Massachusetts Voters are Ready to Legalize Marijuana

Massachusetts could well be the first state to legalize marijuana on a statewide level. At least that’s the conclusion of a survey of 800 Massachusetts voters by a Boston-based organization called DAPA Research.

According to reports, surveyors found 58 percent of us (including 69 percent of Democrats, 44 percent of Republicans, and 54 percent identified as “other”) favor decriminalizing recreation marijuana use for adults. That figure jumps to 62 percent of those surveyed (including 70 percent Dems, 56 percent Republicans, and 60 percent “other”), when the surveyors asked about decriminalizing marijuana for adults and taxing it like alcohol.

At the very least, the medical marijuana question that’s been certified for the November 2012 election ballot looks like it has a decent chance of passing, which would add Massachusetts to the 16 other municipalities that allow for the medicinal use of marijuana.

What’s this mean for Massachusetts? Probably nothing. According to the New York Times, a new government report found that 1 in 15 high school students already smokes marijuana on a daily or near-daily basis. According to the study, marijuana use is now more widespread than cigarette use among 10th graders (who are too young to legally smoke butts anyway).

If anything, adults here are learning what their kids already know: It’s time to rethink (and perhaps re-legislate) our views on the use of marijuana.