Ecologists worried about illegal marijuana farmers using lethal chemicals


Last year 57 percent of Americans told the survey’s pollsters that they “think the use of marijuana should be legal,” up from 52 percent in 2014.

The numbers from the the General Social Survey — a large nationwide survey conducted every two years and widely considered to represent the gold standard for public opinion research — comport with other national surveys last year, which found support ranging from the upper 50s to low 60s.

Gabriel, executive director of the nonprofit Integral Ecology Research Center, never imagined his scientific work would entail taking part in federal raids with a pistol in his holster. But everything changed in 2009, explains writer Julian Smith in his profile of Gabriel for biographic.com