Public support for legalization of marijuana reaches new high

The haze of disapproval is clearing as half of all Americans say they support the legalization of marijuana, according to a recent poll.

The poll, released by the Gallup organization on Monday, found that an unprecedented 50 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana while 46 percent are opposed.

Bill Downing, board chairman of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, said that this new poll, conducted by a prestigious institution, is fantastic.  MassCann is a non-profit public education organization whose mission is “to educate the public about all aspects of cannabis in order to realize a more moderate and reasonable policy regarding cannabis,” Downing said.

The Gallup Organization has been polling about legalization since 1969, according to a blog on The New York Times’ website. This most recent poll shows the highest level of support to date.

“I believe that one of the contributing factors is demographics,” Downing said in a phone interview. “The Reefer Madness generation, who is so deeply inculcated with government propaganda, is aging out of our population.”

According to the data, only 31 percent of those 65 or older support legalization.  Conversely, as high as 62 percent of Americans under age 30 support the legalization of marijuana.

Margaret Carroll, a freshman at Boston University’s School of Education, said she supports legalization even though she does not smoke.

“I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be, or why it should be illegal, because people get it anyway,” she said.

Andrew Channing, a freshman in the College of General Studies, said that while he does not smoke, illegalization is irrational.

“It just seems to me that legalization would be more of a benefit,” Channing said.  “Especially since the amount of people buying it, if they taxed it, would definitely bring more money to our country.”

When told the new statistic of approximately half of Americans support legalization, Channing was surprised it was not more.

“It’s a great thing that so many people are on the same level right now but even more would be better,” he said. “It needs to be a whole social movement to get this going.”

Jana Levin, a sophomore in College of Communication, said that many people besides just teenagers smoke marijuana.

“A lot of my friends’ parents smoke,” Levin said. “So why not make money for the economy, regulate the marijuana, make sure it’s safe and know where it’s coming from? Most importantly though, make money for the economy, because most people are going to do it anyway. “

MassCann is organizing and conducting a poll on the issue of legalization for residents of Mass., Downing said. The results should be released by the end of December.

“It’s going to have a nice long series of questions that should be able to whittle down exactly what it is that people support and what exactly people won’t support,” Downing said.

College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Julia Acheson said the controversy surrounding legalization is overblown.

“I don’t think it’s that big of a problem that if it were to be legalized everything would fall apart,” Acheson said. “I mean, I think it’s pretty much equivalent to alcohol.”