A majority of the public want cannabis legalised or decriminalised, including a majority of Conservative and Labour voters.
Most British people want cannabis legalised or decriminalised and two thirds want a comprehensive review of drugs policy, according to a new poll by Ipsos MORI.
Over half the public (53%) support the legalisation or decriminalisation of the possession of cannabis, and only 1 in 7 believe in tougher penalties and more money being spent on enforcement for cannabis offences.
Interestingly the survey, which sampled 946 adults between January 25 and February 5, also looked at attitudes to drugs based on newspaper readership and found some surprising results.
It found that 45% of mid-market newspaper readers (including readers of the Daily Mail and the Express) support the legalisation of cannabis, and just one in five (17%) support heavier penalties and more money spent on enforcement.
Among tabloid readers the figures were 47% and 20% respectively.
According to the data, 61% of Daily Mail readers want a full review of drug policy.
Surprisingly perhaps, 70% of Conservative supporters compared to 69% of Labour supporters believe a full review of all the drug policy options is required.
A spokesperson from drugs think tank Transform said the results show how far ahead of politicians the public are.
“Politicians have repeated their ‘tough on drugs’ propaganda for so long that they assume the public are more fearful of change than they really are. In fact the world has changed, and the public are far more progressive than was thought, right across the political spectrum.
53 Responses to “Majority want cannabis legalised or decriminalised”
TransformDrugPolicy
the headline is on this blog and on the transform press release is that a majority want the law changed on cannabis, not all drugs. the fact that support for decrim of all drugs remains a minority is also included in the Transform press release. There is no sneakiness.
Mick
MAJORITY WANT CANNABIS LEGALISED is one clue. Most do indeed want things to remain as they are. And as I said below, a review doesn’t mean a softening up. Post-review, things can get tougher to suit public opinion.
As Labour’s own, dear sweet and true David Blunkett himself revealed.
Mick
You won, debate closed, before I even arrived. Got it.
So I suppose I must take my leave and not even bother remembering that pot can carry catastrophic health risks, despite being told I’ve lost anyway.
Good old Left – they do all my thinking for me!
Mick
Oh yes, the link again. In my completely un-drug addled state, I must have forgot: http://www.debatepolitics.com/europe/81507-call-licensed-cannabis-sales-2.html#post1058992284
Mick
‘1. ‘druggies’ – pejorative term’
Aaaaah! Dear dear dear. Pity it’s going to no longer be a criminal offence that I’ve annoyed you under the Public Order Act.
‘2. we are unaware of anyone calling for cigarettes to be banned (as opposed to more effectively regulated)’
Disingenuous. With Labour’s bans on smoking, advertising, tax hikes and the rest of the propaganda, it’s getting as good as a ban. If it wasn’t for smokers being such a cash cow, politicians would just come right out and do it.
And of course, Labour-backed officials wanted to even ban smoking AT HOME at one point.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1318202/Smoking-banned-homes-cars-protect-children.html