California Poll Shows Growing Support For Legalization

The scientific poll (download the PDF here) from Public Policy Polling shows a slight increase in support from other recent surveys like this one by The Field Poll (download the PDF) from July 9 showing voters 48% in opposition of Prop 19, with 44% in support.

In the latest poll, Public Policy Polling found 38% of California voters admit they've smoked marijuana. Interestingly, as pointed out by Stephen C. Webster at Raw Story, this means there are more pot consumers than opponents to Prop 19, and some supporters of the prop who don't smoke. The Public Policy Poll blog points out that 38% is the number of admitted pot smokers, so the percentage is probably higher. 66% of them said they smoked strictly for recreational purposes, 33% medicinal, and 23% a mixture of both.

African-Americans were the strongest supporters of the legalization effort 68:32 in support, with whites trailing 53:37 in support. Recently, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a group with some serious sway in the black community, joined the chorus of groups supporting Proposition 19.

Democratic supporters outweighed Republics by 62% to 37%. 55% of independents said they would support the initiative.

Other recent polls show majority support for legalization across the United States. An Angus Reid poll from July 22 shows 52% of Americans in favor of the legalization of Marijuana. Nearly two thirds, 65%, think the War on Drugs has failed (download the PDF).

A Rasmussen Reports poll from July 26 shows 43% of Americans in support of full legalization and 42% opposed.

Questions about Proposition 19? Click here to read "California’s Prop 19: A Word-for-Word Analysis" by NORML's "Radical" Russ Belville and "Why You Should Vote YES on PROPOSITION 19, the California "Control & Tax Cannabis" Initiative" by activist Marc Emery.