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Source: @norml @WeedConnection
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
media :: news
- Tue, 22 Jul 2014 04:20:21 PST

Poll: Six Out Of Ten Americans Support Retail Marijuana Sales In Colorado

Denver, CO: More than six out of ten Americans - including majorities of self-identified Democrats, Independents, and Republicans - support the regulation and retail sale of marijuana in Colorado, according to the findings of a nationwide HuffPost.com/YouGov poll released on Tuesday.

Colorado voters in 2012 approved a statewide initiative legalizing the personal consumption and cultivation of the plant. The measure also allows for the state-licensed commercial production and retail sales of cannabis to those over the age of 21. Commercial cannabis sales began on January 1st of this year. To date, these sales have generated nearly $11 million in tax revenue.

Sixty-one percent of Americans - including 68 percent of Democrats, 60 percent of Independents, and 52 percent of Republicans - say they "support" Colorado's efforts to regulate the commercial cannabis market. Only 27 percent of respondents oppose the Colorado law.

Respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 (65 percent) as well as those age 65 and older (64 percent) were most likely to support Colorado's efforts, while those between the ages of 45 to 65 (55 percent) were less likely to do so.

The results of a separate poll of Colorado voters commissioned by Quinnipiac University in April similarly reported that the majority of Coloradoans support the state's efforts to regulate marijuana sales and consumption.

Similarly licensed commercial retail sales of cannabis began last week in Washington state.

In response to a separate HuffPost/YouGov poll question, 54 percent of those surveyed said that the US government should not enforce federal anti-marijuana laws in states that have legalized and regulated the plant. Only 29 percent of respondents endorsed the notion of enforcing federal prohibition in states that are pursuing alternative regulatory schemes.

"Every day in America, hundreds of thousands of people engage in transactions involving the recreational use of marijuana, but only in two states - Colorado and Washington - do these transactions take place in a safe, above-ground, state-licensed facility where consumers must show proof of age, the product sold is of known quality, and the sales are taxed in a manner to help fund necessary state and local services," NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. "Not surprisingly, most Americans prefer to have cannabis regulated in this sort of legal setting as opposed to an environment where the plant's production and sale is entirely unregulated and those who consume it are stigmatized and classified as criminals."


Poll: Majority Of Millennials Oppose Federal Prohibition Of Marijuana

Los Angeles, CA: The majority of Americans age 18 to 29 oppose the federal prohibition of marijuana, according to national polling data compiled by the Reason Foundation.

Fifty-seven percent of those polled said that the US government should "allow" for adults to use marijuana. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said that marijuana use should remain prohibited.

Millennials also strongly oppose incarcerating adults for marijuana-related offenses. Of those polled, only 14 percent said that someone who consumes marijuana should go to jail.

The poll possesses a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percent.

The survey's findings are similar to those of a 2013 nationwide Gallup public opinion survey which reported that 58 percent of Americans age 18 or older believe that cannabis ought to be "made legal" for adult consumption. Several recent state-specific polls have reported similar levels of support for legalizing marijuana.


Arizona: Health Department Expands State's Medical Cannabis Program To Include Post-Traumatic Stress

Phoenix, AZ: State health officials have agreed to changes in the state's medical cannabis law to permit patients with post-traumatic stress to be eligible to use cannabis therapy.

Regulators agreed late last week to expand the state's list of qualifying conditions to include the physician-recommended use of cannabis for the palliative care of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Doctors will be legally able to authorize the therapy to qualified patients starting on January 1, 2015.

The decision marks the first time that state health officials have expanded the list of eligible conditions since Arizona voters legalized the physician-authorized use of cannabis in 2010.

Arizona is one of a growing number of states - including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, and Oregon - that explicitly allows for the use of cannabis to treat symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

Clinical trial data published in recent weeks reports that the administration of the synthetic cannabinoids nabilone and absorbable THC are both associated with significant improvement in the treatment of post-traumatic stress symptoms.

In 2013, researchers at the New York University School of Medicine published findings indicating that subjects with post-traumatic stress experience a decrease in their natural production of anandamide, an endogenous cannabinoid neurotransmitter. They hypothesized that an increase in the body's production of cannabinoids would likely restore subjects' natural brain chemistry and psychological balance. "[Our] findings substantiate, at least in part, emerging evidence that ... plant-derived cannabinoids such as marijuana may possess some benefits in individuals with PTSD by helping relieve haunting nightmares and other symptoms of PTSD," they concluded.


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