Most in US against legalizing pot

[BABY1]

TweetMost Americans still oppose legalizing marijuana but larger majorities believe pot has medical benefits and the government should allow its use for that purpose, according to an Associated Press-CNBC poll released Tuesday.
Respondents were skeptical that crime would spike if marijuana is decriminalized or that it would lead more people to harder drugs like heroin or cocaine. There also was a nearly even split on whether government spends too much or the right amount enforcing marijuana laws. Almost no one thinks too little is spent.
Marijuana use — medically and recreationally — is getting more attention in the political arena. California voters will decide in November whether to legalize the drug, and South Dakota will vote this fall on whether to allow medical uses. California and 13 other states already permit such use.
The balloting comes against the backdrop of the Obama administration saying it won't target marijuana dispensaries if they comply with state laws, a departure from the policy of the Bush administration, which sought to more stringently enforce the federal ban on marijuana use for any purpose.
In the poll, only 33 percent favor legalization while 55 percent oppose it. People under 30 were the only age group favoring legalization (54 percent) and opposition increased with age, topping out at 73 percent of those 65 and older. Opposition also was prevalent among women, Republicans and those in rural and suburban areas.
Some opponents worried legalization would lead to reefer madness.
"I think it would be chaos if it was legalized," said Shirley Williams, a 75-year-old retired English teacher from Quincy, Ill. "People would get in trouble and use marijuana as an excuse."
Those like Jeff Boggs, 25, of Visalia, Calif., who support legalization said the dangers associated with the drug have been overstated.
"People are scared about things they don't know about," said Boggs, who is married and works for an auto damage appraisal company.
Americans are more accepting of medical marijuana. Sixty percent support the idea and 74 percent believe the drug has a real medical benefit for some people. Two-thirds of Democrats favor medical marijuana as do a slim majority of Republicans, 53 percent.
Peoples' views on legalizing marijuana or on allowing its use for medicinal purposes were largely uniform across different regions of the country, despite the fact that legal medical marijuana use is concentrated in the West.
Bill Hankins, 77, of Mason, Mich., opposes legalizing marijuana but strongly favors using the drug medicinally. Michigan is among the states that allow medical pot.
"It has been shown through tests to alleviate pain in certain medical conditions," said Hankins, who said he experimented with pot when he was younger. If Hankins fell gravely ill and "my doctor said I should have it to control the pain, I would use it," he said.
California was the first state to approve medical marijuana, in 1996, and has been the hub of the so-called "Green Rush" to legalize marijuana. But a patchwork of local laws in the state has created confusion about the law and lax oversight led to an explosion of medical marijuana dispensaries in some places.
In Los Angeles, the number of dispensaries exploded from four to upward of 1,000 in the past five years. Police believe some were nothing but fronts for drug dealers to sell marijuana to people who have no medical need, and the city recently adopted an ordinance to reduce that number to 70 in coming months.
Among those surveyed, 45 percent said the cost of enforcing existing laws is too high and 48 percent said it's about right. Democrats, men and young people were most apt to say the cost is exorbitant.
With state and local governments desperate for cash, some legalization proponents are pushing marijuana as a potential revenue stream. But only 14 percent of those surveyed who oppose legalization would change their mind if states were to tax the drug.

John Lovell, a spokesman with the California Narcotics Officers' Association, said he wasn't surprised by the poll results because people already are aware of widespread abuse of legal prescription drugs and alcohol.
"Given that reality, we don't need to add another mind-altering substance that compromises people's five senses," Lovell said.
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said that, since the organization was formed in 1970, there's been a slow but steady erosion of opposition to marijuana.
"Every single metric is pushing toward a zeitgeist in marijuana reform," he said.
Ann Broadus, 58, of Petros, Tenn., strongly opposes legalization and medicinal use, but even she sees the day when the laws will change.
"Probably somewhere down the road it will be legalized, but I hope not," she said. "I think if it becomes legal, these druggies would be worse off." The AP-CNBC Poll was conducted April 7-12, 2010, by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media. It involved interviews with 1,001 adults nationwide on landline and cellular telephones. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

[deepsouth]

TweetI don't care either way

[mtnmedic]

TweetI care, and for many reasons being an mmj patient myself. I dont think ANYBODY has the right to tell me what is of medical value to me, ask anyone who uses it legit. are they snorting coke or shooting heroin ? you gotta be kidding me !! but then again the're the ones WE voted in office to make all that big money and tell us dumb sheep what to do. thing is I can grow myown medicine and the government wants to make a buck off it, I dont have to buy "their" out the a$$ of a mark up medicine. my one med helps me with a variety of symptoms I have with HIV and I dont have to take anymore damn pills than I have to. saves us tax payers money not having to pay for indigent perscription plans, so if it does become so called legal this will mean only these government controlled places can make big bucks and the patient will go f'ing broke trying to buy the mmj at "their" prices,..like $120 to $160 for a quarter of an ounce ! think that would persuade the "druggies" to wanna grow illeagaly ? now just like cooking corn liquor, folks used that in medicine back in the day and made a lil on the side to get by some after the government made everybody poor. nobody ever got stinking rich off of it did they ? I mean really, legally I can have only six budding plants at a time, which takes me four months to grow, now c'mon it's by no means a bountyfull but enough to last me a lil while..another four months till I can get more grown. So this Ann Broadus says that "WE The People" us folks with Cancer, Aids, Epilepsy, etc and just down right terminally ill are "druggies" ???not all of us "druggies" can afford or wanna be dependant on all these expensive toxic and deadly pills,..if they dont then damnit we sould have the choice ! and not have that left for some silly broad in tennesse or anti God/American we have in the white house to decide for us.

[Doink the clown]

TweetNo need to be a doper when there's gear to be had.

[daved150]

Tweetwe passed it up here...i'm trying to look into getting a licence to supply it....the fukin redtape to find out what the red tape is, is rediculous!!!

[mtnmedic]

TweetMost of the doctors I've had turned me down on testosterone and medical marijuana, said it was against policy. Oh, maby off the subject but how is it that you get s#it canned for comming up dirty on a drug screen for marijuana but you can get freakin loaded on pills and nothing said ? I know people practicing medicine and others in professional fields who never had to have their piss analyzed ? yet you gotta be clean to flip burgers ?

[Dzone]

Tweet

I care, and for many reasons being an mmj patient myself. I dont think ANYBODY has the right to tell me what is of medical value to me, ask anyone who uses it legit. are they snorting coke or shooting heroin ? you gotta be kidding me !! but then again the're the ones WE voted in office to make all that big money and tell us dumb sheep what to do. thing is I can grow myown medicine and the government wants to make a buck off it, I dont have to buy "their" out the a$$ of a mark up medicine. my one med helps me with a variety of symptoms I have with HIV and I dont have to take anymore damn pills than I have to. saves us tax payers money not having to pay for indigent perscription plans, so if it does become so called legal this will mean only these government controlled places can make big bucks and the patient will go f'ing broke trying to buy the mmj at "their" prices,..like $120 to $160 for a quarter of an ounce ! think that would persuade the "druggies" to wanna grow illeagaly ? now just like cooking corn liquor, folks used that in medicine back in the day and made a lil on the side to get by some after the government made everybody poor. nobody ever got stinking rich off of it did they ? I mean really, legally I can have only six budding plants at a time, which takes me four months to grow, now c'mon it's by no means a bountyfull but enough to last me a lil while..another four months till I can get more grown. So this Ann Broadus says that "WE The People" us folks with Cancer, Aids, Epilepsy, etc and just down right terminally ill are "druggies" ???not all of us "druggies" can afford or wanna be dependant on all these expensive toxic and deadly pills,..if they dont then damnit we sould have the choice ! and not have that left for some silly broad in tennesse or anti God/American we have in the white house to decide for us.

Excellent post. Stories like yours need to be heard. I cant tell you how many MDs I know who have no problem prescribing years of percocet, demoral, etc etc to patients, turning them into total drug addicts but act like they are on a MORAL CRUSADE when the topic of MMJ comes up.

Nobody can stand in judgment of the person who has to live with chronic pain. Nobody.

[mtnmedic]

TweetThanks DZ, I hope I didn't go to far on that one as far as maby a grey area on verboten topic. I just have a strong point of view on what anybody thinks should be better for us.

[FUZO]

TweetI'm sick and tired the gov telling us what is good for us and what isnt.If medical pot is necessary for people who really need it the damnit they should get it. If we need HRT then damnit we should get it .But theres docs out there that are clueless about hrt. I used to be against medical pot but just recently I thought if there sick people or dying people that this pot will help them feel better then damnit let us use it and just the same with HRT for men and women

[6p6]

Tweetlegalize it for above 21, I still think its a negative thing for kids but jeez its been used medicinally for thousands of years. Plus who ever heard of someone high beating their wife? It doesn't happen.

[Dzone]

Tweet

legalize it for above 21, I still think its a negative thing for kids but jeez its been used medicinally for thousands of years. Plus who ever heard of someone high beating their wife? It doesn't happen.

Totally agree. If people switched from alcohol to marijuana, we would have a lot less violent crime.
Alcohol destroys lives, families and society and is glorified through advertising.
Some people think nothing of getting wasted on booze but act all self righteous about marijuana. I dont get it

[2-Swole]

TweetThought it was kind of interesting the other day I was reading that Romano used to do it before working out a smaller bodypart and was saying he had really great workouts

[TheChosen1]

TweetThe way I see it, if they legalize marijuana, then they might as well legalize certain gear, considering that it is used more in the medical field than weed is. And let's get back to reality for a minute, if weed is legalized then that will give something else for the government to tax just like cigarettes.....Or should I say OVER TAX? Oh yeah, I can see it now.

Prescribed marijuana: $5/pound
Tax of above item: $8-10/pound
Having to pay more med tax than the med itself: PATHETIC!

[daved150]

Tweet

The way I see it, if they legalize marijuana, then they might as well legalize certain gear, considering that it is used more in the medical field than weed is. And let's get back to reality for a minute, if weed is legalized then that will give something else for the government to tax just like cigarettes.....Or should I say OVER TAX? Oh yeah, I can see it now.

Prescribed marijuana: $5/pound
Tax of above item: $8-10/pound
Having to pay more med tax than the med itself: PATHETIC!

its legalized up here...its not taxed. it's not "prescribed" becouse you cant get it from a pharmacy...the doctor write a letter of recomadation and wiht that, the patiant has to send in a copy for a licence and designate a "care provider" (growwer) that they will be using...i'm trying to get my care providers licence now...but, regardless, it's not taxed

[Dzone]

TweetYes, you caN grow your own with a licence, up to six plants. That might be cheaper, but the govt will probably find a way to tax your plants.lol...around here they are selling it in brownies, lollipops, joints, even pot PIZZA! People can also use a vaporizor, which eliminates the smoke damage. There is a pot dispensary by my biz and its always packed. the funny thing is, 99% of the people I see going in there are classic pot head looking people. You know, huge ear saucers, face tattoos, biker clothes, etc.You never see anyone in conservative dress clothes going in there.