Pot poll: Texans split on legalization, back reduced penalties

The Texas Lyceum poll has a reasonably large sample size and comes from a neutral source, so in a world of politicized polling, Grits tends to hold it in higher esteem than published polls from advocacy groups. So I was intrigued to see that the result on their latest "legalize marijuana?" question was 46% "yes," 50% "no." The pro-legalization contingent surged by 13 percentage points since the group last asked the question.

Moreover, as the Dallas News reported, "Of the 50 percent of respondents who opposed legalization, 57 percent said they would support reducing penalties for possession of small amounts."

That means three quarters of Texans would "support reducing penalties for possession of small amounts" of marijuana, which perhaps bodes well for state Rep. Joe Moody's bill to that effect. Fewer than one in five Texans oppose both legalization of marijuana and reducing penalties.

Source: Texas Lyceum