While research on more marijuana quotes, I came across one on Marijuana Policy Project's "52 Reasons Why You Should Support Medical Marijuana Access" Ace of Club card that reads.
78% of Americans support "making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and suffering. " - Gallup poll 2005
So what is a Gallup Poll ? A Gallup poll is an opinion poll that is conducted by the Gallup Organization. It is used by media to judge public opinion and was named for its inventor George Gallup a statistician. From the 1930's to about the 1980's the poll were conducted by going door to door but since then, they've been conducted by randomly dialing numbers.
Over the last 30 or so years, the Gallup has conducted quite a few polls on drug use. We'll take a look at a few below.
All data from the tables below except the column called "Days passed from Original Poll" were taken from the page called Illegal Drugs on Gallup.com
Do you think the use of marijuana should be made legal, or not?
| Date Poll Conducted | Days passed from Original Poll | Yes, legal | No, illegal | No opinion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 Oct 2-7 | 0 | 12 | 84 | 4 |
| 1972 Mar 3-5 | 883 | 15 | 81 | 4 |
| 1973 Jan 26-29 | 1212 | 16 | 78 | 6 |
| 1977 Apr 1-4 | 2738 | 28 | 66 | 6 |
| 1979 May 18-21 | 3515 | 25 | 70 | 5 |
| 1980 Jun 27-30 | 3921 | 25 | 70 | 5 |
| 1985 May 17-20 | 5706 | 23 | 73 | 4 |
| 1995 Aug 28-30 | 9461 | 25 | 73 | 2 |
| 2000 Aug 29-Sep 5 ^ | 11289 | 31 | 64 | 5 |
| 2001 Aug 3-5 | 11628 | 34 | 62 | 4 |
| 2003 Nov 10-12 ^ | 12457 | 34 | 64 | 2 |
| 2005 Oct 13-16 | 13160 | 36 | 60 | 4 |
As you can see from the graph, people think that marijuana should remain illegal but that percentage has dropped from 84% in 1969 to 60% in 2005. While people who think marijuana be legal has risen from 12% to 36% in the same period. No Opinion has hovered between 4 - 6 % the whole time.
Do you think the possession of small amounts of marijuana should or should not be treated as a criminal offense?
| Date | Days passed from Original Poll | Yes, treated as a criminal offense | No, not treated as a criminal offense | No opinion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 Apr 1-4 | 0 | 41 | 53 | 6 |
| 1980 Jun 27-30 | 1183 | 43 | 52 | 5 |
| 1985 May 17-20 | 2968 | 50 | 46 | 4 |
| 2000 Aug 29-Sep 5 ^ | 8551 | 51 | 47 | 2 |
| 2003 Nov 10-12 ^ | 9719 | 52 | 6 | 1 |
| 2005 Oct 13-16 | 10422 | 43 | 55 | 2 |
From this graph you can see that opinion reverse itself twice in the last 30 years. Currently people don't think possession of small amount of marijuana should be criminal offense. How long will it last ? Who knows ?
The following table and graph is a combination of 2 different polls thats was asking basically the same thing. The questions were "Would you vote for or against making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and suffering?" taken in 1999 and "Would you favor or oppose making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and suffering?" taken in 2003 and 2005.
| Date | Favor or Vote For | Oppose or Vote Against | No opinion |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 Mar 19-21 | 73 | 25 | 2 |
| 2003 Nov 10-12 | 75 | 22 | 3 |
| 2005 Oct 13-16 | 78 | 22 | 0 |
This was a no contest. People overwhelmingly think that doctors should be able to legally prescribe marijuana to help reduce pain and suffering.
