DENVER – Three-fourths of Americans say it’s inevitable that marijuana will be legal for recreational use across the nation, whether they support such policies or not, according to a public opinion poll released Wednesday that highlights shifting attitudes after the drug-war era and tough-on-crime legislation.
The Pew Research Center survey also shows increased support for ending mandatory minimum prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and doing away altogether with jail time for small amounts of marijuana.
The opinions come as public debate on these topics has led lawmakers around the nation to consider policy changes.
Since California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, at least 19 others and the District of Columbia have followed suit, including two, Colorado and Washington, that have approved recreational use. More than a dozen state legislatures considered legalization measures this year.
Meanwhile, critics and political leaders, liberal and conservative, have clamored for an end to harsh drug sentences, saying mandatory minimums have contributed to prison overcrowding, civil-rights violations and strained budgets. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has been pushing Congress to overhaul drug-sentencing policies.
The telephone survey found that 75 percent of respondents – including majorities of both supporters and opponents of legal marijuana – think that the sale and use of pot eventually will be legal nationwide.
It was the first time that question had been asked, but it reflects a gradual trend of acceptance.
The survey indicates that four years ago, 52 percent of respondents said they thought the use of marijuana should not be legal, while 41 percent said it should. The new poll shows a reversal with 54 percent in favor of legalization and 42 percent opposed. It marked a turning point in a gap that has been shrinking fairly steadily since 1969, the earliest data available, when 84 percent said pot should be illegal and only 12 percent thought otherwise.
“Pot just doesn’t seem as bad,” said Gregory Carlson, a 52-year-old landscaper from Denver who did not participate in the Pew survey.
“You don’t see anything about someone smoking a joint and then driving the wrong way into a school bus,” Carlson said. With a chuckle, he added Wednesday, “They just drive slower.”
The survey also highlighted a dramatic shift in attitudes on drug-conviction penalties.
The survey was about evenly divided in 2001 on whether it was good or bad for states to move away from mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. Today, poll respondents favored moving away from such policies by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, or 63 percent to 32 percent.
Respondents said by a margin greater than 3-to-1 that people who use small amounts of pot shouldn’t go to jail.
“Even people who don’t favor the legalization of marijuana think the possession of small amounts shouldn’t result in jail time,” said Carroll Doherty, Pew’s Director of Political Research.
The poll of 1,821 adults was conducted Feb. 14-23. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
