Poll: If State Legalizes Pot, Feds Should Be Cool With It

But Americans still split on legalization itself
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 6, 2012 12:47 PM CST
Poll: If State Legalizes Pot, Feds Should Be Cool With It
Gary Parrish smokes marijuana in a glass pipe, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, just after midnight at the Space Needle in Seattle.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

It's now legal to smoke pot while watching a Lord of the Rings marathon in Washington state, but questions persist over how the pot-prohibiting federal government should react. A new USA Today/Gallup poll clarifies how Americans feel about two of the biggies: Respondents remain split on the issue of legalization itself, with 50% of respondents against it and 48% for it. But once a state does legalize it, the feds should stay out of it, according to 64% of respondents. Just 34% said the federal government should still take steps to enforce its laws. (More marijuana stories.)

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