Economist Poll: 'Huge Majority' Supports Legalizing Marijuan

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A new poll from The Economist and YouGov contains exciting news for marijuana advocates. "A huge majority of Americans, more than two to one once 'don't knows' have been excluded, support the legalization and taxation of marijuana," the magazine announced.

Even without excluding the "don't knows," a clear majority -- 58 percent -- favors treating cannabis like tobacco or alcohol, according to the poll.

The data reveal some interesting patterns, according to the magazine. In every age group, more people favor legalization than oppose it.

Not surprisingly, young people heavily favor legalization. But Baby Boomers want to legalize pot almost as much as the 20-somethings do. Even those over 65 are narrowly in favor of legalization, as well.

Even Republicans favor legalizing weed, although by a much narrower margin than the Democrats, who are much more enthusiastic and numerous in their support.

"If our poll is right, then it can only be a matter of time before laws start to change, at least in the more liberal states," The Economist opined. Dudes, look closer -- it's already started.

The poll, covering a number of subjects besides marijuana, is available online HERE

Unfortunately, with how the government is starting to criminalize cigarettes now (including my Djarums... grrrrr), I don't think Marijuana will be legalized anytime soon.

You smoked cloves? I could never stand those things. Not from a smell point of view but as a cigarette, it burns way too fast and the popping noises made me uncomfortable...and the sugar residue that'd build up on the butt always meant that it'd get sloppy-slobbery. Wouldn't want them illegal but they never did it for me as a product.

I think legalizing it would probably decrease new users in the long run. Mostly people are aware of 'stoners', bad apples who smoke pot and cause crime, or whatever. The people who actually enjoy marijuana in a responsible manner are not paid any attention to. Partially because said users are not that open with what they do. Often they have a plant that nobody knows about that they harvest over the year little bits at a time, not sharing with anybody and not making anyone else the wiser that they puff the magic dragon. They don't distribute, they don't go to rallies, they don't care, they just want to be left alone. I count myself among this group though I don't grow anything as the legal risk is not worth it to me. However, if legalization occurred and the little kid drug dealers were put out of business I think people's eyes would open to the fact that most people who smoke marijuana responsibly are productive members of society who are often ahead of the curve on many issues. Refined THC can be used in many different ways other then smoking. Unfortunately refining marijuana into a more potent form is highly illegal (unless you are the government), even more so then simple possession. I'm sure some anti-Marijuana people are going to flood this thread soon enough with slippery slope arguments while blinding themselves to the real evils of alcohol or prescription opiate painkillers... My 2 cents anyways

Government never had the right to make marijuana illegal in the first place.

I would. Many people are locked up because they have an amount on them that automatically, in the eyes of the law, leads to you being charged with intent to distribute. In Canada, at least, or maybe just Quebec, this amount is 28 grams (fairly certain). 1 ounce is equal to anywhere between 120 and 200 dollars, at least around here. Most frequently, people probably buy in increments of 1 gram to 3 grams, 1 gram being worth $10 and 3 grams generally 'dealt' for $20. The prices vary depending on quality or how full of S*** the impostafarian (my word for white gangster kids) or biker you're probably buying off of is. So, in the unlikely event that a dealer sells that 28 grams by the gram he might make $280 and might have spend $180 to get that. More likely he will sell 8 3/$20, amounting to $160, which means he likely will not have made a profit. I am referring only to small timers here of course. But mostly it is small timers who go to jail. And considering many people buy 1 ounce at a time for personal use I think this is unfair. If you have a few pounds of marijuana you probably are going to distribute because a few pounds will likely rot before you ever have the chance of smoking all of it. But 1 ounce is not generally profitable and also is a common amount purchased by consumers, though I hear many people circumvent the distribution by buying 24 grams or 26 grams. So I would say that busting people for any amount less then 2 or 3 pounds is a complete travesty of justice and is totally political

My previous opposition to marijuana was based on the problem of tobacco. People were smoking cigarettes everywhere--in restaurants, on buses, in motels, in airplanes, even in hospitals. It was just plain disgusting. I felt that if marijuana were legalized, then people would be smoking marijuana everywhere, too.

Now that public smoking of cigarettes is rare, if public smoking of legalized marijuana were to be just as rare, then I wouldn't have a problem with it.

I doubt that legalization would lead to lots of public smoking. I think in terms of public intoxication, it should be held to the same standards as alcohol. Not everyone likes the smell of burning weed. But in any case if it were legal a large range of non-combustible methods would become available to the general public. Briefly, there was a 'Compassion Club' here in Montreal that sold marijuana to people, and during my sole visit there I saw:
THC lip balm (personal fav)
THC cola
THC cereal (looked like coco-puffs)
etc
So there are a lot of creative ways that one could safely ingest the substance for medical or recreational purposes