Why are most Americans against legalization?

[skipos]

What are people afraid of? Prohibition didn't stop drinking. Can anyone honestly say that marijuana use ruins more lives than alcohol? Wtf?

If you have evidence that indicates otherwise, please post it. A quick google got me this.

March 19, 2009 6:30 PM
Poll: Americans Oppose Legalizing Marijuana, Lowering Drinking Age
Posted by Brian Montopoli

(CBS)
A majority of Americans oppose legalizing marijuana and lowering the drinking age even if it would mean economic benefits for cash-strapped state and local governments, a new CBS News survey finds.

Fifty-eight percent of Americans say marijuana should be illegal, even after being presented with the idea that the drug could be taxed. Thirty-one percent say it should be legal, while another seven percent say it should be legal if it is taxed and the money goes to projects.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/03/19/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4877495.shtml

08/23/2001 - Updated 04:00 PM ET
Marijuana support at 30-year high
By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY

Support for legalizing marijuana is at its highest level in at least 30 years, according to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll.

The poll found that 34% favored legalizing marijuana use while 62% were opposed, the most support for legalization since pollsters began asking the question in 1969.

Support for legalization had been constant at about 25% for 20 years before the USA TODAY poll recorded a rise to 31% in August 2000 and 34% earlier this month.

[slackmaster]

1. Propaganda from the 1930s through present

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZdhcNegZgU

[MedleyMisty]

2. Why do people believe the propaganda?

[slackmaster]

3. You know how dumb the average person is, right?

Half of them are dumber than that.

[MedleyMisty]

10. Actually I'm having a hard time understanding that

and have been raked over the coals lately for assuming that people are intelligent and capable of independent thought. Which I'm not denying that I should be raked over the coals for that when it's obviously a wrong belief.

So I'm trying to change that belief.

[rurallib]

8. Because it is pounded in and repeated by people in authority

We also have a concept in this country that if something is in the media it has been somehow fact checked for truthfulness. Ergo if a story is on TV (even FUX) it is true.
So not only does anti-drug propaganda get an imprimatur of truthfulness, so do lies as outrageous as Obama being a Muslim or being a terrorist.
Remember Marshall Mcluhan and his very insightful short statement "The medium IS the message."

[MedleyMisty]

12. Thank you!!!!

I need to see if I can get a copy of his book, which I think is actually named "The Media is the Massage" because he wanted to keep the typo.

This is the sort of explanation I was looking for. I somehow missed out on all these concepts that we have as a country growing up. Which is weird, because I grew up in a small rural Southern town listening to country music and watching NASCAR. So according to people on here, I should be full of these concepts. But I don't remember anyone ever telling me that everything in the media was true. I have been judging other people by my experiences and concepts when apparently I am in a very small minority in all sorts of ways.

Thank you for explaining without insulting me.

[rurallib]

15. It is so subtle and pervasive that hardly anyone recognizes it.

Even when the concept is presented to people most don't believe it. I get a kick out of people who spout FUX news talking points and then claim to 'think for myself.'
What is amazing is the alignment that media has with the powers that be. All to maximize profit.

[eShirl]

14. why do people believe any propaganda?

because it's designed to manipulate peoples' opinions

[Captain Hilts]

9. Gene Krupa fan here!

[NC_Nurse]

4. Because people don't think past all of the propaganda they've been fed all of

their lives. Period.

Drugs are bad, MMMkay?

[liberalitch]

5. Like Socialism and Unions,.... they oppose it,...

.... Because they are told they should.

[No.23]

6. Maybe they are afraid of this?

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/b14ba2f6fa/marijuana-the-commercial-from-the_super_secret_project

[Captain Hilts]

7. they don't understand it would still be illegal to sell to kids and to drive under the influence. nt

[tridim]

11. What's a "CBS News survey"?

Is that a scientific poll? I ask because most stats I've seen are drawn from old polls. It would be nice if someone did a new poll with a large sample. I'd like to see a state by state poll as well since it doesn't really matter if Oklahomans or Texans are afraid of Cannabis. It's not their issue.

That said, there are still lots of older people who believe refer madness is 100% true. Nothing is going to change that except time.

[wuushew]

13. We have to be reaching the demographic tipping point eventually

http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/

I mean how many 18 years old believed Reefer Madness in 1969? That was 40 years ago!

[MadBadger]

19. Yes, its a scientific poll.

[tridim]

22. Yea, I just read the fine print.. Telephone poll of 1142 adults.

That sample size is way too small and probably influenced by the fact that they're asking a question about a currently illegal activity. Wonder what states they called?

[MadBadger]

23. The Poll isnt too small. That was the norm for a lot of the national polls during the election

And they dont pick on certain states, the calling is random.

[tridim]

24. Did they poll as many people in Colorado as they did in Kansas?

Who knows?

How about ages? Did they poll an equal number of 20 year olds and 80 year olds? Or did they poll more 80 year olds?

Again, who knows?

Point is these polls are easily skewed to get the desired result.

I'd like to see a poll of 10,000 people in each state, broken down by age, religious beliefs and political affiliation. That data would actually be useful.

[leftofthedial]

16. four generations of ceaseless brainwashing and propaganda

has an effect...

[Fovea]

17. Look at the current CNN poll

I have a question.

How about, why is it, despite the fact that an overwhelming majority favors legalization, so many people still think it is
not favored?

[MadBadger]

20. delete

[ensho]

18. 'most people against it' is a lie. last night CNN put up all these totally

ridiculous stats. they were so trumped up I was laughing.

the neo cons/Barons are afraid of hemp not maryjane.

[GReedDiamond]

21. Yet on the other hand, on November 4th, 2008...

"...Michigan's medical marijuana law, Proposal 1, received a resounding 63% of the vote and majority support in each of Michigan's 83 counties. The new law went into effect on December 4, 2008."
(http://www.mpp.org/states/michigan/)

And then there's California, way back in 1996:
Proposition 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, was a proposition in the state of California on the November 5, 1996 ballot. It passed with 5,382,915 (55.6%) votes in favor and 4,301,960 (44.4%) against.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_215_(1996)

I count 13 states that have decriminalized on the map at this link (http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4516);
and 14 with provisions on the books for medical use, most by the vote of the people with winning percentages that ranged from 54% (Colorado) to 65% (Nevada) (http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3391).

I can't believe, after over the forty years plus since many, myself included, have advocated for legalization, that this issue is still considered "controversial" and "political suicide" for career politicians. Sad. Obama is wrong to dismiss the marijuana issue in the cavalier manner that he did the other day. Again, this is not the "change" we were looking for.

[Politicalboi]

25. They need to see the

Tax results of legalizing it. If they could get free medical due to the taxes on pot, I think more people would change their mind. People believe the lies they were told about pot. And they claim pot is more powerful now than when they smoked it, which is a total lie too. All these fancy names they give it today does not compare to bud of the 70's and 80's.

[tomreedtoon]

26. Here's why I'm not thrilled by legalization.

I smoked the stuff briefly after college. I didn't like the way the THC hung around in my system for about a week afterward and affected my reaction time, concentration and general energy. It also got me into smoking cigarettes, and it was murder quitting that.

I'm not going to protest against it, and I think the current penalties are too Draconian, but the idea of having slow-thinking, absent-minded and paranoid people due to marijuana is not a good thing.

[wuushew]

28. logical fallacy

Smith, who is from England, decides to attend graduate school at Ohio State University. He has never been to the US before. The day after he arrives, he is walking back from an orientation session and sees two white (albino) squirrels chasing each other around a tree. In his next letter home, he tells his family that American squirrels are white.

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/



also

[tomreedtoon]

29. Hey, I'm relating personal experience, fellow.

I'm not observing squirrels. I WAS a squirrel when I used to smoke pot. I decided to become a human being.

And I did attempt to talk to people who were dopers. They didn't have much to say. That doesn't mean I want them executed, but I found them very tedious to attempt to drag into conversations. Your mileage may vary, but that'd be your mileage, not mine.

[cbc5g]

32. You make it seem like it's unavailable right now because of prohibition

More teens can get pot easier than they can get cigarettes. It got you into smoking cigarettes? Marijuana helped me quit cigarettes.

[killbotfactory]

27. Neither the majority, nor the government, should be allowed to restrict personal activities

Not unless those activities have been proven to cause harm to others.

We shouldn't base our laws restricting personal behavior on the whims of whoever is in congress, or the vague, uniformed feelings of the majority.

[aikoaiko]

30. Give it time.

[Ezlivin]

31. Because it penalizes "others"

Americans are afraid of "others", those who are not exactly like them.

They're afraid of immigrants, blacks, gays, environmentalists and atheists.

Civil liberties are first removed from the "others" and that suits most Americans just fine.

[Echo In Light]

33. Establishment "polls" exist to see how well Establishment propaganda has 'taken' in the public mind