According to a new poll, a slight majority of Americans now favor legalizing marijuana. The Zogby poll, commissioned by the conservative O’Leary Report, reveals that nearly 52% favor a marijuana tax-and-regulate scheme; just more than 37% said they oppose legalization and 11% said they weren’t sure.
Pollsters asked whether legalization makes sense in an environment of scarce “law enforcement and prison resources, a desire to neutralize drug cartels and the need for new sources of revenue.” The vast majority of political liberals said they would support legalization (79%), while 58% of moderates and 25% of conservatives said they would favor the new approach.
Meanwhile, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week said that the time has come to debate legalization. It might not be time to actually do it, “but I think it’s time for a debate,” he said. “I think all of those ideas of creating extra revenues, I’m always for an open debate on it.”
He’s not the only one. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox is again calling for a debate on legalizing drugs, a week after Mexican lawmakers passed legislation that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot. Whether President Felipe Calderón will sign it into law remains to be seen. Ironically, Fox vetoed a similar measure in 2006, reportedly after he was pressured by members of the U.S. State Department who warned the law could promote drug tourism. Now, though, Fox has changed his tune. “I believe its time to open the debate over legalizing drugs,” Fox told CNN on Wednesday. “It can’t be that the only way [to control drugs] is for the state to use force.”
This article appears in May 15 • 2009.