reconsiDer: TIDBIT
ReconsiDer has been speaking to hundreds of Rotary Clubs and
other civic organizations for years now and we are amazed the vocal support we
find there for legalization, not just of marijuana, but for all drugs. This is
especially significant because there are no major organizations advocating
legalization. Most of the major drug policy reform organizations have been under
the impression that this is an unpopular idea and desperately have tried to stay
away from the topic, hence all the efforts around medical
marijuana, industrial hemp, sentencing reform, and other peripheral issues.
As ReconsiDer has long realized, the real issue is, of course, prohibition.
It all hinges on that evil policy. Perhaps now Americans will start to take
a serious look at the alternatives. Once they do you'll be amazed at how quickly
prohibition will end. Try to imagine what this poll would show had the reform
movement been concentrating on explaining the benefits of drug legalization and
how it would work instead of dodging the issue for all these years...
NEW POLL:
41% OF AMERICANS THINK MARIJUANA SHOULD
BE REGULATED LIKE
ALCOHOL (LEGALIZED)
A nationwide poll by Zogby
International released today found that
41% of Americans agree that "the
government should treat marijuana
more or less the same way it treats
alcohol: it should regulate it,
control it, tax it and only make it illegal
for children." This
represents a striking increase from previous nationwide
polls on
making marijuana legal.
Nearly two years ago USA Today ran a
front page story with the
findings of a USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll which
found that support for
legalizing marijuana was at its highest in 30 years,
with 34% in
favor, up from 15% in 1972. The jump over two years to 41% is
similar
to other rapid shifts in public opinion around marijuana
decriminalization in Canada, Britain and elsewhere.
"U.S. marijuana
policy is increasingly out of step with our closest
allies and neighbors,"
said Nadelmann, pointing to the
decriminalization of marijuana in Canada,
Switzerland, Britain, the
Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy and
elsewhere.
"No other criminal law on the books in this country is
enforced so
vigorously, yet backed by such a small majority of Americans,"
said
Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director of Drug Policy Alliance.
"When
two of every five citizens say it's time to make
marijuana legal, the
government's response should be to reduce
penalties and re-evaluate the law,
yet the federal government is
doing just the opposite: blocking the
availability of marijuana for
medical purposes, prohibiting the production
of hemp for industrial
purposes, and spending billions of dollars per year
on the war on
marijuana."
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