Pubdate: Wed, 13 Apr 2005
Source: Daily Times, The (TN)
Copyright: 2005 Horvitz Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.thedailytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1455
Author: Lesli Bales-Sherrod
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

SURVEY SHOWS SUPPORT FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Residents of Tennessee's 8th Senatorial District support permitting 
physician-prescribed medical marijuana use.

The response to that question on Sen. Raymond Finney's survey distributed 
throughout Blount and Sevier counties was the only one that surprised 
Finney, he said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

"They may have been more opposed to it if all the facts were on the table," 
he said.

On the other hand, Finney said the closeness of that vote -- 51 percent in 
favor versus 41 percent against -- and others on the nonscientific survey 
reflect the divided nature of the country.

"Understand how difficult this division in thought makes it on your leaders 
at all levels of government," Finney wrote in his e-newsletter Friday, in 
which he released the results of 495 surveys returned to his office. 
"Nearly half of citizens will be displeased no matter which way a vote is 
cast."

Two questions on guns also divided respondents. Forty-four percent said a 
person with a gun carry permit should be allowed to take a gun in a 
restaurant if he or she does not consume alcohol, while 48 percent said 
guns should not be allowed. Meanwhile, 49 percent of respondents said a 
person with a gun carry permit should be allowed to take a gun on school 
property or in public parks if the gun is locked in the car, while 44 
percent said guns should not be allowed.

Cell phones and the HOPE (lottery) scholarship solicited split responses as 
well.

Though 86 percent of respondents thought it should be illegal for a driver 
under 18 to drive while using a cell phone, respondents could not agree on 
a law to address driving and talking on a cell phone at the same time. 
Thirty-nine percent said a law should ban all cell phone usage while 
driving, while 35 percent supported a mandate on hands-free technology. 
Another 19 percent said there should be no law, 6 percent were undecided 
and 1 percent did not answer the question.

Asked about the HOPE scholarship, 46 percent said they consider the 
scholarship program successful while 43 percent remained undecided. Eleven 
percent said they did not consider the scholarship program a success.

Respondents also could not agree on how excess lottery proceeds should be 
used, with 33 percent advocating increasing the scholarship from $3,000 to 
$4,000 per year and another 33 percent suggesting saving it for a "rainy 
day." Twenty-two percent favored funding a pre-K program while 8 percent 
were undecided and 4 percent did not answer the question.

Regardless of their split answers on the other two questions, 62 percent of 
respondents agreed the academic threshold for the HOPE scholarship should 
not be raised to at least a 3.25 grade point average or an ACT score of at 
least 23. Twenty-three percent said it should be raised, 13 percent were 
undecided and 2 percent did not answer the question.

TennCare Pondered

The most questions were asked about TennCare. Although 85 percent said 
TennCare should not be kept "as is," 61 percent were against instituting a 
state health insurance plan.

Given the opportunity to respond to several proposed fixes, 73 percent said 
limits should be placed on benefits, 68 percent said limits should be 
placed on prescriptions and 49 percent said the program should eliminate 
"medically uninsurables."

If money was saved by changing from TennCare to Medicaid only, 37 percent 
would favor using the revenue to improve public health departments while 30 
percent would return that money to the general fund and 12 percent would 
fund a pre-K program. Fifteen percent were undecided while 6 percent did 
not answer the question.

Finney Reacts To Results

Finney said he was not surprised by most of the answers to the survey.

"Some showed exactly what other polls have shown," he said, using as an 
example 77 percent of respondents favoring letting voters decide whether 
the state constitution should be amended to define marriage as the union of 
one man and one woman only.

Finney wrote in the e-newsletter that he will do his best to reflect the 
majority view when these issues come for a vote, but that he may deem it 
best to side with the minority view on some issues.

"The issues are not as simple as I was required to present them in a one-or 
two-sentence question," he wrote. "I will, however, always be ready to 
explain and defend the reason for voting against the apparent majority in 
this survey."

Finney said Tuesday he would vote against the majority view when he is 
privy to information that may not be made available to the general public.

"There are reams of paper coming into my office every day. We spend hours 
in hearings," he said. "The better solution may be something many people 
are not aware of. I will do in my judgment what is best for them."

In the meantime, Finney said he had read all the comments respondents 
attached to the surveys and had found them to be instructive.

"Everyone gave heartfelt, well-thought-out, well-considered answers," he 
said. "Everyone took it seriously."

Finney is still accepting and tabulating responses to the survey. However, 
he will not publish any further results, he said.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman