Pubdate: Thu, 31 May 2012
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Page: A1
Author: Joe Mozingo

STATE'S VOTERS OPPOSE MAKING POT LEGAL

in California, Only 46% Support the Legalization of 'General or 
Recreational Use by Adults,' a Poll finds.

In California, cradle of the marijuana movement, a new poll has found 
a majority of voters do not support legalization, even as they 
overwhelmingly back medicinal use for "patients with terminal and 
debilitating conditions."

Eighty percent of voters support doctor-recommended use for severe 
illness, a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll found. But only 46% of 
respondents said they support legalization of "general or 
recreational use by adults," while 50% 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 survey found opinions have not measurably changed since voters 
defeated the legalization initiative Prop. 19 in 2010 by similar 
margins. And oddly, given the state's long role as the leader of 
marijuana decriminalization and cultivation, support for sanctioning 
its general use here appears to lag behind the sentiment in the rest 
of the country.

A Gallup poll in October showed support nationwide for legalizing pot 
at 50% for the first time since the pollster began asking the 
question in 1969, when only 12% of Americans supported it. A 
Rasmussen Reports survey this month found 56% of voters favored 
authorizing and regulating cannabis sales like alcohol and tobacco 
sales. With this uptick in popularity, marijuana advocates succeeded 
in getting initiatives qualified for the upcoming November ballot in 
Colorado and Washington, while they failed in California.

Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at 
USC, said the California numbers suggest voters are concerned about 
the way the Compassionate Use Act, passed in 1996 to permit 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.

Cities and counties have been struggling with how to rein in the 
proliferation of pot shops.

Some law enforcement agencies have targeted them, while some have 
been more lenient. Some cities have tried to ban them, and courts 
have issued conflicting opinions up and down the state as to whether, 
where and how they can operate.

The federal government, which does not recognize medical marijuana as 
legal, has been shutting down dispensaries and growers, while 
threatening landlords who rent to them and cities that give them 
official sanction by granting permits.

Dale Gieringer, coordinator of the state chapter of the National 
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said that the state 
needs to regulate its medical marijuana distribution better before 
the public will go for wider use.

His organization and Americans for Safe Access, among other marijuana 
groups, are backing an Assembly bill that would create a new state 
board to enact and enforce statewide regulations on growing, 
transporting and selling marijuana.

It would require all dispensaries to register with the state, and 
allow cities and counties to tax sales.

"Voters are hesitant to liberalize the marijuana laws any further 
until the chaos of the current system is worked out," he said.

The new poll of about 1,000 registered voters taken May 17-21 
statewide showed many more voters used marijuana "recreationally" 
than the 3% who said they used it as medicine. Just less than 38% 
said they had indulged in pot for pleasure at least once in their 
lives - and 9% had 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 margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

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

As for political affiliation, only 28% of Republicans and 50% of 
Democrats liked the idea of legalization. Independents were the ones 
to give it a boost, with 60% favoring it.

"It's the decline-to-state voters, those kind of independent ones 
that don't align with either party, who are the ones really pushing 
this," said Dave Kanevsky, research director for American Viewpoint, 
a Republican polling firm, which conducted the poll jointly with the 
Democratic firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner.

One of those independents surveyed was Daniel, a 41-year-old who 
works in business development in the Inland Empire and did not want 
to give his last name.

"It's no worse than alcohol or tobacco that are currently legalized," 
he said. "People should absolutely not be persecuted for it."

He said he "partied" with marijuana in his youth and grew out of it 
as an adult. While he feels that it has legitimate medical benefits 
for some, he suspects that other users are gaming the medical 
marijuana laws but is not particularly bothered by that.

"I don't feel it's a gateway drug," he said. "I feel the biggest 
gateway drug we have is alcohol because it lowers your inhibitions 
more than anything else."

Jim Feller, a 55-year-old Republican in Shasta County, said the 
exploitation of medical marijuana laws in his area, where his 
neighbor is growing 25 plants, has strengthened his antipathy toward 
pot and legalization.

"I just feel it's not working," he said. "There is so much crime 
related to drugs up here."

Pat Wray, 65, a registered Republican in Temecula, said she believes 
that the terminally ill should have access to marijuana.

"My goodness gracious, who wouldn't want them to have something to 
ease the pain?" she said.

She noted that she grew up in the 1960s and doesn't demonize pot 
smokers. "Look, I drink my glass of wine and occasionally have a 
margarita." But she said she feared marijuana did lead to harder 
drugs, and was wary about legalizing it.
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