Saturday, January 23, 2010
The headline on the press release for the ABC News/Washington Post poll released on January 18 read “High Support for Medical Marijuana.” The results emphasized that 81% of Americans support legalizing the medical use of marijuana and 56% think doctors should be able to prescribe it without restrictions. The poll also asked if marijuana should be legalized for non-medical, personal use. Forty-six percent responded yes, but this result was brought down by the fact that only 23% of senior citizens favor full legalization. The poll result that was most relevant to the future legal status of marijuana was that 51% of adults under the age of 65 favor legalization. Even 30% of conservatives agreed with this position.
Statistics compiled by the federal government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration show that a majority of adult Americans under the age of 60 have tried marijuana at least once. Many of these, although they may not have continued to use it, find it hypocritical that alcohol is legal and marijuana is not.
-David Wallechinsky
High Support for Medical Marijuana (ABC News)
Marijuana Use in Lifetime (Table 1.12B) (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
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