Everyone assumed that California would be among the first states to legalize marijuana for recreational use. It made sense, right? After all, they were the first to legalize medical marijuana and the next logical step would be to make it available for everyone of legal age. However, numerous raids, shutdowns and busts put a stop to what once seemed like a promising future for this liberal state. To be perfectly honest about it, California made one huge mistake. It failed to implement medical marijuana regulations properly, which resulted in a shady market, rule bending and an increase in criminal behavior. People would think enough time has passed by that California should be given a second chance, especially now that Colorado and Washington are getting all the praise for successful implementation of marijuana regulations.
Last Two Attempts Failed
Still, its not even April, yet two attempts at legalizing marijuana in California have already failed miserably. In fact, they didn’t even make it to the ballot. The first time, it was because not enough signatures were collected. The second attempt failed because of a change of heart from the proponents who decided they would rather wait for 2016 and get it right than rush the whole initiative this year and fail again. We all know by now that the majority of Americans support marijuana legalization. True that majority is just a little over 50% but it matters because nobody expected weed to gather so much support in so little time. For instance, California is no different from the rest of the U.S. According to a recent survey, 56% of Californians favor marijuana legalization while 39% are not that fond of the idea. Naturally, Democrats seemed to be more lenient towards legalization than Republicans. The poll was conducted in December 2013 and it also shows that those who support legalization are usually highly educated, single and young. For comparison sake, 39% of people who don’t have a college degree do not support legalization of marijuana.
Generational Gap
The most important piece of information we can derive from this poll is the fact that older people are much less in favor of legalizing marijuana than young people and it is only a matter of time before California legalizes marijuana. In example, 47% of senior citizens support marijuana legalization but 64% of people ages 18-49 support it as well. So, it not really a question IF California will legalize marijuana but when will that happen exactly? Well, that moment is not exactly around the corner and it wouldn’t surprise us if it took years for this idea to be accepted on a legislation level. Do bear in mind that this is not only typical of California but other states as well. We’ll keep you posted on future updates regarding marijuana legalization in California.
