A new poll by the Pew Research Center shows that a majority of Americans think that marijuana should be legal, and support is increasing.

[caption id="attachment_10109" align="alignright" width="225"] (Pew Research Center)[/caption]

Today, 57% of U.S. adults say the use of marijuana should be made legal, while 37% say it should be illegal. A decade ago, opinion on legalizing marijuana was nearly the reverse – just 32% favored legalization, while 60% were opposed.

The shift in public opinion on the legalization of marijuana has occurred during a time when many U.S. states are relaxing their restrictions on the drug or legalizing it altogether. In June, Ohio became the 25th state (plus Washington, D.C., Guam and Puerto Rico) to legalize marijuana in some form after Gov. John Kasich signed a medical marijuana program into law. This November, Americans in nine states will vote on measures to establish or expand legal marijuana use.

The same report released last year showed 53% support for legalization nationally.

The Culinary Workers Union Local 226, Nevada’s largest union, has endorsed Question 2, the Initiative to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol!

The Culinary Union represents more than 57,000 workers in the state, so this endorsement gives a tremendous boost to our efforts to end marijuana prohibition. 

Local 226 knows, as we do, that it is time to stop punishing adults who choose to use marijuana. They also know that passage of Question 2 will take marijuana out of the criminal market and place it in regulated businesses that will create well-paying jobs.

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol announced a wide variety of political endorsements for Prop. 205, including several progressive, conservative, and libertarian individuals and organizations, at a news conference in front of the Arizona State Capitol on Wednesday.

The Arizona Democratic Party officially endorsed Prop. 205, and U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ-3) became the second member of Arizona’s congressional delegation to throw his support behind the measure, joining Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-7). Prop. 205 also received endorsements from nearly a dozen state legislators, two members of the Tucson City Council, two members of the Tempe City Council, a member of the Maricopa City Council, as well as Las Adelitas Arizona, a Latina-focused civic engagement organization.

Prop. 205 also picked up several endorsements from the other side of the political spectrum, including the La Paz County Republican Committee, the Arizona Liberty Caucus, Arizona Libertarian Party Chairman Michael Kielsky, Cato Institute Adjunct Scholar Dr. Jeffrey Singer, and former Arizona Senate Majority Leader Dr. Tom Patterson, a past president of the Arizona Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians who served as chairman of the Goldwater Institute from 2000-2015.

A full list of endorsements is available here.

On Tuesday, the campaign supporting the initiative to tax and regulate marijuana in California began running ads throughout the state urging voters to back Proposition 64.

Yes on 64 announced the ads in a press release this week:

The ads -- in a straightforward, fact-based way – highlight for California voters Proposition 64’s comprehensive approach to marijuana decriminalization, its toughest-in the-nation safeguards for families and local communities and its funding of important youth and job training programs.

To view the new ads, go to www.Yeson64.org 

“Californians overwhelmingly support replacing marijuana criminalization with a smarter, safer approach,” said Brian Brokaw, Campaign Manager for Yes on Proposition 64. “Proposition 64 is the most comprehensive, thoughtful marijuana policy in the nation and reflects the input of the hundreds of organizations and experts – and these ads are designed to straightforwardly communicate the vast safeguards and benefits of Proposition 64 to every voter in the state.”

Proposition 64 has been endorsed by the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, East Bay Times and the Modesto Bee.

California Nurses Association recently joined the California Medical Association and the California Academy of Preventative Medicine in support of 64.

Other endorsers include: California League of Conservation Voters, California Council of Land Trusts, California State NAACP, California Democratic Party, Courage Campaign, Equality California, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, National Latino Officers Association, William C. Velasquez Institute and United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council.

Current and former elected officials in support include Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, Sacramento Mayor-elect Darrell Steinberg, Democratic U.S. Reps. Ted Lieu and Jared Huffman, Republican U.S. Rep Dana Rohrabacher, State Senator Mark Leno, Assembly Speaker Emeritus Toni G. Atkins, Assemblymembers Rob Bonta, David Chiu, Susan Talamantes Eggman, Cristina Garcia, Reggie Jones-Sawyer, Kevin McCarty and Bill Quirk and Tom Campbell, the former Republican Congressman and Finance Director for the State of California.

The campaign in support of Question 2 in Nevada has launched a new ad campaign that highlights the ways in which regulating marijuana for adult use would benefit veterans and others who have difficulty accessing marijuana for therapeutic purposes via the existing medical program.

The ads — a statewide TV spot and several billboards appearing across the Las Vegas metro area — feature a Marine Corps veteran who substituted marijuana for prescription painkillers to alleviate pain associated with fractures in his leg began airing recently across Nevada to promote Question 2, which would regulate marijuana like alcohol for adults. The TV ad can be viewed below.

From the press release issued by the Yes on 2 campaign:

State Sen. Patricia Spearman (D – North Las Vegas) added: “As a veteran myself, I am very sympathetic to the plight of veterans who are suffering with pain, PTSD, or any other condition. If marijuana can help these veterans, I think it is our obligation to allow them to obtain the relief they deserve. If VA doctors are unable to provide recommendations to veterans so that they can obtain medical marijuana, there should be another option. A legal, adult-use marijuana market can address that need.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8Sisvsv0pA]

The campaign in support of Prop. 205 in Arizona has unveiled a new billboard in downtown Phoenix that calls out the opposition campaign for running a "Reefer Madness" campaign "paid for with profits from opioid sales."

The ad refers to the "downright false" TV ads that are being run by Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, a committee formed to oppose Prop. 205 that received a massive contribution from Insys Therapeutics, a local pharmaceutical company.

The Yes on 205 campaign also set the record straight in its first pair of TV ads, which recently began airing statewide. You can watch the latest ad below, or click here to view all of the ads that have been run thus far by the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZErDn4EUlw]

The campaign in support of Question 1, the initiative to regulate and tax marijuana in Maine, held a news conference  this week to announce its final push before the election, including the launch of its first TV ad.

The ad features former Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion, who spent 32 years in law enforcement and understands as well as anyone why it is time to end marijuana prohibition. Watch the ad below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKI6GFfl1M4&w=560&h=315]