Pubdate: Thu, 08 Oct 2015
Source: Blade, The (Toledo, OH)
Copyright: 2015 The Blade
Contact:  http://www.toledoblade.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/48
Author: Jim Provance

Quinnipiac Poll

PERSONAL USE OF MARIJUANA GAINS SUPPORT

90 Percent of Voters Support Medical Purposes

COLUMBUS - More than half of Ohio voters support the personal use of 
marijuana by adults with support soaring to 90 percent for just 
medical purposes, according to a Quinnipiac Poll released today.

These questions of support were posed generally to registered voters 
in presidential swing states Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida and did 
not ask voters specifically about the legalization and 
commercialization ballot issue on which Ohioans are already voting 
for the Nov. 3 election.

Issue 3 would legalize marijuana for recreational and medical 
purposes and would build a new wholesale and retail infrastructure 
around the newly legal product. It would write the parcel numbers of 
10 specific, investor-run growing locations, including one in North 
Toledo, into the state constitution and has sparked debate over 
whether that represents a monopoly.

According to the poll, voters said they would support allowing adults 
to possess small amounts of marijuana for their personal use by a 
margin of 53 percent to 47 percent. That's outside the poll's margin 
of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. Quinnipiac 
questioned 1,180 Ohio voters.

Ninety percent like the idea of legalizing pot for medical use 
compared to 9 percent who don't.

The poll results, however, raise the question of how much of a legal 
market for pot would be created in Ohio as just 16 percent of 
registered voters said they would definitely or probably use it while 
84 percent said they probably or definitely would not.

ResponsibleOhio, the investor-financed group behind Issue 3, is 
already airing ads to convince voters to support the proposed 
constitutional amendment. The lesser-funded opposition is expected to 
do the same.

But the poll seems to suggest Ohioans have already made up their 
minds. On the personal-use side, just 3 percent say they didn't have 
an opinion. Just 1 percent is undecided when it comes to medical marijuana.

"If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then the Red Planet 
might be the more spacey place," said Peter A. Brown, assistant 
director of the Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University Poll. "That's 
because men are more likely than women to support legalization of 
marijuana for recreational use.

"Not surprisingly, support for the change is linked to age, with 
younger voters more likely to see personal use of pot as a good 
thing," he said.

The poll showed Floridians support the legalization of personal pot 
by a margin of 51 to 45 percent, but Pennsylvanians are locked in a 
statistical tie on the issue - 47 percent to 49 percent.

All agree on medical pot with 90 percent of Pennsylvanians and 87 
percent of Floridians on board.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom