cannabisnews.com: American's High on Marijuana: Poll





American's High on Marijuana: Poll
Posted by CN Staff on October 28, 2002 at 08:13:39 PT
By Neil Graves
Source: New York Post 
America's conservative attitude toward marijuana is going up in smoke, according to a new survey. The Time/CNN poll revealed that 72 percent of Americans now feel that people arrested with small amounts of marijuana should not do any jail time, while just 19 percent favored sending pot smokers up the river.
Nearly 60 percent of Americans still want marijuana possession to be considered a criminal offense - but 34 percent now favor complete legalization. A survey in 1986 found that 78 percent opposed legalization, while only 18 percent supported it. The new poll also offered good news to activists and lawmakers who are calling for the legalization of medical marijuana: 80 percent of those surveyed said they favored dispensing pot for medicinal purposes. The 19 states that either allow medical marijuana or have reduced sentences to virtually nothing have been riding a wave of increasing pot use throughout the general public, the survey showed. Forty-seven percent of those polled in those states said they smoked pot at least once. The issue of decriminalizing marijuana is on the front burner in several states where initiatives are on ballots next week. Source: New York Post (NY)Author: Neil GravesPublished: October 28, 2002Copyright: 2002 N.Y.P. Holdings, Inc.Contact: letters nypost.comWebsite: http://www.nypost.com/Related Articles:Is Pot Good For You? http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14575.shtmlThe New Politics of Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14574.shtmlMedical Marijuana: A History http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14573.shtml 
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on October 29, 2002 at 08:33:26 PT
Current Poll Results
Should Marijuana Be Legalized?Yes -- 87.1%Yes, but only medically -- 3.2%No -- 9.7%Current Number of Votes -- 39,704Please Vote: http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101021104/
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Comment #16 posted by The C-I-R-C-L-E on October 29, 2002 at 01:14:04 PT
Well...maybe, except...
It is only fair to apply the same standards to our numbers, too. So if we're going to downgrade them by counting not just "those who voted but ALL who are eligible to vote" then we can't stand behind the 34% either.Our 34% is only representative of those who were eligible AND voted (being a random sampling) and we can't extrapolate beyond that unfortunately. We're mostly stuck at the 34 to 48% comparison, which isn't that bad....
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Comment #15 posted by firedog on October 29, 2002 at 00:59:00 PT
Bush vote
True, Bush got 47.87% (more or less) of the popular vote in 2000. If you only count those who voted.But only half the voting age population cast votes. So the percentage of eligible voters who actually voted for Bush is 24.5%.If you throw in the rest of the US population, the number drops to something like 17%.Our 34%, if that is the true figure (I'm guessing it's low) is much better!
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on October 28, 2002 at 21:10:44 PT
The C-I-R-C-L-E 
I would have answered but I didn't know. I have this mental block and many things might come into my head but they exit quickly. It makes it easier for me to live in my own little la la land. LOL!
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Comment #13 posted by The C-I-R-C-L-E on October 28, 2002 at 21:03:58 PT
All right all right, I'll get it myself...
Of course it was easyBut I was way off. Bush got 47.87% of the popular vote in 2000.
http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2000/prespop.htm
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Comment #12 posted by The C-I-R-C-L-E on October 28, 2002 at 20:03:09 PT
Ummm, I mean 2000
So much for proofreading...
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Comment #11 posted by The C-I-R-C-L-E on October 28, 2002 at 20:01:40 PT
Time poll versus "random" sampling polls
The main difference between the 34% figures routinely quoted and the 80-some% figures seen in this poll is that a "random" sampling (which got the 34% numbers) doesn't allow the numbers to be swayed by word-of-mouth votes. We can pack the Time polls with sympathetic votes as we spread the word within the community to vote online. That, of course, couldn't happen with a random phone call system. Our local paper ran an online poll last week: Should marijuana be legalized for general use? Plenty of nonlocals suddenly flooded the polls and all the potsmokers jumped in, while most of the general public didn't care enough to go online and vote. The results were printed in our paper today: 63% Yes / 35% No.What I REALLY want to know is what the percentage was that voted for Bush in 2002. Wasn't it in the 30-something percent? I'm sure one of you infophiles has that number, yes? It would be the ideal number to counter the perception that ONLY 34% want cannabis legal. "Well, ONLY (x)% voted for Ayatollah Bush..."
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on October 28, 2002 at 19:42:10 PT
Current Results
 Should Marijuana Be Legalized? Yes -- 86.4% Yes, but only medically -- 3.3% No -- 10.3%Current Number of Votes -- 32,241Please Vote: http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101021104/
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Comment #9 posted by Floyd on October 28, 2002 at 19:31:51 PT:
Wow
Wow, I cant believe how well the time poll is doing!
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on October 28, 2002 at 16:28:31 PT
Current Results
Should Marijuana Be Legalized? Yes - - 85.9% Yes, but only medically -- 3.3% No -- 11.1%Current Vote Number -- 28, 366Please Vote: http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101021104/
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Comment #7 posted by Nasarius on October 28, 2002 at 16:22:53 PT
Bad link...
Try this:
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101021104/And look at the "Quick Vote" box.
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Comment #6 posted by Nasarius on October 28, 2002 at 16:22:14 PT
Whoa!
Check out the poll at Time.com:http://www.time.com/gdml.dynEither there's been some major ballot-stuffing going on, or this is a very good thing :-)
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Comment #5 posted by BGreen on October 28, 2002 at 14:02:29 PT
I was just talking possession and not sales
that's the difference between our numbers, VitaminT.
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Comment #4 posted by VitaminT on October 28, 2002 at 09:55:52 PT
Woops! Looks like the actual number is even worse!
2001          723,627 
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Comment #3 posted by BGreen on October 28, 2002 at 09:12:32 PT
Get these numbers to the voters!!!!
641,108 arrests for POSSESSION! This is insane!Thanks PonziScheme for the post.
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Comment #2 posted by PonziScheme on October 28, 2002 at 09:07:39 PT
2001 Pot Arrest Figures finally released
Special Release - Marijuana Arrests For Year 2001 Second Highest Ever Despite Feds' War On Terror, FBI Report Reveals
October 28, 2002 - Washington, DC, USAWashington, DC:  Police arrested an estimated 723,627 persons for marijuana violations in 2001, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, released today. The total is the second highest ever recorded by the FBI, and comprises nearly half of all drug arrests in the United States."These numbers belie the myth that police do not target and arrest minor marijuana offenders," said Keith Stroup, Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).  "In fact, the war on drugs is largely a war on pot smokers.  This effort is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources that should be dedicated toward combating serious and violent crime, including the war on terrorism."Of those charged with marijuana violations, 88.6 percent - some 641,108 Americans - were charged with possession only. The remaining 82,518 individuals were charged with "sale/manufacture," a category that includes all cultivation offenses - even those where the marijuana was being grown for personal or medical use.The total number of marijuana arrests far exceeds the total number of arrests for all violent crimes combined, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.Since 1992, approximately six million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges, a greater number than the entire populations of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming combined.  Annual marijuana arrests have nearly doubled in that time."It's time we stopped arresting adults who use marijuana responsibly," says Stroup.YEAR                       MARIJUANA ARRESTS2001                    723,627
2000                    734,498
1999                    704,812
1998                    682,885
1997                    695,200
1996                    641,642
1995                    588,963
1994                    499,122
1993                    380,689
1992                    342,314For more information, please contact Keith Stroup or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500.  NORML "Talking Points" on marijuana arrest and incarceration rates are available online.
http://www.norml.org
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on October 28, 2002 at 08:22:50 PT:
Is Anyone Listening?
The people seem to get it. When will the politicians in our kakistocracy? (Sorry, but that term means government by the worst possible people.)
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