Latest Poll: 49% Favor Legalization

49% of California voters back legalizing pot, poll finds

With 48% opposed, legalization effort faces a difficult challenge, pollster says.

May 20, 2010|By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times

Californians likely to vote in November are evenly split over whether to legalize marijuana, with only a small percentage of the electorate still undecided about the controversial issue, according to a poll conducted last week by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

The poll, which surveyed 1,168 likely voters, found that 49% think marijuana use should be made legal, 48% do not and 3% do not know, suggesting that the proponents of the legalization measure will have to wage an expensive and persuasive campaign.

Mark Baldassare, the institute's president and pollster, said the results show the legalization campaign faces serious challenges: "It's always hard to start out when you're not even at 50%."

The Tax Cannabis 2010 campaign, which sponsored the initiative, also released a poll Wednesday that found a similar level of support for the measure among registered voters, but with a much higher percentage undecided. Conducted earlier this month by an independent firm, the survey showed 51% of 800 voters support the initiative, while 40% oppose it and 9% are undecided.

"All the polls continue to show that voters remain interested in replacing a failed policy with a more honest, commonsense solution," said Dan Newman, a campaign spokesman.

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