VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Three out of four people in this province support legalizing and taxing marijuana. That’s way up over the last decade and echoes calls from a list of current and former politicians.

Just over half of us supported the idea five or six years ago. So, what’s changed?

“It’s fascinating, in the sense that we don’t look at it as a drug,” says Mario Canseco with Angus Reid, which conducted the poll of about 800 British Columbians.

The results were released by Stop the Violence BC.

Canseco tells us while there’s always been the argument that legalization could bring in huge tax revenue, “we also see that three in four BC residents say they would be comfortable in a society where marijuana use is basically decriminalized.”

“The other thing that we see, as well, is a lot of resistance… to mandatory minimum sentences. What this shows is that this approach of criminalizing marijuana use, particularly when it comes to somebody who’s using it for their own amusement, so to speak, is not something that a lot of BC residents support,” he notes.

“There’s also a high level of agreement… with the idea that this is not going to lead to the downfall of society as we know it. It’s something that we haven’t seen before,” adds Canseco.

Canseco points out several current and former politicians amplify public support in wanting pot legalized to curb organized crime, gang violence and grow ops.

Meanwhile, Washington state voters face a bill next week that aims to legalize and tax pot use for adults.

Dr. Evan Wood with UBC is a researcher of inner city medicine; he says gangs in this province could be crippled if it happens.

“So much of the violence, corruption, grow-ops, organized crime and all the concerns we have in British Columbia stems from the fact that there’s this massive demand for marijuana in the United States. British Columbia has become a marijuana-producing region,” he argues.

“If [legalization in Washington] happens, then that huge export market that exists to the benefit of the organized crime groups that are operating in British Columbia… their cash cow is set to be taken away,” adds Wood.