Pubdate: Sun, 03 May 2015
Source: New Mexican, The (Santa Fe, NM)
Copyright: 2015 The Santa Fe New Mexican
Contact: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/SendLetter/
Website: http://www.santafenewmexican.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/695
Author: Steve Terrell
Page: B1

MARIJUANA STILL MORE POPULAR THAN POLITICIANS

Right after last November's general election, in this very column, I 
made the contention that marijuana was more popular than either 
gubernatorial candidate - Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and 
Democrat Gary King - at least in Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

I made that claim based on the number of votes that (nonbinding) 
marijuana-decriminalization initiatives received in Santa Fe and 
Bernalillo counties. In both counties, the pro-marijuana position got 
more votes than either of the candidates.

But Martinez and King shouldn't feel bad. As The Washington Post's 
Wonkblog pointed out last month, recent polls in large swing states 
show that marijuana is more popular among voters than any of the 2016 
candidates for president.

A Quinnipiac University poll conducted in March showed that more than 
50 percent of those who responded to the poll in Ohio, Florida and 
Pennsylvania favor legalizing marijuana. But all the candidates whose 
names were mentioned got less than a 50 percent favorability rating, 
except Democrat Hillary Clinton, whose favorability rating inched 
slightly above the 50 percent mark. But she still lagged behind marijuana.

Other candidates, or likely candidates, listed in the poll, all 
Republicans, were Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Rand Cruz, Rand Paul and 
Chris Christie.

Granted, name-recognition at this early stage of the game could be an 
issue with some of the Republican candidates. (Not Clinton, who's 
been around nearly as long as marijuana.) But even in Florida, 
home-state contenders Bush and Rubio were polling behind the Devil's 
Flower - Bush by 8 percentage points, Rubio by 13.

Like recent polls about same-sex marriage, national polling firms are 
showing increasing support for legalizing cannabis. In fact, a recent 
Fox News poll showed more than half of Americans supporting 
legalizing the drug. Fifty-one percent were in favor and 44 were 
opposed. To be clear: This was Fox News. Not

High Times magazine. If the numbers from an Albuquerque Journal poll 
last September still hold, New Mexico is a little behind the rest of 
the country. That poll, conducted by Research & Polling Inc., showed 
50 percent of those surveyed opposed legalization, while 44 percent 
favored it. Pollster Brian Sanderoff told the Journal that "age and 
political party are the biggest predictors of public opinion on the 
marijuana issue."

Sixty-seven percent of the 18-to-34 age group in this state favored 
legalization in that poll. But only 28 percent of people 65 and over 
supported it. As for political parties, 55 percent of New Mexico 
Democrats polled by Research & Polling were for legalization. Only 29 
percent of Republicans did.

Wonkblog pointed out that high polling numbers for issues like 
marijuana don't necessarily translate into election victories. "In 
Florida, for instance, 88 percent of voters said they supported 
medical marijuana last July. But the state's constitutional amendment 
to allow medical marijuana failed to gather the 60 percent support it 
needed to become law last November."

The secret there is that older voters are far more likely to go to 
the polls than the young folks.

But the city of Santa Fe has shown that even when you liberalize the 
laws on marijuana, making possession of small amounts a civil, not a 
criminal offense - as the City Council did last year - marijuana 
possessors can still end up being charged in criminal court. As my 
colleague Daniel J. Chacon reported last month, "Santa Fe police have 
been citing people strictly under the state criminal statute on 
marijuana, which carries stiffer penalties."

A police spokeswoman told Chacon that it was partly a matter of 
office supplies. Police only recently got the correct printed forms 
to charge marijuana offenders with civil infractions. The council 
passed the ordinance in September.

The real problem is that city police have the discretion to charge 
under the city ordinance or state statute. That means the elected 
City Council can pass an ordinance, the public can endorse it in huge 
numbers at the polls, then unelected police officers have the power 
to ignore it.

No wonder youngsters are so cynical about voting.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom