Free the Weed: Marijuana Legalization Favored in US, Canada

Phillip Smith
Stop The Drug War

A new Angus-Reid Public Opinion poll has majorities favoring marijuana legalization in both Canada and the US. According to the poll, 57% of Canadians and 54% of Americans are ready to free the weed.

In Canada, support for legalization was strongest in the Atlantic provinces (64%) and British Columbia (60%), while in something of a surprise, in the US, support was strongest in the Northeast (61%), followed by the West (56%). The US West has traditionally had the highest levels of support for legalization.

In both countries there was majority support for marijuana legalization in every region. The provinces or regions with the lowest level of support for legalization were Alberta (50%) in Canada, and the US Midwest (50%) and South (51%).

In Canada, men (64%) are more likely than women (50%) to call for the legalization of cannabis, while there is no wide gender gap in the United States (55% male, 53% female). The bulk of support for legal marijuana comes from respondents aged 18-to-34 in the United States (65%) and those aged 35-to-54 in Canada (61%).

Two-thirds (66%) of both Canadians and Americans believe marijuana will be legal within 10 years.

While two-thirds (65%) of Americans say their country has a serious drug abuse problem, only 43% of Canadians agree. Still, in both countries, two-thirds (68% in Canada and 66% in the US) describe the war on drugs as a failure.

While both Canadians and Americans agree that the drug war is a failure, they remain unwilling to contemplate the legalization of drugs other than marijuana. Support for legalizing cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, or methamphetamines didn’t rise above 11% for any of those drugs in either country.

The poll was an online survey of 1,005 Canadians and 1,002 Americans conducted November 19 and 20. The results were weighted to ensure a representative sample of the two country’s adult populations. The margin of error is +/- 3.1%.

Two US states, Colorado and Washington, voted to legalize marijuana in November. Legislators in at least four more plan to offer up legalization bills next year, while activists in Montana are working toward putting a legalization initiative on the 2014 ballot.

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