Opposition to the legalization of marijuana in Texas has fallen to its lowest level ever, according to a new poll released by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune.
According to the poll, 83 =% of Texans support legalizing marijuana for some use; 53% of the respondents said they would go beyond medical marijuana to allow marijuana possession for any use, including recreational. In a poll conducted two years ago, 24% of Texans said no amount of marijuana should be legal for any use and another 34% said it should be legalized for medical use only.
According to the Tribune:
Legal pot is more popular with Democrats than Republicans, with men than with women, and with younger Texans more than older ones. All of those subgroups support legalization of marijuana for medical or nonmedical use. Among Democrats, 62 percent would legalize pot in some amount for nonmedical use, while only 41 percent of Republicans agreed. Sixty percent of men would support legalization of non-medical marijuana, compared with 48 percent of women. Among 18-44 year olds, 55 percent would approve of non-medical marijuana and 51 percent of 45 to 64-year-olds agreed. But only 38 percent of Texans 65 and older agreed.
So far 11 states and Washington DC have legalized marijuana for recreational use, while 28 states have legalized marijuana for medical use. According to NORML there are at least 25 pieces of marijuana-related legislation currently pending in various state legislatures across the country. A U.S. House bill recently introduced by California Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher, if passed, would stop the intrusion of federal law enforcement officers into the lives of business and citizens in states where marijuana is legal.
