MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell: “I Really Don’t Know How [Prohibitionists] Sleep at Night…Without the Booze.”

Tuesday night, on his program “The Last Word,” Lawrence O’Donnell took an impassioned stance against marijuana prohibition while reporting on the recently released Gallup legalization poll.

O’Donnell, who formerly served as Staff Director of the Senate Finance Committee, notes the disconnect between the public opinion on this issue and policy coming from elected officials.

“In a democracy,” he stated, “we should expect such a dramatic shift in public opinion to be reflected in our public officials, but support for marijuana legalization in the United States Senate…has gone from 0% in 1968 to 0% in 2011.”

O’Donnell then rightfully attacked the Obama Administration’s insistence on keeping marijuana a schedule I substance.

“Now we know that no one in the Obama Administration is stupid enough to actually think [marijuana is as dangerous as heroin], but we also know politicians have no intention of facing reality anytime soon when it comes to marijuana. Politicians will continue to allow young lives to be ruined for mere possession of marijuana; politicians will continue to allow people to be arrested. [They will] allow people to go to jail, allow people to be arrested, allow people to get criminal records, get kicked out of school, be turned down for jobs just because they’ve used marijuana, something more than one president has done and gotten away with.”

In the conclusion to his segment, he unabashedly calls out our country’s elected officials for their hypocrisy on the issue, as many of them have no hesitation to indulge in the legal, more dangerous alternative.

“Senators, members of Congress, presidents, vice presidents, and Supreme Court justices are going to continue to get high, many of them every day and every night. Many of them will do it publicly, and loudly, and legally at restaurants and campaign fundraisers and at state dinners,” O’Donnell said, “They will raise their glasses and get high and they will continue to put people in jail for using a harmless, non-liquid way of getting high like marijuana. Such hypocrisy carries an even stronger stench than the alcohol-drenched breath of those politicians and judges and prosecutors and DEA officials. I really don’t know how they can sleep at night…without the booze.”

If more mainstream media journalists begin embracing the issue with the same intensity and comprehension as Lawrence O’Donnell displayed on his program last night, the end of the war on cannabis might be closer than we think.

You can view the segment in its entirety below:

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For the first time, Gallup Poll shows majority support for marijuana legalization nationwide

NORML's Chart of Legalization Polls - data compiled by Russ Belville from various organizations asking a form of the question "Should marijuana be legalized in America?" (click graphic for full-sized version)

A Gallup Poll released today showed that, for the first time in its 42-year history of asking the question, a majority of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized nationwide.

Gallup reports that the 50% nationwide support for legalization also represents the first time support has outweighed opposition.  Only 46% of Americans believe marijuana should remain criminalized, with 4% undecided.

Support for marijuana legalization remains greatest in the Western states (55%) and majorities support legalization in the Midwest (54%) and East (51%).  Only voters in the South still oppose marijuana legalization (44%).  Men still support legalization at a much greater rate than women (55% vs. 46%).

Support is also greatest among younger Americans (62%), Democrats (57%), and liberals (69%).  However, support for legalization has increased even in demographics generally opposed to legalization.  Compared to Gallup’s poll last year, support increased 4% points in the South, 12% points in the Midwest, and 6% points among 50-64, but fell 1% among 65+.  Support rose 6% points among Republicans, and 4% points among conservatives. Marijuana legalization is becoming more popular with just about everyone.

Gallup Polls Support and Opposition to Marijuana Legalization 1969-2011

One third of jurisdictions in the United States – 16 states plus District of Columbia for 17 out of 51 – exempt medical use of cannabis from criminal prosecution.  Yet the federal government has initiated a new full-court press against these jurisdictions in an attempt to kill the burgeoning medical marijuana industry.  This despite Gallup’s most recent poll to ask about legalizing medical marijuana (in 2003) showing 75% support nationwide.

One might think this escalation in the War on (Certain American Citizens Using Non-Pharmaceutical, Non-Alcoholic, Tobacco-Free) Drugs is designed to hamstring the state initiatives to legalize marijuana in 2012 by cutting the purse strings of the movement.  When three-quarters of Americans support legalizing medical cannabis use, half support outright legalization of all cannabis use, and one-third of the states are openly defying federal prohibition, federal retribution in service of the status quo is inevitable.

Since 2005, support for marijuana legalization is up among all demographic groups polled.

The question is: what will you do to push the issue over the tipping point?  Register to vote?  Contact your legislators?  Join a local NORML chapter?  Contribute to National NORML?  Get educated on the issues?  Join together with like-minded women?  Reach out to seniors?  Follow the latest marijuana news?  Learn from the experts?  These latest federal actions should show you that they aren’t going to legalize marijuana any time soon – it’s up to you to act now.

Post updated to fix a mistyped “fell” to “rose”

California’s Largest Physician Group Calls for Full Legalization

Despite the recent attempts by the ATF, IRS, and four California-based US Attorneys to put a damper on the state’s medical marijuana program, the California Medical Association formally endorsed a new policy calling for the full legalization of cannabis.

The CMA represents more than 35,000 physicians statewide and is the largest industry group for doctors in the state. Last Friday, at the association’s annual meeting in Anaheim, they made official their support for the full legalization of marijuana. The group cited racial inequalities in arrests, the collateral damage to families of those incarcerated on simple marijuana charges, and growing prison costs as signs that marijuana prohibition has “proven to be a failed public health policy.”

This stance seems to have been prompted by the precarious position California doctors find themselves in under the state’s current medical law. This position forces a physician to decide whether or not to recommend a substance to a patient that is still illegal at the federal level. While their stance on the medical benefits was lukewarm to say the least (the group compared cannabis to a “folk remedy”) the CMA sees legalization for all adults as the only way to truly discover the potential medical application of cannabis and cannabinoids.

“It’s an uncomfortable position for doctors,” stated Dr. Donald Lyman, a physician from Sacramento who helped author the new policy, “It is an open question whether cannabis is useful or not. That question can only be answered once it is legalized and more research is done. Then, and only then, can we know what it is useful for.”

You can read more in-depth coverage on this issue from LA weekly here.

The full paper published on the topic by the California Medical Association can be viewed here (PDF).

Post updated to correct “Attorney Generals” [sic] to “US Attorneys”

Weed the People: Over 35,000 Strong for Marijuana Legalization

It was just last Thursday that the White House launched their petition website, “We the People.” That morning, NORML submitted a petition calling for the legalization of marijuana. In just four short days the petition has received over 35,000 signatures, making it the most signed petition on the website by nearly 15,000 names. Thousands of Americans are calling upon President Obama to end marijuana prohibition and more are joining in every minute.

While the caliber of the President’s response may, in the end, be questionable, what is unquestionable is that this outpouring of support generated a large, positive, media buzz for marijuana legalization. Including coverage on the Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC.

Alternet:
“‘Legalize Marijuana’ Petition Leads in Votes on White House’s New ‘We The People’ Site – Will Obama Listen?

Forbes:
What The People Want: Abolishment of the TSA and Marijuana Legalization

International Business Times:
Marijuana Legalization is Top Issue in White House Petition

Raw Story:
Marijuana question sky-rockets to top of new White House petition site

The Blaze:
Topping the White House’s New Online Petition Site? Marijuana Legalization

LA Weekly Blog:
Marijuana Legalization Issue on Obama’s Desk Thanks to White House’s Online Petition Program

New York Times Blog:
A Petitioning System Goes to Pot, and More

Gawker:
White House Solicits Ideas from Internet, Internet Demands Weed

Huffington Post:
New White House ‘We The People’ Petition Portal Launched, With Predictable Results

The Hill:
Petition to legalize pot is first to hit White House threshold; ET proposal close

Local News Affiliates:
Such as KLTV7 in Missouri

If you haven’t already, you can join the 35,000+ Americans taking a stand for marijuana legalization by clicking the button below:

This Week in Weed: September 18th – 24th

Now streaming on NORMLtv is the latest episode of “This Week in Weed.”

This Week: thousands of Americans take a stand for marijuana legalization, a study looks at marijuana dispensaries’ effect on crime rates, and we review Dutch coffee shops and their influence on youth drug use.

Be sure to tune in to NORMLtv each Thursday afternoon to catch up on the latest marijuana news. Subscribe to NORMLtv or follow us on Twitter to be notified as soon as new content is added.

If you haven’t signed the petition already, you may do so by clicking above.