Pubdate: Wed, 23 Oct 2013
Source: Day, The (New London,CT)
Copyright: 2013 The Day Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.theday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/293
Author: Matt Pearce, Los Angeles Times
Page: A5

POLL: MAJORITY OF AMERICANS SAY POT SHOULD BE LEGAL

Here is a short list of things that, according to Gallup, are less
popular with Americans than the idea of legalizing pot: Congress; the
U. S. Supreme Court; the president.

In a sweeping cultural shift, comparable perhaps to Americans'
quickening support of same-sex marriage, a majority of Americans now
favor legalizing marijuana use, according to a Gallup poll released
Tuesday. The survey showed that 58 percent of 1,028 respondents
supported legalization, with 39 percent against.

That's a drop for the naysayers from three years ago, when 50 percent
of respondents opposed legalization - a number already riding a long
plummet from a high of 73 percent in the 1990s.

Gallup credited much of the surge to political independents, whose
support for legalization jumped from 50 percent to 62 percent in less
than a year.

And what a year it has been: In November, voters in Colorado and
Washington passed ballot initiatives - 55 percent to 45 percent in
each state - to legalize possession and sale of marijuana. In
Colorado, the legalization measure got more votes than President
Barack Obama, who won the state.

The Justice Department announced in August that it would not interfere
with voter-approved laws that legalized recreational marijuana use, as
long as state laws were strictly regulated.
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MAP posted-by: Matt