Celebrated poll-analyst Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight reports that national opinions on marijuana are moving over the 50% mark, up from a bit from just a month ago. As Micah Cohen reports, “As the Obama administration weighs its response to the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana in Washington and Colorado, a new YouGov poll has found that a slim majority of adults believe the federal government should not enforce federal laws — under which marijuana use is still illegal — in those states.
“The YouGov survey, conducted for The Huffington Post on Dec. 5 and 6, found that 51 percent of the 1,000 adults interviewed said the federal government should “exempt adults who follow state law from enforcement.” Thirty percent said the federal government should “enforce its drug laws the same way it does in other states,” the poll found.
“Support for legalizing marijuana use — and not simply for medical purposes — has been rising steadily since the early 1990s. The most recent polls have shown a public divided. A CBS News poll from mid-November found an even split, with 47 percent supporting legalization and 47 percent opposed. A more recent Quinnipiac University poll found a bare majority supporting legalization, 51 percent to 44 percent.”
For more, see: http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/08/marijuana-legalization-and-states-rights/