Discussing marijuana in Alabama strikes a deep chord, with supporters enthusiastic about its possible benefits, and opponents worried that a national trend toward legalization might sweep into the state.
Already, the Deep South sees the signs, with medical marijuana recently approved in Arkansas and Florida.
On Feb. 21, AL.com launched a project called “Marijuana in Alabama” to assess trends and public sentiment in the state. More than a dozen stories explored issues surrounding changing attitudes and how Alabama handles enforcement of marijuana laws from the courtroom to school hallways.
AL.com found that Alabama courts are not sending many people to prison for marijuana possession anymore, although police are still making arrests and most of the remaining prison inmates are black. As of October 2016, more than 80 percent of the 220 state prisoners convicted of first-degree marijuana possession were black, according to the Alabama Sentencing Commission.
Al.com reported that some counties are still imprisoning new mothers who test positive for marijuana and in some cases removing the baby. We found that some colleges arrest students, some don’t. We talked to parents using newly allowed CBD oil to help children with seizure disorder and we spoke with people serving life in prison based on Alabama’s low thresholds for felony possession. We found the Baptist lobbying group ALCAP is gearing up to lobby against any legalization movement, employing the same moral arguments used to fight against the rolling back of blue law restrictions on alcohol.
Readers responded with 14,000 comments after the articles and with tens of thousands of shares on social media. We found among Al.com readers that much of the debate focused on whether marijuana was harmful to society or not. Many commenters made the argument that no one has ever died from marijuana. Others argued it leads to drug addiction.
“Anyone ever had a child hooked on pot?” one reader commented. “Mine started at age 13, which led to Xanax and Klonopin. So please don’t tell me it’s harmless. I have seen the effects and how it shaped his mind. Three stints of rehab to get him off all three. I will never support legalizing it.”
Other readers had only ringing endorsements for marijuana.
“Cannabis-hemp is the most useful plant-herb on the planet: food, clothing, shelter, energy, medicine, insights, recreation,” one reader commented. “It has been mankind’s helpmate and companion since the beginning. Any law against it is a crime against humanity, creation and the Creator.”
Overall, the responses from AL.com readers clearly favored legalization. Here are some results, with numbers in the chart representing percentages.
Across the country, the trend toward softer enforcement continues. Kansas City voted April 4 to lower penalties for people caught with small amounts of marijuana, reducing maximum fines from $500 to $25 and eliminating jail time. Under the old ordinance, judges could send someone to jail for 180 days for marijuana possession.
AL.com readers were also quick to weigh in on poll questions. More than 9,280 readers voted in a poll asking whether recreational marijuana should be legalized: 84 percent said yes.
In another AL.com poll, more than 6,780 voted on the question of whether or not using marijuana was a sin: 88 percent said no and 8 percent said yes. Asked which was more dangerous, alcohol or marijuana, more than 6,470 readers voted: 91 percent said alcohol was more dangerous. Only four percent said marijuana. On the question of whether marijuana was a “gateway drug,” 84 percent of readers said no; only 12 percent said yes.
These were not scientific polls, but thousands voted and the results were decidedly one-sided.