US state favors legalization of marijuana

Coloradoans will be voting whether to legalize marijuana this November, a ballot initiative that some say could impact the presidential race there. Most Colorado voters are in favor of legalizing the drug under certain conditions.

The survey sixty-one percent are in favor legalizing marijuana if it is regulated the way that alcohol and cigarettes are currently regulated. A 27% of voters oppose legalization even with government regulation, while 12% are undecided.

The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Colorado was conducted on June 6, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.

That is the highest percentage of Colorado voter support that any marijuana legalization poll has shown to date. In December of 2011, a similar poll from Public Policy Polling showed only 49 percent in favor of general legalization of marijuana.

Betty Aldworth, advocacy director of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol -- a pot advocacy group behind Amendment 64 the 2012 statewide ballot initiative to end marijuana prohibition in Colorado -- said this about the poll in a press statement:

"The vast majority of Coloradans appear to be ready to end marijuana prohibition and replace it with a more responsible system in which it is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol. Our current system of prohibition is the worst possible system when it comes to keeping marijuana away from teens. It is driving marijuana into the underground market where proof of age is not required and where other illegal products might be available.
By regulating marijuana like alcohol, we can better control it and generate significant and much-needed tax revenue for the state. We can also stop making adults criminals simply for using a substance that is objectively less harmful than alcohol."