Good Day World!
The fight to legalize marijuana goes on…
A new poll by the Field Research Corporation released yesterday shows that for the first time, a majority of California voters support the legalization of marijuana.
This is a notable change from 1969, when they first started measuring sentiments on marijuana, when only 13% favored its legalization.
The demonstrated failure of punitive drug policies to reduce use, potency and crime no doubt contributed to the turnaround, as did recent successful legalization efforts in Colorado, Washington and – just recently – Uruguay.
Only 31% of voters wanted strict enforcement of existing laws or tougher laws to be enacted. A poll about a proposed 2014 initiative received even higher support, at 56%.
“Marijuana laws ensure a dangerous illegal marketplace and destroy the lives of those convicted under them. And because police are allowed to keep assets seized in raids and federal grants reward drug arrests, they skew law enforcement priorities.
We’re not solving as many violent crimes now as we did before we started vigorously enforcing these laws. Californians are starting to recognize that and realize how much safer the trade would be if we were able to control and regulate it,” said Lieutenant Commander Diane Goldstein (Ret.) of the Redondo Beach Police Department and a board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of police, DEA officials, customs agents, prosecutors, judges and other law enforcement officials who, after fighting on the front lines of the war on drugs, now advocate for its end.
Time for me to walk on down the road…
No comments:
Post a Comment