When Proposition 215 was on the ballot eight years ago, 56 percent of registered voters supported it. Today, the latest poll shows that 74 percent are in favor of the law, which makes it legal for physicians to recommend marijuana to patients.

The survey of 500 voters showed that support for the bill extends to all political, ideological, and age groups.

According to the poll, Democrats support the medical-marijuana initiative by more than 5-1, while there's a 2-1 backing by Republicans. Liberals are 92 percent in favor of Proposition 215, middle-of-the-roaders 78 percent, and conservatives 53 percent.

"I think people are realizing that marijuana is a medicine, and we all get sick in our lifetimes," said Dennis Peron, author of Proposition 215. "Everybody knows someone with cancer. If one person is easing their nausea, feeling better with marijuana, that resonates with others. These people are not strangers. They're not hippies and drug addicts. They're regular people."

The growing acceptance of medical marijuana isn't welcome news for the federal government, which has been aggressively prosecuting suppliers and growers in California for violating federal law.

The survey's findings, said Richard Meyer, spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in San Francisco, indicates "the success the marijuana lobby is having in deceiving the public by distorting all the facts."

"At the DEA, we feel that the public needs to be protected from marijuana and drug dealers," Meyer said.

The telephone poll of registered voters in California was conducted Jan. 5-13.

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