Make dagga legal – US poll

Same-sex marriages also welcomed by most

THE majority of American voters support the legalisation of dagga, with men and younger voters holding more tolerant public views about use of the drug, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released yesterday.

Voters in Colorado and Washington approved recreational use of dagga last month, making them the first states in the country to do so even though use of the drug is still illegal under federal law.

“With the use of dagga for medicinal purposes legal in about 20 states, and Washington and Colorado voting this November and December to legalise the drug for recreational use, Amer- ican voters seem to have a more favourable opinion about this once-dreaded drug,” Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown said.

The public backed legalisation by 51% to 44%, the poll found, but was divided on the issue by age and gender.

Men support legalisation by 59% to 36% while women oppose it by 52% to 44%. Two-thirds of voters under the age of 29 support legalisation, while a majority of voters over the age of 65 oppose it.

“It seems likely, however, that given the better than 2-1 majority among younger voters, legalisation is just a matter of time,” Brown said. It was the first time Quinnipiac had conducted a survey on dagga use.

The Quinnipiac poll also found voters taking a more favourable view of same-sex marriage, supporting it by a narrow margin of 48% to 46%. In July 2008, voters in the poll were opposed to samesex marriage by 55% to 36%.

“It seems pretty clear that attitudes toward same-sex marriage in American society are changing rapidly. While the country remains split on the issue, supporters have come pretty far in the last four years,” Brown said.

Voters under the age of 29 supported same-sex marriage by 63% to 35%, Brown said, so “once again we see it’s just a matter of time”.

The national survey of 1 949 voters was conducted between November 28 and December 3 and has a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points. – Reuters