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My question is what percentage of those polled have actually given it anything more than a moment of deliberation using information gleaned from a source other than a ten second sound byte on the evening news? After years of "drugs are bad" propaganda, it's highly unlikely the majority of Americans can form a truly educated and unbiased opinion on the issue. Not too long ago the vast majority of Americans didn't want electricity in their homes. Too dangerous. Thankfully we've come a long way since then, but we still have a lot further to go.
72 percent agree that adults should be allowed to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a physician recommends it (Because physicians are always right and never needlessly prescribe anything they shouldn't, like, oh, antibiotics.)
59 percent believe that marijuana has medical benefits (...but have no idea what they are or how they work.)
55 percent say they would obtain marijuana for a suffering loved one (I'm not sure how that question is even relevant, but do they mean legally or illegally?)
33 percent think that adults should be allowed to grow marijuana for medical purposes (...except for psychological well-being, and stress therapy.)
23 percent think that marijuana should be legalized (...but for the wrong reasons.)
The current debate on medical marijuana, as opposed to other illegal drugs, is that they should be legalized for medicinal purposes. They ought to be legalized because criminalizing their use is foolish. ...or at least there's an argument that's strong enough for some people to think so. The medicinal use argument only works for marijuana. Other illegal drugs, which often don't have a legitimate medicinal use, will still be wasting tax dollars in fruitless efforts to control their use. The issue needs to be turned on it's head and approached from the other direction. Currently the media hasn't really given any thoughtful analysis - probably because the public as a whole can't digest anything larger. Individuals are fairly intelligent, but collectively we're a bunch of morons. Our brains are like cars in traffic: If you have too many of us thinking at one time and you get gridlock.
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