A new survey of thousands of police officers from departments around the U.S. suggests that the majority don’t agree with the federal government’s stance on marijuana.
Marijuana is still a Schedule I substance under federal law, meaning it’s categorized as one of the most dangerous drugs, with a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value. But a Pew Research Center survey published Wednesday reveals that 68 percent of police officers believe marijuana should be legal in some form.
Nearly one-third of the officers said weed should be legal for medical and personal use, while 37 percent said it should be legal for medical use alone. Just 30 percent said that weed should not be legal at all.
The law enforcement community is less enthusiastic about marijuana legalization than the general public, which has shown record-high levels of support for legal weed in recent years. The latest Pew survey shows that 49 percent of Americans believe marijuana should be legal for medical and personal use, with an additional 35 percent in favor of legal weed for medical use alone. Just 15 percent of the public believes marijuana should be illegal. [Read more at Huffington Post]