Opposition to marijuana legalization increases

July 10, 2010

More voters who intend to vote in November now oppose Proposition 19, the ballot measure that would legalize marijuana, by a slight margin. [LA Times]

A new statewide survey now shows 48 percent of Californians oppose Proposition 19, while 44 percent support the measure. Last May, public opinion was in favor of legalization.

The poll found a very high level of awareness of the initiative with more than three-quarters of likely voters saying that they have heard about it. Those voters back it 48 percent to 44 percent. But likely voters who had not heard about the measure until they were told about it by the poll takers oppose it by 2 to 1.

Political observers believe Proposition 19 could be in trouble in November. They claim that ballot measures that start off behind in the polls rarely end up passing.

Dale Sky Clare, a spokeswoman for the Proposition 19 campaign, said the poll shows that the challenge will be to educate voters about the regulations the measure imposes and the tax revenues it could produce.

“The folks that are familiar with the proposition itself, that have educated themselves on the proposition, find that they like it,” she said. “This is going to be a nail-biter to the very end.”