Majority of Americans support Marijuana Legalization, oppose Federal interference
Posted by Sagar Satapathy on March 02, 2017.
The vast majority of U.S. voters support regulating the marijuana market and oppose federal efforts to interfere or undermine state laws permitting the plant’s use or sale, according to nationwide polling data released by Quinnipiac University on Thursday.
As many as ninety-three percent of Americans support medical marijuana use and fifty-nine percent support legalizing recreational marijuana for adults, according to the poll.
More importantly, seventy-one percent of respondents say that they oppose the government enforcing federal laws against marijuana in states that have already legalized medical or recreational marijuana.
“Americans of all ages and political persuasions can agree that the federal government has no business interfering in state marijuana laws”, says Mason Tvert, Director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project. “People do not want federal prohibition laws to be enforced in states that have rejected them. There appears to be near universal support for allowing the use of medical marijuana, and the majority in favor of broader reform is growing quickly.”
The nationwide survey included 1,323 voters including majorities of Republicans, Democrats, independents, and all age groups. It was conducted during February 16-21 via landline and cell phone interviews, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.
The poll results reflected trends similar to those indicated in national polls released by Gallup and the Pew Research Center in October. The Gallup and Pew polls found support for ending marijuana prohibition at 60% and 57%, respectively.
The rising support of marijuana legalization may provide a boost for pending federal legislation, HR 975: The Respect State Marijuana Laws Act, which prevents the federal government from criminally prosecuting individuals and/or businesses who are engaging in state-sanctioned activities specific to the possession, use, production, and distribution of marijuana.
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