(National) PUBLIC OPINION: Legalization Of Marijuana More Popular [View all]

Marijuana is moving on “greased tracks” toward legalization, according to the advocacy group that’s been riding the train for more than 40 years.

The reason is a stark shift in public opinion, said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. On Tuesday, Portland, Maine, followed Washington and Colorado’s lead and legalized recreational use of the drug, while the Michigan cities of Lansing, Jackson and Ferndale resoundingly voted to let people older than 21 possess an ounce of the green stuff on private property.

The municipal votes may seem like small potatoes, but St. Pierre said that 2013 isn’t just an off-year for elections, it’s an “off-off-year.”
“I absolutely pinch myself every single day, affirming that these changes are happening and they appear long-lasting,” he said.
In Colorado, where voters OK’d recreational use in last year’s election, another measure to tax marijuana — opposed by some pot proponents — also passed Tuesday.

“Here on K Street, that’s a victory,” he said, referring to the lobbyist row in Washington where NORML is headquartered. “(Not taxing marijuana) would’ve created a whole heap of mess with the federal government. Institutionally, strategically speaking, marijuana isn’t going to become legal if it’s not being taxed.”

While public opinion on legalization has changed drastically since the 1960s, St. Pierre notes there has been an unprecedented spike in approval ratings just in the past year, reaching 58%, according to a Gallup Poll last month. The number marks a 10% increase since Colorado and Washington voted to legalize it, “and the legal momentum shows no sign of abating,” according to Gallup.

http://whotv.com/2013/11/11/public-opinion-legalization-of-marijuana-more-popular/