Why the tea party is the hidden force behind legal pot

[Enrique]

Why the Tea Party Is the Hidden Force Behind Legal Pot

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"What you're really seeing is groundswell," says Mike Meno of the Marijuana Policy Project. "There was a poll in October showing that 81 percent of Americans nationally support medical-marijuana laws. I always tell people, What other public-policy issue can 81 percent of Americans agree on?"
One factor Meno cites is the Tea Party movement, especially the libertarian streak represented by Ron Paul, who frames pot legalization as yet another states' rights issue. "People don't want government telling them what they can use to unwind with after work," Meno says.

Not only that, but a Gallup poll last fall showed significant growth in support from Republicans for outright legalization — 7 percent from 2005 to 2009, from a low of 21 percent to 28 percent today.

Democrats had an even bigger jump, from 41 percent to 58 percent — a total increase of 13 percent in just four years. (Oddly, the independents, usually the weather vanes of American politics, show unusual conviction on this issue, going up only 3 percent in the same four years, from 46 percent in support in 2005 to 49 percent last year.)

Libertarian support helps explain the ballot initiatives in Arizona and South Dakota, hardly strongbeds of liberalism. Another cause, it seems clear now, is growing alarm about the violence associated with Mexican drug cartels, which make 60 to 70 percent of their profits off marijuana. (For history buffs, the irony is that marijuana laws were originally rooted in American hatred of Mexicans and the cheap "ditch weed" they smoked for recreation.)

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Read more: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/marijuana-legalization-by-state-071410#ixzz0tflhShYF