Even when Seventy-two percent of respondents said they preferred some form of legalization, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) made a chart that said the majority opposed legalization measures.
By Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment
A set of new national and state surveys funded by the prohibitionist group Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) found that a large majority of Americans think cannabis should be legal for either medical or recreational purposes.
That’s not how SAM is presenting the findings of the Emerson College polls, though. The group is attempting to argue that when people are presented with several marijuana reform options that only a minority support full adult-use legalization.
The survey found that, of the four separate options included, support for recreational legalization was highest, with 38 percent of U.S. voters backing it. That was followed by support for medical cannabis legalization (30 percent), decriminalization (19 percent) and prohibition (14 percent).

In other words, about 68 percent of Americans favor some form of legal, regulated marijuana—the types of systems that SAM regularly works to oppose when proposals go before lawmakers during legislative sessions or voters at the ballot box.
But the group is really leaning into the fact that recreational cannabis on its own only got a plurality of support. In one chart, they contrasted adult-use responses with all three other options to make it look like people prefer “Other Non-Legalization Marijuana Policies.”
Recent Posts
India Walton on the Racist Massacre In Buffalo, Need for Gun Control, Good Jobs, Housing
May 21, 2022
Take Action Now “…We really have to make sure that the support is long-lasting and that we have our eye toward the systemic…
The Answer To Greedy War Spending Should Not Be More Greed
May 21, 2022
Take Action Now Move the money from war spending and destruction to the needs of people and planet. By David Swanson,…
Israel Used U.S. Weapons To Destroy U.S. Aid Programs In Gaza
May 20, 2022
Take Action Now Documents show that in 2021, arms made and funded by the United States destroyed UNRWA schools, USAID projects, and a…
Nurses Are Standing Up To Profiteers, Demanding Universal Healthcare
May 20, 2022
Take Action Now The first-ever Senate hearing on Medicare for All examined how our profit-driven healthcare system endangers patients…