Poll: 62% of Californians Want Marijuana Legalized, Regulated Like Wine

More than six in ten Californians want marijuana legalized and regulated like wine.

So say the results of a recent statewide poll of 800 people conducted by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates, Inc. on behalf of the Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Act of 2012, a voter initiative on this November’s ballot. The survey found that 62% of Californians believe the plant should be regulated like wine.

Fully 80% of the survey respondents also agreed with the statement, ”State and federal drug laws are outdated and have failed, therefore, we need to take a new approach that makes sense for today.”

Likely voters also agree (by a margin of 71% to 24%) that state and local law enforcement agencies spend too much time, money and resources enforcing marijuana laws.

“There is no policy that is more discriminatory or wastes more tax dollars,” Steve Collett, treasurer for the group behind the poll, said of marijuana prohibition in a press release. “This initiative helps farmers, reduces prison overcrowding, relieves burdens on the courts, generates revenues for the state, and frees up police to work on real crimes.”

The Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Act of 2012 would:

• Repeal prohibition of marijuana for adults over 21 years old.
• Strictly regulates marijuana, just like the wine industry
• Allow hemp agriculture and products
• Provide specific personal possession exemptions
• Require dismissal of pending court cases
• Defend against all related litigation
• Prevent California from supporting federal enforcements that conflict with this law and requires the State to petition the Feds to remove marijuana from Schedule One
• Prohibit commercial advertising of non-medical marijuana
• Generate new revenue from sales taxes, while creating no new taxes

According to The Raw Story, support for legalization is growing nationwide, with an October 2011 Gallup Poll showing that half of Americans support an end to prohibition. Colorado and Washington are both expected to vote on legalization this November.

Proposition 19, a measure that would have ended prohibition was narrowly defeated in California in 2010.

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