A majority of the American public may now support legalization of cannibis:
In a poll of a nationally representative sample of 1,004 American adults by Angus Reid Public Opinion (pdf)
The legalization of marijuana, which has been discussed by lawmakers
in California and Washington State over the past few weeks, is
supported by 53 per cent of respondents...
Less than one-in-ten Americans would consent to the legalization of
other drugs, such as ecstasy, powder cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine
or 'crystal meth', and crack cocaine.
Two-thirds of respondents (68%) believe the "War on Drugs", the
efforts of the U.S. government to reduce the illegal drug trade, has
been a failure. Just eight per cent of Americans believe this policy
has been a success.
For the first time ever, as Nate Silver documented in a chart of all previous polls, the new poll has shown that not only a plurality, but a majority of Americans supports the legalization of marijuana. Previous polls from around a year ago had shown that only about 40% of the public supported legalization.
Of course this is only one poll, and the statement that there is majority support is within the margin of error -- but that more are in favor than against is not (again, cautioning that this is only one poll).
In November of this year, California, and potentially Washington State, will vote on full legalization.
In a poll last week of 500 adults in Washington state by SurveyUSA, 56% of respondents said legalizing marijuana is a good idea...
An April survey by the Field Poll found that 56% of California voters support legalizing pot and taxing its proceeds as a way of mitigating the state's financial crisis.
Wall Street Journal
And potentially even more important a result of this poll is that only 8% of Americans believe the War on Drugs has been a success. Given the extreme tilt of public opinion against this policy, when will politicians ever find the political will to do away with it? Can entrenched law-enforcement, prison and other conservative lobbying groups cotninue to wield complete veto power over changes to our drug policies and laws in the face of such negative attitutes on the part of the public?