Men, women, liberals, conservatives — all types back legal weed nowadays
New poll shows 70% support legal weed
But anti-pot campaigners say they’re still battling against ‘Big Marijuana’
It’s been a tough 24 hours for America’s anti-cannabis movement.
On Tuesday night, voters in conservative-leaning Ohio approved a measure legalizing recreational pot for adults — making the Buckeye State the 24th in the nation to permit non-medical use.
On Wednesday, Gallup released new polling showing that support for cannabis legalization has reached a new high nationwide — an overwhelming seven in 10 Americans now support legal weed.
At the turn of the century, less than a third of Americans felt that way.
Attitudes have changed fast, with Gallup now saying there is a ‘broad consensus’ among voters of all stripes.
Majorities of men, women, people of color, whites, college graduates, and folks with just high school certificates all support legalizing weed.
Even 55 percent of Republicans and 52 percent of self-described ‘conservatives’ say it should be allowed.
“The high level of support among younger adults suggests national backing will only expand in the years ahead,” Gallup said in a statement.
This will likely lead to “more states, and perhaps the federal government, moving to legalize it”, the pollster added.
Cannabis advocates say it has health and social benefits and that making it illegal does little to stop consumption and only leads to high levels of pointless incarceration, often of young black men.
But critics say widespread use leads to higher rates of mental health problems, substance abuse — especially among teens and young adults — and even more stoned drivers on the roads, causing car crashes.
Among them is Kevin Sabet, a former White House drugs tsar who now heads the Smart Approaches to Marijuana group, who tried to dissuade Ohio’s voters from supporting the measure, known as Issue 2.
According to Sabet, it passed in part because many Ohioans turned out to vote against a statewide abortion ban — and added their support to the cannabis measure as they were at the polling station.
America is not on a one-way street to legalization, he added.
Voters in Arkansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota have in recent months rejected their own cannabis-legalization schemes.
“After spending millions to legalize marijuana in Ohio, the industry and its forces were able to spread enough misinformation about the drug to get it commercialized,” Sabet posted on X/Twitter.
“The data are clear that Big Marijuana is a predatory industry intent on creating a new generation of drug users to fill the pockets of Wall Street investors.”
Ohio’s new law will permit adults 21 and over to buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and to grow plants at home.
A 10 percent tax will be levied on purchases, to be spent on administrative costs, addiction treatment, municipalities with dispensaries and social equity and jobs schemes supporting the industry.
But as a citizen-initiated statute, the law is subject to change.
Republicans and others who remain opposed to it in the legislature can tweak the legislation — or even repeal it, though the political stakes are higher now that the voters have spoken.
Sabet says the “fight is not over.”
State cannabis regulators should protect school-age children from a profit-hungry ‘Big Cannabis’ by outlawing adverts aimed at youngsters and limiting the potency of pot sold in dispensaries.
They should also gather and share data on drugged driving and people who are poisoned from taking THC, the psychoactive ingredient in pot, he added.
Scott Milburn, spokesperson for the opposition campaign Protect Ohio Workers and Families, said the ballot measure had been devised and promoted by a “handful of big commercial marijuana companies.”
He called it a “ticking time bomb” that would cause widespread harm in a state of nearly 12 million people.
“It’s a guarantee that wholesale changes await-if not an outright repeal,” Milburn said in a statement.
“That would only benefit Ohioans and spare us all a bad case of buyer’s remorse.”
Still, advocates of marijuana say they have the wind in their sails.
Tom Haren, spokesman for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, called the results a “landslide,” with 57 percent supporting the ballot measure and 43 percent against.
“Marijuana is no longer a controversial issue,” said Haren.
“Ohioans are being extremely clear on the future they want for our state: adult-use marijuana legal and regulated.”
LeafLink, a large wholesale cannabis marketplace, commended Ohio residents on approving a measure that could lead to sales exceeding $1 billion each year.
“This move puts Ohio in league with 23 other states that have taken this significant stride forward,” the group’s policy chief Rodney Holcombe said in a statement
“We have witnessed first hand the positive impact of legalized cannabis, including job creation, tax revenue for vital government services and unique business opportunities for entrepreneurs.”
