Source: @norml @WeedConnection
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
media :: news - Tue, 20 May 2014 04:20:21 PST
Poll: Far More Americans Prefer Legalized Marijuana To Online Gambling
Teaneck, NJ: A far greater percentage of Americans support legalizing marijuana than endorse the notion of allowing adults to legally engage in online gambling, according to national polling data compiled by Fairleigh Dickinson University.
When asked to choose which of the two activities they "prefer to see legalized everywhere," 52 percent of respondents chose in favor of permitting adults to consume "small quantities of marijuana." Only 20 percent of respondents chose in favor of legalizing online gambling.
Eighteen percent of respondents said that "neither" activity should be legalized, while four percent of respondents agreed that both activities ought to be permitted.
Presently, three states - New Jersey, Delaware, and Nevada - permit online gambling. Twenty-one states and Washington, DC presently allow for the medical use of marijuana while two states, Colorado and Washington, allow for the plant's licensed production and distribution to all adults.
Americans age 18 to 29 (65 percent), Democrats (63 percent), and Independent voters (58 percent) were most likely to support legalizing marijuana, while those age 60 and older (36 percent) and Republicans (32 percent) were least supportive.
The Fairleigh Dickinson University poll possesses a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percent.
Study: Decriminalizing Marijuana Not Associated With Significant Long-Term Effects On Use Rates
Melbourne, Australia: Liberalizing the legal status of cannabis is not associated with significant long-term changes in the plant's use among the general population, according to data published in the Journal of Health Economics.
Researchers at the University of Melbourne in Australia and the Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research in Norway assessed the impact of statewide decriminalization measures on Australian's overall use of cannabis use and their age of cannabis initiation. (Since the late 1980s, several Australian states - including South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia - have enacted legislation replacing criminal penalties for minor marijuana offenses with fine-only sanctions.)
Authors reported that decriminalization was associated with a minor, short-term (within the first five-years) uptick in Australian's cannabis use, as well as a slight decrease in the age of marijuana initiation. However, investigators acknowledged that these changes appeared to be only temporary.
"After the policy has been in place for greater than five years however, we find no significant effect of decriminalization on initiation into cannabis use in either youth or the adult years," authors stated.
They concluded: "While we find no evidence of any long run effect, we do find that for the first five years following decriminalization, those who start using cannabis tend to do so at an earlier age than would otherwise have been the case. There is also a small net increase in the proportion of the population who ever use cannabis in the first five years after the introduction of decriminalization. ... [H]owever, ... our results suggest that the increase in cannabis uptake will not last beyond the first few years following its introduction."
Full text of the study, "Does liberalizing cannabis laws increase cannabis use?", is available from the Journal of Health Economics.
Connecticut: Majority Of Voters Support Legalizing Marijuana
Hamden, CT: Nine out of ten Connecticut voters support legalizing the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes, and a majority support allowing adults to possess the plant for any purpose, according to the results of a recent statewide Quinnipiac University poll.
Fifty-two percent of voters support allowing adults "to legally possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use." Forty-five percent of respondents opposed the idea.
Independents (61 percent), Democrats (52 percent), and men (54 percent) were most likely to endorse legalization, while women (49 percent) and Republicans (38 percent) were least supportive.
When asked whether patients ought to be able to access cannabis for medicinal purposes, public support rose to 90 percent. State lawmakers authorized physicians to recommend cannabis therapy in 2012. However, although some 2,000 Connecticut patients are now authorized to use medicinal cannabis, no state-licensed dispensaries are presently operational.
According to the poll, 47 percent of Connecticut voters - including 62 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 29 - acknowledge having tried marijuana.
By a margin of nearly 2 to 1, respondents said that alcohol is "more harmful to society" than cannabis.
The poll's findings are similar to those of several other recent statewide surveys, including those from Florida, Hawaii, and New York.
Commenting on the poll, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said, "The most remarkable thing about these results is that they are no longer remarkable."
The Quinnipiac survey possesses a margin of error of +/- 2.4 percentage points.
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