California split over legal marijuana

A new poll recently found that Californians aren’t as hip to pot as previously thought.

About half of voters polled said that they do not want marijuana legalized for recreational use. The support of the plant’s use by the severely ill was much higher.

The joint — no pun intended — University of Southern California Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll showed that 46 percent of voters wanted pot legalized for recreational use by adults.

Less than three in 10 Republicans agreed with legalization. Fifty percent of Democrats and 60 percent of independents were in favor of legalization.

Dan Schnur, director of the Jess M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC, said that negative propaganda about marijuana abuse played a crucial role with the perception of cannabis in California:

“What that may have done is made California voters a little bit more reluctant to support marijuana for recreational use.”

The Bay Area is the only region in California where more supported legalization than opposed it, with 55 percent of residents behind its legalization. Los Angeles came in almost as high, with 49 percent in support.

However, 80 percent of all surveyed agreed that marijuana should be legal for the terminally ill and severely disabled.

A Gallup poll in October showed big nationwide support for legalization since 1969.

But for now, those pesky Cheetos-eating, movie-watching, nap-taking, late-night-pizza-ordering criminals will still have to beware of California law.