Angus Reid Poll: Three Quarters Of Americans Oppose Prison For Marijuana Offenses [View all]

[marmar]

from NORML:



Vancouver, Canada: Three out of four Americans favor the use of fines or probation in lieu of criminal sanctions for marijuana offenders, according to an Angus Reid Public opinion poll of 1,011 US adults.

According to the poll, 74 percent of respondents said that they favored the imposition of "alternative penalties" - such as fines, probation, or community service - rather than prison for those found to have violated marijuana possession laws. By contrast, only 41 percent of respondents favored such penalties for credit card fraud, and only one-third of those polled favored alternative sentencing for drunk driving offenders.

Among Canadian respondents, 78 percent prefer fines in lieu of prison for minor marijuana offenders. Among British respondents, 70 percent endorsed sentencing alternatives.

The margin of error is +/-2.2% for Great Britain, and +/-3.1% for Canada and the United States. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://norml.org/news/2012/05/03/angus-reid-poll-three-quarters-of-americans-oppose-prison-for-pot-offenses