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Friday, April 12, 2013

Poll finds 52% of Americans support marijuana legalization.


A Pew Research Poll, which found a majority of Americans now support the legalization of marijuana, received widespread coverage in the wires and dailies, but only twenty-five seconds of broadcast television reporting. A number of sources explore potential reasons behind the increase in support for legalization. A few outlets used the poll to segue into the "war on drugs" and the controversy surrounding whether the DOJ will uphold Federal statutes outlawing the drug.
        NBC Nightly News (4/4, story 9, 0:25, Williams, 7.86M) reported that "the latest Pew Research poll shows a huge sea change. Now 52% of those polled, over half of all Americans...think marijuana should be legalized. That's a first. It's up 11 points in just two years."
        On its "The Fix" blog, the Washington Post (4/5, Clement, 489K) reports that "the overall shift in support is driven by younger Americans who overwhelmingly support legalization, with nearly two-thirds of people born since 1980 (between ages 18 and 32) saying marijuana should be legal (65 percent). Baby Boomers and Generation Xers have become far more supportive than in the early 1990s, with at least half of each now supporting legalization."
        The Los Angeles Times (4/4, Lauter, 692K) reports that "two big shifts in opinion go along with the support for legalization and likely contribute to it. Most Americans no longer see marijuana as a 'gateway' to more dangerous drugs, and most no longer see its use as immoral."
        The Wall Street Journal (4/5, Carnevale, 2.29M) reports that, while marijuana is illegal in most states and under Federal law, a few states have decriminalized it for medical or personal use. Colorado and Washington state have legalized marijuana for recreational use.

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