Four more states likely to legalize pot

[Geee]

The Hill:

Voters in four states appear likely to approve ballot measures that would legalize marijuana for recreational purposes, according to recent surveys, while voters are split on the question in a fifth state.

 

The polls, taken over the last few weeks, demonstrate a seismic shift in the politics of pot. Even a decades ago, voters rewarded politicians who promised to redouble the war on drugs. After November’s elections, nearly a quarter of Americans could live in states where marijuana consumption is legal.

 

But proponents and opponents alike say that polls taken before Election Day often overstate support for legal marijuana measures.

“If the pro-legalization side is not at 55 percent at this point, it will likely lose,” said Sean Noble, an Arizona-based Republican strategist working against that state’s legalization measure, Proposition 205. “We know that polling on legalization generally over performs actual results.”

 

California voters appear to be the most willing to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes. The Public Policy Institute of California and the Field Poll both show 60 percent of state voters support Proposition 64, while just 36 percent and 31 percent, respectively, oppose legalization.

 

California was the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes, back in 1996. Golden State voters rejected attempts to allow recreational use in 1972 and 2010. Today, majorities of voters in every region of the state and in every age and ethnic bracket support legalization.