government and states that if state law is followed within the industry, federal officials will not pursue violations of federal law that prohibit all uses of marijuana, still considered a Schedule I drug.

“President Trump said throughout his campaign that he supported states’ rights to determine their own marijuana policies. We are hopeful that he will maintain that position, which is clearly in line with the majority of Americans," Tvert said. "It appears the administration would face strong criticism from both sides of the aisle and most people in between if it attempted to interfere in states’ marijuana laws.”

http://www.rgj.com/story/news/mariju...laws/98308620/

The Wave of Reason, Common Sense and Respect for Individual Liberty looks like it's grown into a Tsunami! I hope so. To me, it's the right thing for everyone's sake.

I see you continued the discussion we were having on another thread in an attempt to make a point.

Well, if you're poll is correct, does that mean mine is correct too? Besides all that, a majority poll does not necessarily mean the polling subject is good for our country or its citizenry.

Recent poll:

Poll: Sixty Percent of Voters Support Illegal Immigrants Staying And Applying For Citizenship

1, February 24, 2017 jonathanturley Congress, Media, Society
A new CBS poll shows considerable opposition to the Trump Administration’s approach to immigration. The poll confirms that immigration is the top issue in the minds of voters. However, it also shows 60 percent of voters support the right of illegal immigrants being allowed to stay and achieve citizenship. Some 58 percent oppose the building of the wall.

The percentage is even higher for those favoring immigrants since an additional 13 percent would allow the immigrants to stay but not apply for citizenship. Only 23 percent would force them to leave. The percentage rise according to party. Yet, only 43 percent of Republicans (less than a majority) favor requiring all illegal immigrants to leave the country. Conversely, 79 percent of Democrats want illegal immigrants to be allowed to apply for citizenship.

Likewise, 77 percent of Republicans favor the wall while only 11 percent do so.
While an earlier poll showed considerable opposition for sanctuary cities, this poll shows a sharp opposition to the basic components of the Trump immigration policy. That may add to the unease of many Republican members in forging ahead beyond the plan to deport “criminal illegal immigrants.”

The poll numbers on the executive order are closer though a majority still opposed the order.

https://jonathanturley.org/2017/02/24/poll-sixty-percent-of-voters-support-illegal-immigrants-staying-and-applying-for-citizenship/comment-page-2/