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Ten things that the legalisation of cannabis is now more popular than:

Ten Things Marijuana Legalization is Now More Popular Than

Ten Things Marijuana Legalization is Now More Popular Than

By Jon Walker
October 23, 2013

Now that support for marijuana legalization has surged to 58 percent in the latest Gallup poll it is worth highlighting just how uncontroversial the issue is among regular Americans. Here ten are laws, issues, institutions, and people who are less popular than legalization:

  1. President Obama – Obama wishes he had marijuana legalization approval numbers right now. According to Gallup, only 44 percent approve of how Obama is handling his job while 50 percent disapprove. The last time Obama’s job approval rating hit 58 percent was for a single day back in December. Besides that one day Obama hasn’t been above 58 percent since 2009.
  2. Supreme Court – Americans are far more divided on the highest court in the land than whether it should be legal to get high. The Supreme Court has a 45/46 approval rating.
  3. Chief Justice John Roberts – The Chief Justice has a higher approval rating than the court overall but at 55 percent it is still below that for legalizing cannabis.
  4. Every Leader in Congress – No Congressional leader has anywhere near the support of marijuana legalization. A Gallup poll from last month found only 33 percent approve of the job Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is doing, 35 percent approve of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, 37 percent approve of Speaker John Boehner and 39 percent approve of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
  5. Congress itself  – Over six times as many Americans think marijuana should be legal as approve of Congress. A new CBS poll found Congress had a job approval rating of only 9 percent. In fairness being more popular than Congress really isn’t an accomplishments. Even cockroaches are more popular than Congress.
  6. Obamacare – Even though it is President Obama’s signature law and is supported by almost the entire Democratic party, the new health care law is nowhere near as popular as marijuana. Gallup found just 45 percent approve and 50 percent disapprove.
  7. Same-Sex Marriage – Both marriage equality and marijuana legalization have seen a very similar rapid growth in support over the past decades but marijuana currently hold the lead. When Gallup last polled on same-sex marriage in July it found 52 percent would vote for a referendum making same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states. Marriage equality has the support of over 51 Senators while marijuana legalization officially has zero
  8. Chris Christie – The New Jersey governor might be one of the most popular sitting governors right now but according to Gallup only 52 percent of Americans hold a favorable opinion of him.
  9. Senate Immigration Reform bill– The immigration reform bill approve by the Senate is supported by 46 percent of Americans and opposed by 44 percent.
  10. Stricter Gun Control – Changing marijuana legal status is now far less divisive than the issue of gun control. Gallup found 49 percent support tight gun control while 50 percent want gun regulations to remain the same or made less strict.

Marijuana legalization is now more popular than basically even elected official in the country and has broader popular support than almost every issue being debated in Congress. Yet it has almost no backing from members of Congress. It is well past time for our politicians to get on board.