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While California's marijuana ballot initiative is garnering a lot of attention this election cycle, Gallup finds that nationally, a new high of 46% of Americans are in favor of legalizing use of the drug, and a new low of 50% are opposed. The increase in support this year from 44% in 2009 is not statistically significant, but is a continuation of the upward trend seen since 2000.

A concentrated preponderance of the voters countrywide are showing their passion for legalizing and regulating marijuana comparable to the manner in which alcohol and cigarettes are presently controlled. As the polls show most US citizens don’t believe smoking marijuana should be a crime for people to consume within the discretion of their own homes. A recent nationwide study of would be electorates showed that 56 percent favor the outright marijuana legalization, along with a strict regulating of the marijuana industry.

MAJORITY OF AMERICANS WANT MARIJUANA LEGALIZED

For the first time, the majority of Americans support the legalization of marijuana, indicating a shifting public opinion in regards to the government’s criminalization of drug use.

The new survey, which was conducted by the Pew Research Center, indicates that 52 percent of Americans support the legalization of marijuana, which is 11 points higher than the results of the 2010 survey asking the same question.

A long term Gallup poll recently measured Pakistans disapproval of United States' leadership at 92%, with only a 4% approval. The lowest approval ever measured in the country by Gallup.

And it is no wonder why, if you are paying attention.

A new Associated Press-CNBC poll finds that most Americans oppose legalizing marijuana, but that even more believe the drug should be allowed for medical use.

The poll found that 55 percent oppose legalization while 33 percent favor it.

In a recent Open Neurology Journal article, four University of California at San Diego researchers review the evidence concerning marijuana's medical utility and conclude that its continued classification as a Schedule I drug is "not tenable." But the DEA's classification of marijuana has been destroyed many times in the past. Twenty-four years ago, an administrative law judge, responding to a legal challenge initiated in 1972, recommended that marijuana be taken off Schedule I, calling it "one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man."

On Thursday, Washington became the first state to officially legalize marijuana, soon to be followed by Colorado as their new laws legalizing the drug for recreational use go into effect. A survey out Friday shows what Americans want the federal government to do about the states whose drug laws clash with national laws: Leave them alone. Fifty-one percent of Americans in the new HuffPost/YouGov poll said that in the two states that have legalized marijuana use for adults, the federal government should exempt any adults following state laws from federal drug law enforcement.

10) MARIJUANA USE HAS NO EFFECT ON MORTALITY:
A massive study of California HMO members funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found marijuana use caused no significant increase in mortality. Tobacco use was associated with increased risk of death. Sidney, S et al. Marijuana Use and Mortality. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 87 No. 4, April 1997. p. 585-590. Sept. 2002.

Marijuana arrests accounted for more than half of all U.S. drug arrests in 2009, while its use among Americans increased by 8 percent, according to two reports released this week by government officials.