A new poll has illustrated what many of us already know: about half of Arizonans support marijuana legalization.

Nearly 800 voters took the survey conducted by the Arizona Republic that found 50 percent of registered voters support legalization while 40 percent oppose it and 10 percent still aren’t sure.

This opinion closely reflects national polls conducted by the Pew Research Center that indicate 53 percent of Americans agree with legalization and 44 percent oppose it while fewer are undecided.

The breakdown looks a little different among political affiliations. Democrats are the largest proponents of legalization at 64 percent, but only 44 percent of Republicans and 53 percent of Independents are supportive.

This is another case of Republicans departing from the party’s traditional ideologies as it transitions to an authoritarian platform helmed by their presidential nominee.

In this situation, Republicans are forgoing the party’s reasonable political stance of less government regulation in favor of outdated social policies that dictate what others are allowed to do with their private lives, much like the push to ban abortions and prohibit gay marriage.

This issue not only highlights the difference in political ideologies but generational ones too. A Pew poll found that 68 percent of millennials (people under 34 years old) support legalization. Gen Xers and baby boomers are closer to the national average with 52 and 50 percent, respectively, supporting legalization. Only 29 percent of the Silent generation support legalization.

This trend even holds for Republican millennials, of which 63 percent support legalization compared to 47 percent of Gen Xers, 38 percent of Boomers and 17 percent of the Silent Generation born between the 1920s and 1940s.

Of course, the numbers are much higher for Democrats of each generation. Democratic millennials are again the largest support base, with 77 percent supporting legalization compared to 61 percent of Gen Xers, 66 percent of boomers and 44 percent of the Silent Generation.

More Republican millennials support legalization than democratic Gen Xers.

Millennials and Gen Xers across party lines seem to be more in agreement than Boomers and the Silent Generation as well, with a 14 percent difference between Republicans and Democrats for the two younger generations and 28 and 27 percent differences for the two older generations.

This national trend represents the inevitability of marijuana prohibition coming to an end.

Perhaps it’s that younger generations didn’t grow up under the indoctrination of Reefer Madness. Perhaps it’s that our collective culture is coming to understand that marijuana isn’t as harmful as we’ve been led to believe, as it becomes more pervasive throughout the country.

The growing approval of legalization is dominated by marijuana’s medical benefits and the conclusion that it’s relatively harmless, according to the Pew poll. Other reasons include tax revenue and other regulation benefits, worries over current enforcement and individual liberty.

Reasons against legalization are less substantial.

The most common reason cited for keeping it illegal was that it’s bad for society, which is the opinion of 43 percent of those polled. Others said that it’s dangerous and addictive (30 percent of opposed), needs to be policed (19 percent), is a gateway drug (11 percent), is bad for young people (8 percent) and that medical is okay, but recreational is not (7 percent).

Findings also show that marijuana is less addictive than alcohol and nicotine. The lifetime risk of dependence for marijuana is 9 percent, with alcohol at 15 percent and nicotine at 32 percent, according to a Mayo Clinic study.

A study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse arrived at the same conclusion for marijuana users developing a lifetime dependence.

It’s worth noting, however, that the study found that the risk of lifetime dependence does increase for first-time users under the age of 20. Current legislation takes this point into account, setting the legal age for marijuana consumption at 21, showing that even proponents of legalization are aware of the risk to youth.

As far as the danger to society, the Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy have spoken at length about how marijuana affects work performance, particularly employee absenteeism.

However, new data has found evidence to the contrary. Workers in states that legalized medical marijuana call out of work 8 percent less than before, according to a study conducted by University of Wisconsin Ph.D. candidate Darin Ullman, who pulled data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. States with a greater number of qualifying conditions for medical use saw a 13 percent decrease in absenteeism.

While the study lacks a causal link between medical marijuana use and decreased absenteeism, it’s another drop in the bucket of compelling evidence for legalization.

This article appears in Sep 15-21, 2016.

9 replies on “Youth Pot”

  1. I am in favor of legalization. I am not in favor of the current ballot initiative here in Arizona. I may or may not vote for it.

    The decision comes down to voting for something seriously flawed, just to get it done, or waiting to put something better on the ballot in the future.

    I understand the medical growers and dispensaries wanting to protect their investment, but this initiative gives a semi-monopoly to them, to the detriment of anybody else trying to enter the market.

    I much prefer Colorado’s approach, but with the money behind the current group of lobbyists, it will never happen again.

  2. I dont see a lot of opposition to legalization. I do however see the reasoning on both sides.

    I really dont want to spend $600.00 to get another 2 years for the right to legally buy possess consume marijuana. However 205 is definitionally one in the hand two in the bush. In Arizona most bushes are thin and scraggly and should be easy to see through. There are no 2 birds first off just a chance to catch a bush.

    After years of watching and experiencing Arizona marijuana culture since the mid 60’s. It has been like running down a dark mine shaft hoping to find a teaspoon of water sip a bit of moss to chew on ones journey. Alas a beam of light breaks the darkness it illuminates a feasting area where some come to congregate and build an extended family. After so many years of blindly foraging through this abyss of exasperating endeavor of survival.

    We have come into light building a community and having a look at each other for the first time. Years of wandering through the darkness one looks upon another man says you looked fucked up dude, you need some medical attention. What happened, gazing the other says yea thats what I want to know to dude what the fuck happened to missing so many parts and some completely blind to bless them. What is the light called it called AZDHS/MMJ a law passed to help us all come into the light some want to say the light is theirs and control it . In a completely dumbfounded way the crowd grasps REALLY !

    Yes holysmokes says if I have all the light more will be for everyone and it will be protected from those still foraging. Holysmokes replies I have better and more light, more water & moss to drink and chew. All you have to do is get all your water and moss from me and I will protect you and the children. HAS THIS STORY NOT BEEN TOLD IN EVERY CULTURE AROUND THE GLOBE SINCE RECORDED TIME AND ALWAYS ENDED THE SAME WAY?

    Here is a study just released by Rutgers & Univ of Pitt. a peer review of long term effect of marijuana on youth. To summarize there was no long term effect longterm from it’s use.
    http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/adb-adb0000103.pdf

    This just blows props 205 justification out the freaking door building a new police dept and administrative system to protect youth. Just the damage this proposition to the lower income families will be devastating alone far more than any use would ever would have.

    I remember hunting trips I went on as a child and some of the adults got their kids drunk and laughed as the slipped into enzyme bile wonderland. I also remember a child slipped slightly into the campfire my father in all his fantastic reasoning walked over the the father and extended a very comforting to all around. A 5 finger sedative to the father on the forehead. We all still went hunting together they still drank nightly. Then as a kid we snuck the alcohol quickly I found I dont like it at all. My father drank a lot, found out I didn’t like still dont, It hurt him in a way to not have that bond I guess. I wonder what bond and better relationship I would of had less alcohol more marijuana. Prop 205 would felonize that severely limits father’s income tell me wheres the harm to the child.

    VOTE NO ON PROP 205>>>>>>> VOTE NO ON PROP 205

  3. Will you pay a tax and a police society so that a administrative group will administer everyone’s equal fair needs. In this case we are really talking about a noxious wild grown weed. It is not that it is rare hard to obtain degrades quickly the primary reason you cant have it well. The Pharo needs more stones quarried pulled leveraged into place to be close to the gods duh.

  4. No on 205. It eliminates any level for THC in auto related fatalities, which by the way have increased again, because of THC levels in the blood.

    Employers will be stuck with potheads as they can not use the abuse of drugs as a reason for termination. How well do you know that Uber driver, or even that heart surgeon? No drug testing ever, never. It shouldn’t have taken 20 pages of new law to legalize recreational use.

    This was written by big money corporations . Don’t be fooled.

    No on 205!

  6. Reefer Madness type arguments against it are showing up. Some people actually believe that stuff.

    Given the opportunity, they would be like Carrie Nation.

  7. There are two things you can count on no matter what: People will find a way to abuse anything to the detriment of their own health and at a cost to everyone else, and corporations will degrade, engineer and finagle anything to the detriment of the consumer and in such a way as to reduce any liability for the end results.

    The best solution is to allow individuals to grow and consume their own marijuana and prohibit any commercial sale of individually-grown marijuana. Commercial sale of Marijuana for medical use only should be permitted and regulated to ensure quality control, but if history has shown us anything do not let the pharmaceutical companies have anything to do with it – ever.

  8. I believe the story missed answer to the question. I see grouped by age and belief alliances of sorts. Is the real question here is, will Prop 205 end prohibition? Or did I miss the question to the story?

  9. I have a very profitable enterprise growing high quality MJ that I don’t want to subject to government oversight.
    I’ve never understood why people would buy mexican dirtweed, when they could have high quality, locally grown herb.
    Support American businesses, buy local. homegrown weed!

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