Take, for example, the (successful) 2008 initiative to decriminalize marijuana in Massachusetts. Nearly every town in the state voted in favor of it, often by a wide margin (it won with 65% support statewide)[0].

Yet, my own then-congresswoman, a Democrat in a very safe district, couldn't be bothered to vocalize her support for it (in fact, in a response to an open letter from a constituent, she still clung to the ludicrous belief that marijuana contains no medicinal value, despite the copious evidence to the contrary included in that very letter).

Sadly, she's not alone in failing to represent her constituents' views on the issue of drug policy. For whatever reason, drug policy is the issue where the disparity between politicians' views and their constituents' views is the greatest and lasts the longest, far more so than any other issue I can think of.

[0] http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/election_results/ma...