September 18, 2012

Marijuana Legalization Winning In Washington And Colorado Polls

September 18, 2012
marijuana prohibition

end prohibitionWashington And Colorado Voters Will Get The Chance To End Marijuana Prohibition In November

While we certainly can’t take victory for granted, recent polls have good news for marijuana legalization measures in both Colorado and Washington.  Historically, undecided voters tend to be more likely to vote “No” on ballot measures, so the fact that both measures are now polling above 50% is promising, but demonstrates the importance of these campaigns to keep educating the public about the benefits of ending cannabis prohibition.  Thus far, ads by these two campaigns have targeted key swing voting demographics and the polling results show that the campaigns’ tactics have been working.

Washington’s I-502 was recently polled by SurveyUSA, demonstrating a 57%-34% lead while an Elway poll showed a 50%-38% advantage for ending cannabis prohibition.  Colorado’s Amendment 64 was also polled by SurveyUSA, showing a 51%-40% advantage.

Carson City Daily Record on the recent Amendment 64 polling:

Across every income bracket and in every age group except those 65 and older, more voters told pollsters they support the measure than oppose it, though some of the leads fall within the 4-percentage-point margin of error. Voters younger than 35 support the measure by a margin of 30 percentage points, 61 percent to 31 percent, according to the poll.

The automated telephone poll was conducted Sept. 9-12 for The Post by New Jersey-based SurveyUSA. About 26 percent of those questioned were cellphone-only users, who were shown a questionnaire on their smartphone, tablet or other electronic device. Of voters included in the sample, 34 percent said they are Republicans, 34 percent said they are Democrats, and 30 percent identified as unaffiliated voters.

While several previous polls have found more support for Amendment 64 than opposition, the Post’s survey is the first independent poll to find more than 50 percent support.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer on the recent  I-502 Elway Poll results.  I-502 was polled along with other ballot measures, including one that would legalize same-sex marriage in the Evergreen State:

On the marijuana measure, Elway reported:  “Reversing a year-long trend of slow eroding, support for I-502 increased this month . . . The 12-point lead is up from a 2-point lead in July.  This is the first time support for the initiative has reached 50 percent.”

Both campaigns should be commended on running great campaigns thus far and pushing support over the magical 50% threshold.  A big caveat to these numbers is that California’s Proposition 19 also polled above 50% a few months before November, only to fail in garnering majority support at the polls in 2010.  However, with a presidential general election bringing out a larger number of voters, Colorado and Washington very well could be on their way to finally ending cannabis prohibition in their respective states, hopefully setting an example for the rest of the country to follow.

Published with special permission from the National Cannabis Coalition

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