http://www.gallup.com/poll/165539/first-time-americans-favor-legalizing-marijuana.aspx


This only happened for gay marriage in 2011: http://www.gallup.com/poll/147662/first-time-majority-americans-favor-legal-gay-marriage.aspx

10/22/2013 4:59:53 PM

What's that peak/dip in 1977.5? And a weaker one in 2001.75 as well. And again in 2012.

Do those anomalies correspond to certain elections?

10/22/2013 9:10:21 PM

^oil crisis

10/22/2013 9:49:28 PM

I think marijuana legalization support will keep picking up speed, but political will to make the change will be a lagging indicator.

The gay marriage comparison I think works well on one level as a social issue rather than an economic issue (although banning less things tends to work out nice economically too) and in that sense people aren't as hung up on it as they used to be.

On the other hand I wonder if there is deeper polling, not just where do you stand on the issue, but how passionate are you about it. When you have an issue like gay marriage that taps into strong emotions of love and family, and rights relating to hospital visitation, inheritance, taxes, and all the rest, it produces some very dedicated political advocates.

I think marijuana support is widening, but is it deep? I don't know the answer to that, but at least on the anecdotal level, some of my friends who count this as one of their main issues also opt out of political participation and voting for the most part.

How does gallup's polling compare to other polling? They weren't so quick to pick up on things in the last election cycle, and on the majority support for gay marriage thing they only got there after other polls had been showing it for a year.

10/23/2013 1:22:41 AM