Keeping in line in with the upwards trend of favoring cannabis legalization amongst the majority of Americans, recent polls have concluded that East Coast voters support legal marijuana.
According to a recent survey, more than 60 percent of voters in New Jersey and Pennsylvania back legalizing the sale, distribution and use of cannabis within their respective states.
The results are significant in regard to New Jersey, notably due to the fact that current Governor Chris Christie has made his name, to some degree, on his vocal anti-legalization stance.
Not mincing words, Christie stated previously that moves to recreationally legalize cannabis in New Jersey go “beyond stupidity,” and posited that the pro-cannabis movement is lead by “crazy liberals who want to say everything is OK.” (Um, OK..?)
Most recently, Christie went as far as to make the very, very sane assertion that the pro-legalization movement is the product of a conspiracy lead by Democrats to poison the minds of American youth.
NJ Voters Support Legal Marijuana, Chris Christie Not So Much
Fittingly, there seems to be a correlation between residents’ attitudes towards cannabis legalization and Christie’s own performance as governor.
As per a poll conducted by Quinnipiac University, approximately 79 percent of New Jersey voters reported that they were heavily displeased with Christie’s administration, one which perpetrated forced and illegal lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in an effort to seek retribution on the governor’s detractors, endangering the lives of his constituents.
Bridgegate aside, these self-same poll results come in the wake of efforts to fully legalize recreational cannabis use within the state. Earlier this summer, state Democrats, including gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy, introduced pro-cannabis legislation that would produce a projection of $300 million in tax revenue. The initiative will be put to vote on the ballot in November.
Final Hit: East Coast Voters Support Legal Marijuana
While results of the poll illustrate the stark contrast between the wants of constituents and the opposition of these wants that the state’s leader has and continues to perpetuate, they also highlight evolving attitudes in the Key Stone State.
As per a poll conducted by Franklin and Marshall College, an institution based in the Eastern part of the state, 59 percent of registered voters responded that they favor full legalization of cannabis. It’s a significant increase from numbers garnered during a similar survey in 2006, in which only 22 percent of respondents shared this opinion.
Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale had an explanation for the uptick.
“The public is ahead of the politicians on this issue,” he told the press.
