In an April 2012 Mason-Dixon Polling & Research poll, three-quarters of American voters (74%) would like President Obama to respect individual state medical marijuana laws. The poll was nationwide, featuring 1,000 registered likely voters, and commissioned by the Marijuana Policy Project. Even assuming a 3-4% margin of error—which is typical in statistics—that is a pretty impressive show of support for state medical marijuana policies.

According to the Marijuana Policy Project, “The poll informed voters that medical marijuana is legal with a doctor’s recommendation in 16 states as well as the District of Columbia, and in some of those states it is legal for licensed and tightly regulated individuals to grow and sell marijuana to qualifying patients. Respondents were then asked if President Obama should respect the medical marijuana laws in these states, or continue to use federal resources to arrest and prosecute individuals who are acting in compliance with state medical marijuana laws.”

“These results are consistent with the clear and growing body of evidence that documents substantial voter support for the legalization of medical marijuana,” states Larry Harris, from Mason-Dixon Polling & Research.

The results of this survey clearly show that the American people believe the president should respect state medical marijuana laws, as he promised he would when he campaigned to be president. In 2008 Candidate Obama stated “I’m not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue.” 

In 2012, however, President Obama has back-tracked “What I specifically said was that we were not going to prioritize prosecutions of persons who are using medical marijuana.” “I never made a commitment that somehow we were going to give carte blanche to large-scale producers and operators of marijuana – and the reason is, because it’s against federal law. I can’t nullify congressional law.” said Obama.