THE TROUBLE WITH MARIJUANA AND LEGISLATORS

For a long time many of us have puzzled over why overwhelming public
support for legal access to medical marijuana has not translated into
legislative action. A new Zogby poll conducted in Vermont and Rhode Island,
released March 29, may have solved the mystery.

Every time medical marijuana has been on a state or local ballot it has
passed overwhelmingly - most recently by 83 percent to 17 percent in
Burlington, Vermont this March 2. State and national polls consistently
show support levels ranging from 60 percent up to 80 percent or higher.
This support comes from virtually all segments of the electorate: Young and
old, liberal, and conservative, rich and poor, Republican, Democrat or
independent.

Yet politicians remain, for the most part, scared to death of the issue.
Efforts to pass medical marijuana bills through state legislatures have had
surprisingly tough going, considering the overwhelming public support they
enjoy. Successful efforts, such as the bill passed and signed into law in
Maryland last year, have sometimes required painful compromises that limit
the protection given to patients.

On the national level, even liberal members of Congress representing states
where the voters have passed medical marijuana laws have sometimes been
afraid to openly oppose federal policies that criminalize cancer and AIDS
patients who use medical marijuana.

Why are they so afraid? Politicians usually fall all over themselves to
jump on issues that have better than two-to-one public support. The new
Zogby poll results may contain the answer.

Asked if they support legal access to medical marijuana for seriously ill
patients, the results from voters in both states were consistent with
previous polling: 71 percent yes to 21 percent no in Vermont, and 69
percent yes to 26 percent no in Rhode Island.

But the new poll added a question that has not often been asked:
"Regardless of your own opinion, do you think the majority of people in
[Vermont or Rhode Island] support making marijuana medically available, or
do you think the majority opposes making marijuana medically available?"
Here the results were very different:

Vermont: Think majority supports 37.6 percent Think majority opposes: 37.1
percent Not sure: 25.3 percent

Rhode Island: Think majority supports 26.5 percent Think majority opposes
55.9 percent Not sure 17.6 percent

Voters support medical marijuana by a whopping margin, yet they think
they're in the minority. Nothing in the polling explains the reasons for
this, but it is reasonable to assume that the saturation prevalence of
"drugs are bad/marijuana is dangerous" propaganda in the media (often
parroted uncritically by mainstream news outlets) is a major reason.
Support for protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest is a
thoroughly mainstream position, but you wouldn't know it from most media
coverage of the issue.

It's a safe bet that legislators and their campaign staffs are under the
same misapprehension as voters. They think that supporting medical
marijuana is a radical move that will get them in trouble with their
constituents. It's not, and it won't.

But our elected representatives won't know that unless we teach them.

Bruce Mirken is communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project,
based in Washington, D.C.